END-OF-YEAR NEWSLETTER:

SPRINGING INTO L'DOR V'DOR

And just like that, that's a wrap on the 2025/26 Rashi-NewBridge partnership! The Rashi School and NewBridge on the Charles communities have shared so many rich intergenerational experiences this year on our shared campus. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for another wonderful year.

Here are just a few highlights!

STATS & SNAPSHOTS

STATS

100% of Rashi students engaged with NewBridge on the Charles this school year

107 flower arrangements made by grades 6-8 (and Israeli Leo Baeck students) used to beautify NewBridge

10 Pre-K students moved and grooved with NewBridge assisted living residents monthly

14 Grade 6 students went through a dementia simulator experience to prepare for Making Memories

SNAPSHOTS

The Grade 2 students took their Wax Museum on the road! Transforming into famous figures for our independent living and assisted living residents to see, their transformations "took" residents to many decades and places, and reminded many of the influential people they watched grow into leaders throughout their lifetime!

How lucky we are that Judaism gives us so much to celebrate! Grades 2 through 5 visited NewBridge four times throughout the school year to celebrate Jewish holidays, including Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, and Passover. See Grade 4 students above celebrating Sukkot with our long-term chronic care patients!

During their Making Memories trimester, Grade 7 students were tasked with creating a music-based, dementia-friendly program. Each group was assigned an oldies artist (Frank Sinatra, Beatles, or Aretha Franklin) and asked to find modern-day artists that feel similar. Using what they had learned about the way people with dementia go about the world, they crafted and ran an accessible program for their Making Memories friends. See the Beatles/Bruno Mars group coloring above!

In preparation for their class trip to the American south, Grade 7 students conducted oral histories with Jewish NewBridge residents who were involved in the Civil Rights movement. Through these interviews, students gained a better understanding of the deep interconnectedness of Jewish American and African American life before, during, and after the Civil Rights era.



HEARD AROUND CAMPUS

"We're off to knit at Knotty Knitters! We like to see the folks! We miss our NewBridge friends, and we'd like to see them again. We hope this year never ends, but if it does... we'll sign up again!"

– Knotty Knitters song written by Eliza F., Hannah K., and Chana T., Grade 3

“My favorite subject in school is NewBridge.”

– Ru J., Grade 1

"I have had the priviledge of volunteering at NewBridge for three years. I have been visiting a woman named Linda who has dementia, and though I have to reintroduce myself each visit, it brings me so much joy to know we brighten each other's days. Through [Making Memories], I have learned a lot about the Jewish idea L'dor V'dor...The NewBridge program is just one example of how Rashi actively teaches students the importance of Jewish values in our everyday lives."

– Sadie H. speaking at Charton the Course, Grade 8

STEAM Fair



“This year, our Rashi Grade 3 students participated in a STEAM Fair which combines science, technology, engineering, artistic design, and math. The theme of this year's STEAM Fair was adaptive clothing, which is the name for clothing that is specially designed for people with different disabilities. To prepare for this project, the Grade 3 students had the opportunity to meet with different NewBridge residents who shared their stories about living with different disabilities and the challenges they faced using specific items of clothing.

The residents' stories helped students understand how different disabilities like arthritis and compromised vision can make getting dressed a daily challenge, which inspired students to take action.



Using the design thinking process, Grade 3 students created a wide variety of adaptive clothing items that would be easier to use for different clients. The adaptive clothing included shoes that tighten with magnets instead of laces, padded pants for safe adaptive ice skating, and a baseball jersey with magnetic buttons. To culminate their learning the students presented their creations with an adaptive clothing fashion show for the Rashi and NewBridge community."

– Nick Mitchell, Science Department Chair

Immigration Interviews



“Rashi's Grade 3 students had the opportunity to hear real-life experiences of immigration by interviewing NewBridge residents. Prior to interviewing, students learned the four primary reasons for leaving one's home country: economic, political, religious, and safety. They also learned and practiced interviewing skills like open-ended questions, eye contact, and active listening. At NewBridge, they put this into practice as residents shared either their firsthand or family immigration stories, including their reasons for leaving and their experiences in their new countries.

Meeting people who immigrated or descended from immigrants brought students' learning to life in a tangible way!

Students then had the serious but fun task of choosing a part of the story they heard and bringing it to life on stage with an original script. Students felt deeply connected to their NewBridge interviewees, further developing their strong intergenerational connections that they began forging in kindergarten."

– Emily Haideri and Jean Ricker, Grade 3 Teachers

Every Friday, NewBridge independent living resident Sara S. (pictured celebrating Sukkot with Hannah) goes over to Rashi to tutor Grade 4 students in Hebrew. Inspired by her grandchildren who attended Rashi, Sara has been volunteering for several years now. When asked what her favorite part of volunteering is, without hesitation, Sara said it's the moment she walks into the classroom. As soon as she steps in, the students run up to her and say, "Shalom, Sara! Shalom, Sara! Shabbat Shalom!" She also said,

“The students, they become like family.”

How lucky we are to have a shared campus that feels like home and family, no matter where on campus you are.

STAFF HIGHLIGHT

We are so pleased to welcome our new Program Coordinator for Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge, Jamie Shapiro! Jamie (pictured during a Grade 1 Grandfamilies program) comes to us from a varied background, including work at a preschool and in real estate. She already coordinated the most recent round of Making Memories and Mitzvah Makers, and looks forward to revitalizing more Rashi-NewBridge intergenerational programs for the full 2026-27 school year!

NEWSLETTER EDITORS

BENJAMIN R.

Benjamin R. (pictured) is this year's student newsletter editor. "I feel a sense of deep pride and happiness at the prospect of spreading the connection between Rashi students and NewBridge residents and the sense of enjoyment and fulfillment that comes from time spent with the residents."

Interested in being next year's student newsletter editor?

Email HannahSilver@hsl.harvard.edu!

HANNAH SILVER

Hannah Silver (pictured with her own grandparents) is the Multigenerational Coordinator at NewBridge on the Charles. She feels grateful for the incredible team—at both The Rashi School and NewBridge on the Charles—that she gets to work with daily.

Have a great summer (HAGS),

Hannah and Benjamin

P.S. May all of your "see you later" hugs look as cute as this one between NewBridge assisted living resident Linda L. and Rashi Pre-K student Lailah R.!