Jewish Day School, School Psychologist Work Toward Being ‘Menschy’

With shared commitments to spiritual and religious values, Catholic Duquesne University and the Jewish Community Day School in Squirrel Hill have forged a partnership that strengthens both institutions.

It’s all about being a mensch—a Yiddish term that connotes an upright person in the community—and finding a disciplinary system to reward and support 274 kindergarten-through-eighth graders in keeping with Jewish laws and traditions.

Associate Professor of School Psychology Dr. Kara McGoey, from the School of Education’s Department of Counseling, Psychology and Special Education, began working with Avi Munro, head of school for Community Day School and, along with that school’s educational staff, they have been working for two years to formulate and implement this system.

“It’s based on positive behavior support, which teaches children the expectations of the school, rewards children for doing the right things and has a consequence system set up when they do not,” McGoey said. “Avi saw this curriculum and thought it would work, but it was more mainstream, not based on Jewish law and traditions. Positive behavior support is my background, but I didn’t know anything about Jewish law and traditions. Together, we could match what they were trying to do with the principles of positive behavior support to set up a system for their school.”

The collaboration, started in Summer 2010, continues. McGoey and her graduate students visit the school weekly to team with the teachers, providing more support to students who need individual counseling, social skills groups or teacher consultations as well as evaluations and behavioral interventions.

As students grow in stature, they strive to be “menschy,” doing good and caring for people. While the reward for good behavior is intrinsic, the Mensch Project intermittently catches a child being good and recognizes them with a “mensch card.” With the idea of community superseding the individual, these are counted as a group accomplishment (among the school’s 12 inter-grade level tribes of Israel). Periodically, the tribe with the most mensch cards earns a privilege like a dress-down day.

”We appreciate the partnership as an incredible value-added component for our school.  Duquesne University graduate students are able to maintain and compile data on a weekly basis that allow us to monitor and improve our program,” said Munro. “At the same time, they are gaining valuable field experiences at our school. Dr. McGoey is recognized for the expertise and objectivity she brings to this initiative, and she has earned the respect of our parents, staff and board members for the work she has done with us.”

Now that McGoey sees how the curriculum can be customized, she’s interested in adapting positive behavior support to a culturally relevant program for urban African-American schools.