Alex Fleksher
For students, parents and school staff, “back to school” evokes various thoughts and feelings. School supply shopping, new backpacks, fresh uniforms and new schedules. Excitement, nervousness, expectation and anticipation. Everyone has his or her own associations with the term.
For the 2025-2026 school year, “back to school” means returning to the school I helped build and launch in 2018. But this time, I’m not returning as a lay leader or teacher. I’m rejoining the staff in a new role. With excitement and anticipation, I am returning to Chaviva High School for Girls in Cleveland, Ohio, as the dean of academics.
In many ways, the role is a comfortable fit. I helped create the mission and vision of Chaviva, building the conceptual structure of a brand new school and launching it into action in year one. I’ve been involved in education for two decades and have always dreamed of becoming an administrator. But as all new starts go, there’s a learning curve. This is my first job in school leadership. As I shared with my adult kids, I’ve never done some of the things I’m being asked to do in my new position. But I will learn, and I am capable. I will bring the skills I have developed over the years in my various educational and professional capacities and apply them to something new. When we start a new endeavor, it is normal to expect bumps in the road and mistakes to be made.
The weeks leading to the first day of school in the admin office are busy with planning meetings about professional development, curriculum planning, schedules, systems and logistics. It’s a quiet busyness. It’s also a perfect soft landing for me as a new administrator to get my bearings, learn how our school is run from the inside, and settle into my new schedule and responsibilities. But the anticipation is building as the first day of school nears. The girls will be here! The hallways and classrooms will be filled with bustling students as eager and excited as I am. Connections are awaiting to be made, goals are ready to be formed and success is yearning to be achieved.
Because education is about the students, this is why I’m here. Sometimes the adults in the building can get caught up and think it’s about them, but it’s not. The focus is not what the teacher or administrator will achieve in the school year but what the student will be able to achieve—at the end of every lesson, no less. This perspective is at the root of student-centered education. And when our students finally arrive, filling the halls with their first-day jitters and hopes and dreams for their new school year, we’ll remember that they are why we entered this profession. And I’ll know that serving as their dean will be my dream come true.
Wishing all the students, staff and parents in our global Jewish community a successful, fulfilling and growth-oriented ’25-’26 school year.
Alex Fleksher is an educator, speaker, op-ed columnist for Mishpacha Magazine and co-host of the Deep Meaningful Conversations podcast. She is the new dean of academics at Chaviva High School for Girls in Cleveland, Ohio.