As part of their on-going efforts to achieve their goals of creating a welcoming and inclusive school environment that is free of all forms of racism and hate including antisemitism, members of the School Committees and Superintendent Dr. Hunter hosted representatives from both the CCHS Jewish Student Union and volunteers from Concord-Carlisle Against Antisemitism at the latest joint School Committee meeting on November 5, 2025.
The CCHS Jewish Student Union (JSU) was recently founded and provides students with a forum to discuss and share Jewish history and culture. JSU members also seek to educate the school community about Jewish culture through events and collaborations with other student groups. CCHS senior administrators meet with JSU members to discuss antisemitism efforts at the school and discuss ways that the administration can support their efforts. Adi Weinstock, a junior at CCHS, spoke at the meeting and shared her participation with JSU and how it was making a positive impact on her school experience while noting that membership and participation continue to grow. The faculty advisor for JSU is CCHS teacher Kelly Kirshtein, who stated that meetings are held every Tuesday morning at 7:20am and all students are welcome.
Volunteer leaders of Concord-Carlisle Against Antisemitism (CCAA), Brian Farber, and Tal Rotman, also presented at the meeting expressing their appreciation for the collaboration with Dr. Hunter and the school community. Specifically, they thanked Dr. Hunter and school leaders for building bridges and modeling leadership that, “does not just speak about doing the work of inclusion but doing that hard work to make it happen.” As an example, they noted the Playbook upstander training at the Concord Middle School which featured an antisemitic event as the scenario training for all middle school students. In addition to training as upstanders, the scenario training serves as a method to teach students about the impacts that hate language and acts have on individuals.
Farber and Rotman outlined their organization’s charge which is also reflected on their website; it states that CCAA are “residents of Concord, Carlisle, and neighboring communities — Jewish and non-Jewish — united in our commitment to confronting antisemitism and building a more inclusive, informed, and compassionate community. As parents, students, neighbors, and allies, we stand together to ensure that Concord and Carlisle are places where Jewish families feel safe, seen, and supported.”
CCAA recently secured a $20,000 grant from Combined Jewish Philanthropies to implement its Love Thy Neighbor program designed to “increase Jewish visibility, build community allyship, and address antisemitism in the Concord and Carlisle communities.” As part of that initiative, CCAA will be working with District leaders on programming for schools in Concord and Carlisle. Based on discussions with Dr. Hunter, CCAA stated that their goal is to collaborate with students including members of the CCHS JSU to facilitate student-led initiatives which historically have proven to resonate more strongly with students. Farber and Rotman stated that while they are excited to work with the schools as an important element of their efforts, they reinforced the notion that their initiatives need to be community wide and engage with families and individuals who aren’t part of the school community while also noting that much of what students bring to school is learned at home.
The Districts’ efforts to address antisemitism are an important element of its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan which outlines a comprehensive strategy to address all forms of racism and hate while creating a collaborative and inclusive culture in the schools and community that values diversity and recognizes the contributions and uniqueness of each learner. For more information on the Districts’ Strategic Plan and these efforts, interested individuals are encouraged to visit the Districts’ website at concordps.org.