January 5, 2026
Dear Mirowitz Community,
I am grateful to share that my contract as Interim Head of School has been renewed, and I am truly excited to continue my work at Mirowitz. This community has welcomed me with openness, partnership, and care, and it has been a privilege to work alongside our students, faculty, families, and lay leaders. I look forward to continuing to lead together, strengthening what makes Mirowitz so special, and building toward a vibrant future for our school
Over the past several months, Cyndee Levy (board member) and I have been listening—closely and carefully—to families, faculty, alumni, trustees, and community partners. We’ve reviewed surveys, sat in living rooms and conference rooms, revisited old viewbooks and program descriptions, and asked a simple but demanding question:
What does a powerful Jewish K–8 education need to look like now?
Not what it looked like ten or fifteen years ago.
Not what we remember as “middle school.”
But what our children need—developmentally, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually—at this moment in the world.
The answer has become increasingly clear.
Mirowitz is not two divisions. It is one continuous journey—Kindergarten through 8th grade—designed with intention, coherence, and care. The “middle years” are not a separate silo or a junior high imitation. They are the capstone arc of a K–8 experience that begins with belonging and culminates in purpose.
That framing matters more than it might first appear.
Learning From What Came Before
When we look at earlier versions of Mirowitz’s middle school virtues, we see much to admire: joyful learning, strong relationships, rich electives, Israel experiences, social justice commitments, and teachers who knew how to work with adolescents. Those were real strengths.
Research now confirms what many families have long intuited: K–8 schools outperform stand-alone middle schools academically and socially when they are intentionally designed. Few transitions. Strong relationships. Meaningful leadership opportunities. Stable identity formation.
But configuration alone isn’t enough. What matters is how the learning is designed.
A Reconstituted Vision: Rigor Through Relationship
The K–8 framework we are advancing is not about doing “more” earlier. It is about learning deeper.
At its core is a clear progression:
- Competency – “I can do this.”
- Mastery – “I understand this well enough to apply it.”
- Synthesis – “I can connect, integrate, and create something meaningful.”
This arc—competency to mastery to synthesis—runs through every discipline: math, science, humanities, Jewish studies, Hebrew, the arts. It culminates in public exhibitions, portfolios, and capstone projects that ask students not just to perform, but to make meaning.
Rigor, in this model, is not defined by hours of homework or the speed of acceleration. Rigor is defined by complexity of thinking, quality of work, revision, reflection, and transfer.
And none of that happens without strong relationships.
Every student belongs to a small advisory or Family Group —a daily home base where they are known, supported, challenged, and mentored across years. This is where social-emotional growth, Jewish meaning, goal-setting, and reflection live. This is where belonging is not an aspiration, but a structure.
Jewish Life as Lived Practice
Jewish learning along the K–8 journey is not an add-on. It is the lens through which students learn to see themselves and the world.
The arc is intentional:
- Belonging in the early years
- Identity in the upper elementary years
- Responsibility and peoplehood in grades 6–8
Text study, ethics, prayer, Hebrew fluency, Israel engagement, and service are braided into academic work. Students learn that Jewish tradition is something you use to think, to argue, to repair, to lead.
The 8th grade year will be a culmination: a capstone Israel journey paired with sustained inquiry into justice, peoplehood, and personal responsibility—before students step into high school and the wider world.
Why This Matters for Families—Now
Families are making decisions earlier than ever. They are looking for clarity, coherence, and confidence. They want to know not just what their child will study, but who their child will become.
This K–8 vision offers something distinctive in the St. Louis landscape:
- Continuity instead of fragmentation
- Depth instead of overload
- Belonging instead of pressure
- Leadership as practice, not position
It honors childhood. It respects adolescence. And it prepares students—academically, socially, and morally—for what comes next.
An Invitation
This work is not finished. Vision never is.
What we are committed to now is clarity, honesty, and forward motion. We will continue to share specifics—about program phasing, staffing, trips, assessment, and investment. We will invite your questions, your partnership, and your imagination.
But the direction is set.
Mirowitz’s future is not about recreating a middle school of the past.
Rather, we are building a K–8 journey worthy of our children and our values—one that is rigorous, relational, pluralistic, and deeply human.
Thank you for walking this path with us.
With gratitude and resolve,
Brian Thomas
Interim Head of School
Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School