At the Emery/Weiner School, students and faculty have created a culture that is truly unique among Houston independent schools. It is an environment premised on the notion of commitments rather than commandments. Meaning, it is a place where all constituent members—students, teachers, and parents—are held accountable to standards not merely mandated from an external source. It is a place of joint ownership where students play an unusually active role in shaping their environment in order to help foster investment and responsibility. It is a place of immense trust and intense connectedness.

Emery/Weiner’s first priority is to prepare students academically and push them intellectually. Because the school admits a broad range of students, it offers both on-level and advanced courses and differentiates instruction to accommodate a diversity of learning styles. From former university professors to recent college graduates, EWS teachers bring more than just subject matter to the classroom—they bring passion and the ability to connect with students.

In addition to its strong academic focus, Emery/Weiner offers a comprehensive athletics program, fine arts classes and a broad range of extracurricular activities. Since the School’s inception, its performing arts program has been widely-regarded as one of the best in the city. The visual arts department includes classes in media such as printmaking, ceramics, drawing & painting, and traditional & digital photography. Also, EWS fields many different athletic teams, a program that strikes a balance between being available to all who try and out and yet appropriately competitive for the more serious athletes. At Emery/Weiner, students are challenged to be active stake-holders in their environment—and they do so.

Another way in which EWS educates the “whole child” is through experiential learning opportunities. From weekend retreats at the start of each year to week-long spring culture trips and the culminating month-long senior year experience in Israel and Poland, students are pushed, test their limits, and they grow closer to one another. EWS offers a culture built on commitments rather than commandments, where students are empowered to take responsibility for their school community. The result is a learning partnership based on immense trust and intense connectedness.

The spiritual ethos of Emery/Weiner can be summed up in two words—vigorously pluralistic. Its approach to religious instruction eschews indoctrination or coercion not merely on account of strategy, but based on principle. Classroom discussions are just that—a safe space for the free exchange of ideas. Emery/Weiner wants students to explore the broad spectrum of normative Jewish identity without reference to what is “right,” so that instead they discover for themselves what they respond to intellectually and emotionally. This approach helps make an ancient tradition relevant and engaging to the modern lives of twenty-first century young people.

As a private, college-preparatory school in Houston, Texas that currently enrolls more than 460 students, The Emery/Weiner School is proud to provide its students a seamless education for grades six through twelve. For more information or to schedule a campus visit, call 832-204-5900 or visit www.emeryweiner.org.