Prom
Sports, games and dessert filled the Upper School building during after-prom, finishing off the prom festivities for the senior class. Prom was held on the night of Jan. 29 and the early morning of the following day at various locations across Maryland and D.C.
For many, prom preparations began months in advance in the form of clothing shopping, deciding whom to go with and planning “promposals.” Some seniors chose to have their hair and makeup done by professionals and took personal pictures with friends. Official JDS photos with the entire class took place at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville.
Following pictures, the prom festivities began with students boarding party buses to Temple Beth Ami in North Potomac, where they danced, sang and ate dinner together. Afterward, students took a nighttime bus tour of downtown D.C. and finished the night with an afterparty at school.
“I knew that it would be a special time with some of my closest friends that we would look back on and really remember because it was something super special,” Senior Ella Longman said.
Siyyum
A quote from Pirkei Avot, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it,” served as the theme for the Siyyum for the graduating class and was incorporated into the student speeches. To commence graduation weekend, the Siyyum was held Feb. 6 from 7:30 to 9:45 a.m. at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac.
It began with a half-hour of Shacharit, the morning prayer service, in either a mechitzah or egalitarian setting, followed by a student-led D’var Torah.
High School Principal Lisa Vardi then introduced the student-selected speaker, Science Department Chair and physics teacher Raymond Hodges. Hodges spoke about the utmost importance of gratitude toward parents and the importance of being fair and kind people.
“As with most senior classes, I’ve taught almost all the classes, and a lot of them I’ve taught for more than one year, so I know them pretty well,” Hodges said. “This class has been a lot of fun to work with.”
This speech was followed by a student performance of Billy Joel’s “Vienna,” which reflected the idea of pausing to appreciate their journey. The Siyyum concluded with the awards ceremony, where 28 select students received awards for their academic, athletic and community service achievements.
Graduation
Senior Maya Greenblum sang “Gibor Shel Ima” by Moshe Peretz, an emotional song that encapsulated the feelings of parents when their children graduate. The graduation ceremony took place on Feb. 8 at Washington Hebrew Congregation in D.C., closing out the celebrations for the class of 2026.
The ceremony began with the procession accompanied by Jewish text teacher Paul Blank on the piano, followed by a speech from President of the Board of Directors Stacy Mensh Schlactus (‘87). Schlactus talked about how JDS taught the graduating class to know where they came from, and now they have the confidence to move forward.
Additionally, alumna Orly May (‘06) delivered a speech where she advised the graduates to utilize the skills they learned at JDS in their lives moving forward. After the initial speeches, the students took over, which Dean of Students Roz Landy believes is an important aspect of graduation.
“We decided long ago that our graduation and Siyyum scripts would be written by the students,” Landy said. “I oversee it in that I let them know what I’m looking for and help guide them along the way.”
The seniors began by presenting their original, grade-written cantata, a reflection of their experiences since joining the school. In addition to the cantata, some seniors gave a speech thanking their teachers.
Senior Julia Yoskowitz helped write the middle school section of the cantata, which allowed her to reflect on her time at JDS.
“Actually being able to deliver the part that I wrote was really fun because I knew that I worked hard to make it a meaningful cantata,” Yoskowitz said. “It was really fun because the section that I wrote had a lot of laughs in it because middle school was a very funny and ridiculous time, so hearing people laugh at those jokes was really fun to experience.”
After student speeches, Head of School Rabbi Mitchel Malkus spoke about how he has grown with the grade, since he joined JDS when the senior grade began kindergarten and will be leaving at the end of this school year. Landy then gave a speech, where she revealed that every senior would be receiving a medal, representing the ambition and success shown by their grade. Landy also spoke about the class gifts, which were mezuzahs for Malkus and incoming Head of School Jonathan Levy, and artwork for High School Principal Lisa Vardi.
This was followed by the presentation of diplomas, which drew loud applause from families in the audience. The graduates then returned to their seats to throw their caps, officially ending the ceremony.
Throughout the ceremony, students performed instrumental and vocal music. Greenblum and senior Bee Kotler organized the musical performances of the graduation weekend. During the graduation ceremony, students performed Abba’s “Slipping Through
My Fingers” and Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up.” Students also performed “Gibor Shel Ima,” which, with its powerful Hebrew lyrics, felt the most important to Greenblum, though, and she was grateful to be ending the ceremony with it.
“I do think it’s a little bit harder to connect with for some people because it is all in Hebrew, but I do think that if people took the time afterward to look at the lyrics, they’d really understand why we sang it,” Greenblum said.
