Going to Beth Tfiloh means your child gets all the benefits of a private school education, combined with something unique you won’t find elsewhere: the lifelong values, wisdom, integrity, compassion, and warmth of our Jewish tradition. Even the student life at BT offers your child a full array of extracurricular and co-curricular activities approached through the lens of Jewish values.
Creative Arts: Laying the Foundation for Self-Expression
Beth Tfiloh’s award-winning creative arts program allows students to pursue their creative interests and discover their unique talents. Each child is encouraged to reach his or her own individual potential at his or her own pace, inspiring them for a lifelong journey of artistic expression. Research shows that an introduction to the arts at these early stages allows for improved verbal, reading, and math skills, and increases the capacity for higher-ordered thinking and problem-solving. It also establishes in these younger students a love for the arts and a foundation for creative self-expression.
The far-ranging creative and performing arts curriculum includes visual arts, instrumental and choral music, dance, music theory, film and digital video editing, technical theater, and stage craft. The curriculum and philosophy are founded upon The Maryland State Essential Learner Outcomes and Indicators. High School and Middle School students may choose from a variety of extracurricular arts activities, the two most popular being the yearly musicals or the BT tech crews.
While High School students can learn to excel in filmmaking, performance dance, music composition, and theatre production, Middle School students can participate in the visual arts, fashion design, drama, dance, choral music and instrumental music throughout their school day. The Lower School and PreSchool also incorporate creative arts programming into their daily curriculum, offering creative movement classes, instrumental education, theatre, and vocal music classes.
This artistic foundation has launched the careers of Beth Tfiloh alumni like Aaron Frazer ’09, the multi-instrumentalist co-lead singer and composer for Durand Jones & The Indications; Daniella Gelman ’02, co-founder of the international luxury children’s clothing brand, Atelier Choux Paris; and Matt Jeffers ’09, actor/screenwriter who has performed Off Broadway, on NBC’s New Amsterdam, and is working on his feature film debut, among others.
BT Athletics: Competition, Camaraderie and Character
The Beth Tfiloh Athletics Department provides a comprehensive athletics program that caters to all school divisions — PreSchool through High School. With 43 interscholastic athletic teams, BT students have a variety of opportunities to engage in athletics and distinguish themselves through competitive sports. Both boys’ and girls’ teams have been recognized through division championships in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (boys) and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (girls). Additionally, their ever-popular Sunday sports league enables PreSchool and Lower School students to develop skills, sportsmanship, and team camaraderie as well.
In the Middle School, BT students can choose from a variety of athletic opportunities, including soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, softball, and baseball. Beginning in sixth grade, boys and girls can compete in teams, while the fifth-grade students are offered extracurricular sports clinics to help them prepare for competitive play in their future years at BT and beyond.
In the High School, students can participate in soccer/indoor soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming, lacrosse, softball, baseball, track and field, golf, and tennis. With both Varsity and Junior Varsity options, BT High School students can choose to participate in sports that meet their skill level and prepare to compete at the collegiate level, like Shoshi Dondes ‘21 who, during her senior year, signed a letter of intent to continue competing in tennis at the collegiate level. Drew Goldscheider ‘21, Alison Krieger ‘21, Brady Palmer ‘21, and Marissa Ross ‘21 all went on to continue competing in lacrosse after signing letters of intent from their selected universities. These students began competing in their sports well before High School, of course.
Learning to Lead and Serve
The Beth Tfiloh experience is one filled with a multitude of leadership and volunteer opportunities. BT students broaden their horizons through a variety of co-curricular and extracurricular areas, including student government, school newspaper, yearbook, and a school literary magazine publication. These offerings provide an avenue for self-expression, teamwork, and leadership. A variety of service projects provide an outlet for living the Jewish values of tzedakah (charity) and chesed (kindness) that students learn in class. Beth Tfiloh students also bond as a school community through holiday celebrations and preparing and attending special assemblies, field trips and overnight programs, where their opportunities to shine as school leaders in a more organic sense are often seized upon. Beth Tfiloh has seen the impact of their leadership programming in alumni, like Eli Pristoop ‘98 who helps to ensure that underserved students can access a post-secondary education and training or Cheryl Pruce ‘04, who works to advance gender, racial and economic justice as a senior program officer at Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
Every student at BT is afforded the opportunity to explore their special interests and talents through an expansive extracurricular and co-curricular program. Through their engagement in these areas, students learn to thrive, not only as students, but also as future change-makers and leaders.
Learn about your child’s place at Beth Tfiloh
See why a Beth Tfiloh education is an education for life. Contact the Admissions Office at admissions@btfiloh.org or 410-413-2323 to schedule your tour of our school community.
