Welcome Graduates, Families, Faculty, Friends, and Distinguished Guests,

Bruchim Habaim and mazal tov.

There is a particular blessing to graduating from CESJDS in the dead of winter.

My own JDS graduation morning began with an urgent question: would it even happen?

Earlier that morning, Washington, DC, had received less than an inch of wet, slushy snow, puddled on the sidewalks, barely measurable, and yet somehow powerful enough to throw the entire city into panic. Would graduation be delayed? Worse… cancelled?

Miraculously, it was not. And our commencement speaker, the recently released Russian refusenik Natan Sharansky, thankfully made it to the ceremony.

He began his commencement address with these words:

If Moscow had only known that so little snow could paralyze Washington, DC, the geopolitical landscape would have looked very different.

For those of you who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, I am Stacy Mensh Schlactus, President of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Board of Directors, a proud alumna, and even prouder Hagshama parent of 4 JDS Lifers, Ari class of 2020, Shelby 2021, Daniel 2024, and Coby, a member of today’s graduating class of 2026. On behalf of our Board and school, I extend our deepest gratitude to all the parents, grandparents, and families who have made the tremendous commitment, investment, and sacrifices to provide each of our graduates with an extraordinary pluralistic Jewish and secular day school education. Your dedication has shaped their academic journeys and Jewish identities, instilling in them the values, knowledge, and sense of community that will guide them throughout their lives.

On Friday, Mr. Hodges spoke eloquently at Siyyum about the gift of a CESJDS education. He also shared that he had calculated the significant impact such a gift would have on a family. He had arrived at a number. A very big number.

But this unique graduating class reminds us that the impact of JDS can’t be captured by a single figure. Today, we celebrate with five families whose fourth and final child is graduating, as well as families who have invested 19, 20, 25, 28, and 29 years in JDS. We have 19 alumni parents representing two generations of belief in this school.

These aren’t just numbers. They are links in a chain representing 6 decades of partnership, pride, Jewish continuity, and community.

And it’s teachers like Mr. Hodges and the remarkable faculty and staff who help us give you, our children, both roots and wings on this journey.

• Roots—so you know who you are, where you come from, and what matters.
• Wings—so you have the confidence to step into the world and fly on your own.

What makes today so powerful is that we can see both. Your roots are deep. Your wings are strong.

And CESJDS has been the place where both were intentionally grown. Because your roots were formed here, through Jewish learning that connected you to a people, a history, and a set of values that endure. Through teachers who cared not only about what you learned, but about who you were becoming. Through a community that showed you what responsibility, belonging, and being a mensch actually look like.

And your wings? They were built here, too, through challenge, leadership, creativity, and encouragement to speak up, ask hard questions, and take risks. Through learning how to think critically and independently, while staying grounded in something bigger than yourself.

During your final Kabbalat Shabbat, a Hebrew song that captures this moment perfectly, played in the gym. It’s called Uf Gozal—Fly, Little Bird. It’s about a parent watching a child grow wings, knowing that love sometimes means letting go, even when your heart wants to hold on just a little longer.

That song lives in this room today.

As an alumna, I can say that JDS is not something you graduate from. It is something you carry with you, and something that will always be part of your story, as you are now links in an unbreakable chain.

Stay connected. When your wings have taken you far, and your roots have deepened even more—keep coming back.

Come back to share what you’ve learned.

Come back to mentor and inspire the students who will one day sit where you are sitting today.

Come back to teach, to work here, to lend your talents and your leadership to a place that helped shape you.

And yes, come back to help lead this school forward. To sit around the board table, to steward its future, and to ensure that the next generation receives its roots and wings.

To my fellow parents, especially those watching your last child graduate, thank you. Thank you for your trust, your friendship, your partnership, and your love for this school. You planted roots here. You helped grow wings. You strengthened our community and our future.

Class of 2026: wherever your wings take you—college campuses, gap years, new cities, new callings—go forward grounded in who you are, confident in where you come from, and knowing there is always a place for you here.

Uf gozal and mazal tov!