The Story Behind Einstein Academy

When determining the name for our school, we wanted a name that would tell you a little about what we do and who we are. We wanted a name that spoke to our values and what we wanted to instill and foster in our students. We wanted a name that was uniquely us.

Enter Albert Einstein. Einstein, the Jewish scientist with a connection to Israel who lived from 1879-1955, once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,” and this fits directly with the mission of our school.

Einstein Academy prepares students to solve the problems of tomorrow by maximizing their innate capabilities and competence, fostering within them necessary skills today, aiming to inspire them to change the world, but it goes beyond that. At Einstein Academy, we focus on REAL Learning and EPIC Values, and the name “Einstein Academy” speaks to that as shown through some of Einstein’s more well-known sayings.

REAL Learning stands for reflective, engaging, authentic, and life, each emphasized through Einstein’s work and legacy.

Reflective - As Einstein observed, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” Reflection is a vital component in the growth of students, allowing for learning from mistakes, and helping students to become active learners and thoughtful people and members of our community.

Engaging - As Einstein noted, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” When students are engaged in their learning, with space for their own imagination and creativity, they bring their best selves and create the best possible learning environment for themselves and others.

Authentic - As Einstein summarized, “Education is not the learning of facts, it’s rather the training of the mind to think.” By engaging in authentic learning, focusing on thinking and solving problems rather than learning facts, students are able to see how their learning is relevant and matters and makes an impact on their world.

Life - As Einstein shared, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” Recognizing that most of the jobs our students will hold in the future don’t exist today, and embracing our role in preparing students for that future, we foster the skills that will help them be successful throughout their lives.

Einstein also emphasized the importance of social-emotional learning and the development of strong morals and character traits, along the lines of our EPIC Values, which stand for empathy, perseverance, impact, and curiosity.

Empathy - As Einstein advised, “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” We work with students to understand each other and show kindness and understanding, truly being people of value.

Perseverance - As Einstein reflected, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” We encourage our students to seek challenges and persist despite difficulty, staying with those problems longer.

Impact - As Einstein suggested, “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.” We inspire students to act with intent and create a positive effect, realizing those big dreams.

Curiosity - As Einstein stated, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious” and “The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” We support our students in asking questions and exploring to find answers, igniting that passion to never stop questioning.

Throughout Einstein’s life, his curiosity drove his work, resulting in his work on the theory of relativity and publishing more than 300 scientific papers and more than 150 non-scientific works. He showed empathy in his actions, especially in his helping to save scientists during WWII, and he persevered through numerous setbacks, including failing the entrance exam to the prestigious Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Additionally, his work still impacts us today.

Furthermore, our approach to differentiation is shown through a quote often attributed to Einstein which says, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” We believe each student learns different and needs to be supported and challenged in ways that reflect that individuality.

When designing our logo, just like with the name of our school, we wanted it to speak to who we are and what we do. The main image of the logo is of a lightbulb, which is a common symbol of ideas and discovery, both at the core of our mission, but the bulb of the lightbulb in the case of Einstein Academy is made up of six figures that symbolize our community working together. The figures are comprised of different colors to show the diversity amongst our students and how we celebrate that each member of our community is unique while we unite as a community. Additionally, the shape of the figures emulates the path of atoms sometimes associated with Albert Einstein, reflecting the name Einstein Academy, and roughly makes up the symbol of the Star of David, indicating our basis in Jewish values and culture.

Just like our vision and mission statement, our name and logo drive our decisions, showing what we prioritize and what makes Einstein Academy a truly special learning community.