Steps Forward to Combatting Antisemitism in our Schools

On August 1, 2025, Superintendent Dr. Hunter outlined several initiatives for the 2025–2026 school year to support staff, students, and families in our Jewish community and to work diligently to combat antisemitism in our schools. Our goal is to ensure that everyone feels safe, welcomed, respected, and has a true sense of belonging. The initiatives and programming below will continue to grow as the summer progresses and the school year begins. We also want to emphasize that this work is not a replacement, nor a substitute for, our efforts in anti-racism, LGBTQ+ inclusion, or other DEIB initiatives.

Update from the U.S. Department of Justice: 

• Concord-Carlisle Regional School District has reached an amicable agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that resolves the Department’s review of a complaint related to antisemitism and harassment in the district. Click here for more information.

Progress Monitoring

Staff Professional Development

• All staff and the School Committee will receive training in preventing and addressing antisemitism during the early part of the 2025-2026 school year.

  • Update: We have partnered with Facing History and Ourselves to deliver a comprehensive, interactive workshop titled "An Introduction to Confronting Contemporary Antisemitism." The goals of the workshop include establishing a shared foundational understanding of contemporary antisemitism for all K-12 educators; Exploring the current manifestations of antisemitism and processing how antisemitism impacts individuals and communities; and engaging with (classroom) resources to increase knowledge of both historical and contemporary antisemitism.

  • Update: On Monday, February 2, at 3:45 p.m., the faculty from all three elementary schools gathered at Willard to continue their K–5 professional development focused on antisemitism. This session was held in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Boston and built upon the workshop facilitated by Facing History & Ourselves on October 6, 2025. The February 2 session served as a continuation and deepening of that learning, strengthening educators’ understanding of antisemitism and exploring real classroom scenarios they may encounter. The scenarios, which ranged from a student drawing a swastika and claiming they were “just joking” to a student asking, “Why don’t Jewish kids celebrate our holidays (e.g., Christmas)?”, were submitted by elementary teachers and refined by the workshop facilitator Spencer Cronin, Director of Educational Partnerships for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC), to guide the workshop. The scenarios were used to spark dialogue through structured turn-and-talk protocols, helping teachers consider practical strategies and tools for responding to such incidents thoughtfully and courageously.

  • Update: The last PD session for CCHS faculty with Facing History and Ourselves is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10th. The session will focus on: Deconstructing Memes: Helping Students Critically View Online Hate. Recognizing and identifying online antisemitism in both visual and text forms are critical steps in effectively responding to it, which requires an understanding of the tropes and conspiracy theories that fuel antisemitism. In this workshop, we will explore strategies to critically analyze and deconstruct antisemitic messaging online that can help students navigate virtual spaces where they will almost certainly encounter antisemitism as well as other forms of hatred. 

• The elementary schools have developed behavior management tools for staff this year that will address antisemitism and provide best practices for responding to young children. 

Student Learning

• K-5 students will receive explicit lessons on using words that are not hurtful based on religion, with progressive explanations for older students about antisemitism. 

  • Update: Elementary students (K-5) are received explicit instruction from the Open Circle curriculum on using inclusive, non-hurtful language, with related lessons on recognizing discrimination; demonstrating empathy and courage in situations where students witness bullying or unfairness; developing an understanding of the difference between intent (what someone meant to do), impact (how their actions affect others), and applying this knowledge to their daily interactions.

• The Concord Middle School Playbook Initiative will focus its first bystander scenario on antisemitism.

  • Update: At CMS, Middle school students engaged with The Playbook Initiative, an anti-bias, anti-discrimination, and bullying-prevention program. One of Playbook Initiative's upstander scenarios this year was focused on how students respond to antisemitism, specifically how to report hate crime symbols. Subsequent discussions during the Playbook workshop focused on school and student safety.

• All grade 9 students will receive anti-bias training with a specific discussion of antisemitism.

  • Opportunities for a collective anti-hate message that resonates with all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or creed, are evolving. We have heard clearly from students that the burden of responding to incidents at CCHS should not rest on any single student group/student demographic. Instead, students want to focus on growth and how they collectively move forward in a way that reflects the shared values of the CCHS community. Thus, on Wednesday, February 25th, student affinity groups gathered to share their perspectives and discuss next steps together. The following affinity groups were invited to the convene: 

    1. SPECTRUM

    2. Jewish Student Union

    3. Girl Up

    4. Unified Sports

    5. South Asian Student Society

    6. METCO Student Ambassadors

    7. Asian Student Union

    8. LatinX & Heritage Club (Faculty advisor: Wendy Cahill)

    9. Far East Association (Faculty advisor: Agnes Han)

    10. Bible Study 

    11. Southwest Asian and North African Student Union

    12. Black Student Union

• Review the curriculum for teaching the Holocaust and Jewish Identity
  • Update: Leveraging our ongoing partnership with Facing History and Ourselves, consultants from Facing History met with 8th-grade ELA and high school U.S. History and World History teachers to provide training on Holocaust-related curriculum. Topics included, but were not limited to, Literature of the Holocaust and Holocaust and Human Behavior.

• On Monday, March 16, 8th-grade students will host Holocaust Museum Tours during their Enrichment Period across English Classrooms and Common areas at the Ellen Garrison Building at Concord Middle School. These tours will provide students with an opportunity to engage with Holocaust-related historical exhibits and student learning, encouraging reflection, historical understanding, and meaningful discussion.

• Holocaust survivor Jack Trompetter will lead an in-person 8th-grade assembly on March 24th.

Culture

• Students and families will have the option to indicate their religion in upcoming culture surveys to ensure disaggregation of Jewish families is possible, allowing us to collect baseline data as we have for other groups.

  • Update: Our annual Panorama survey was distributed to staff, students, and families in November 2025. Disaggregated data student responses generally revealed a positive sense of belonging among Jewish students. Most Jewish students reported feeling that they "mostly belong" or "completely belong" in school. There were consistently high ratings for teacher respect and support, and generally positive peer relationships, though some middle school students noted occasional social challenges. Overall, out of 822 survey responses from students (grades 3-12), 8% (count ~66) identified as Jewish or contained Jewish/Judaism-related identifiers.

  • Update: On March 19th, we will administer the biannual Emerson Hospital Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for students in 6th grade, 8th grade, and 9th through 12th grade on topics ranging from mental health and resiliency to technology habits, stress, body image, social media, bullying, substance use, and sexual activity. The YRBS will also provide a quantitative breakdown by religion, and we will follow suit in the 2026–27 school year with a preliminary summary of the data.

  • Update: Student voice is very important. We have since established a Jewish Student Union at CCHS, co-advised by School Adjustment Counselor Kelli Kirshtein and English teacher Tyler Patterson. JSU meets every Tuesday from 7:20-7:50 am. Their goals are to foster a strong Jewish community within the CCHS community, to inform the general public about the dangers of antisemitism, and to spread positivity about our culture and traditions. JSU is open to students of any religion, belief, race, or culture.

Fiscal Resources

• The schools submitted a Hate Prevention Grant application to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 25, specifically to address needs related to antisemitism.

  • Update: Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Shelly Chin submitted a Hate Prevention Grant application to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We were awarded $35,000 per district, totaling $70,000, to support hate prevention and reduce incidents of bias and hate.

• Collaboration with other groups is ongoing for additional grants or other fiscal opportunities to support the work. 

Community

• Focus groups with parents are beginning to be planned, along with administrators.  Additional dates will be provided to ensure access for all interested parties.

• Ongoing collaboration will continue with the town leaders and committees.

• A District antisemitism Coalition will meet three times this year with an array of stakeholder representatives to share work and progress and to ensure accountability. 

  • Updates:

    • The first meeting of the Antisemitism Coalition occurred on December 3, 2025.

    • The second meeting is scheduled for March 4th.

    • The last meeting of the school year is scheduled for May 27th.

• Community-wide events

  • Community Event Recap: On January 27th, school leaders, community organizations, and student affinity groups held “Building the Community We Want: Standing Together Against Bias and Hate,” the first in a series focused on confronting anti-Semitism, bias, and hate. Click here to read more, along with a copy of the presentation here.

  • Upcoming community event: Intergenerational Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Jack Trompetter, on Wednesday, March 25, at 6:30 PM. Holocaust survivor Jack Trompetter will lead a special in-person intergenerational community event in the Ellen Garrison Auditorium at Concord Middle School. Upper elementary and middle school students are encouraged to attend with their families, and families are equally welcome to bring their elementary- and middle-school–aged children.