Behind the Scenes at Ramah Boston

(Sent to Enrolled Families on May 8th)

Dear Ramah Boston Families,

This spring, as we prepare for Kayitz 2026, we’re doing something a little different.

Over the next several weeks, you’ll be receiving a series of emails — one per week — taking you behind the scenes at Ramah Boston. Our goal is to give you a genuine, unhurried look at who we are, how we function, and why we make the decisions we do.

We’ll cover everything from our swim program to our technology philosophy, from our electives to how you can prepare your children for the best summer of their lives. But we’re starting where everything starts: the people.

Who We Hire — and Why It Matters

When I hire for leadership positions at Ramah Boston, I look for people who are a little further along in their careers than you might expect at a summer camp. This is intentional. Experience and stability at the top of an organization create a ripple effect that campers feel — even if they couldn’t tell you why. When your senior leaders have seen hard things before, handled real pressure, and developed genuine judgment, it shows up in the culture of a place. This is why you’ll find that most of our Roshei Edah are teachers. Nothing surprises these folks.

Introducing Our Leadership Team

I am genuinely proud to introduce two of the people at the center of it all:

Ianne Sherry has been at Ramah Boston since the very beginning — here for our pilot program in 2022, and she’s stayed. She has been our summer assistant director since 2023 and is my thought partner. She gives honest opinions on everything from the obvious to the unconventional. In her non-camp life, she has been a teacher at the Epstein-Hillel School on the North Shore and, this fall, is starting at Schechter in Newton.

Michal Goldberg is our newest addition to the day camp, but has been part of the Ramah world since she was a staff-kid as a toddler. Most recently, she was Rosh Ropes at our overnight camp. A recent UMass Amherst graduate, Michal has spent the past four months working hand-in-hand with me building this summer’s program.

And then there are our roshei edah — the unit heads responsible for the day-to-day lives of your campers. 5 out of 6 are returning from last summer. And 5 out of 6 are teachers in their professional lives — not the same 5 out of 6, mind you. Almost every one of our division heads either already knows your child, knows this camp deeply, or spends their off-season professionally trained in working with young people. Often all three.

A Word About the Young People Who Want to Work at Camp

My favorite part of being a camp director is working with our teenage counselors.

When I interview young adults who want to spend their summer at Ramah Boston, I regularly leave those conversations humbled. These young people — 16 to 20 years old — show up with a level of self-awareness, composure, and genuine care for others that stops me in my tracks. I find myself thinking: I was nowhere near this mature at their age. They are thoughtful in ways that are hard to teach, and your children are lucky to spend their summer in their care.

How We Prepare Our Staff Before a Single Camper Arrives

Great people still need great preparation. This year, we built an extensive staff training portal — a comprehensive resource our entire team engages with before they ever set foot on campus.

Every staff member is trained in basic first aid and learns to recognize the early signs of heat-related illness and allergic reactions. Beyond physical safety, our staff receive training in child development, conflict resolution, behavior management, inclusion, and emergency procedures — and then we practice real scenarios until the learning becomes second nature.

They also learn about each individual camper before summer begins, so that when your child walks through our gates on the first day, they are not a stranger to their counselor.

(Our lifeguards and swim staff go through many additional hours of certification and training — we’ll dedicate a full email to our swim program closer to summer.)

No child falls through the cracks at Ramah Boston. That is not an aspiration. It is a system.

Our camper care team — which includes me — meets with each bunk’s counselors at minimum once a week to go through every single child, one by one. How are they doing? Are they connecting? Is something off?

We use structured checklists to make sure the basics are covered every day: water, food, sunscreen, bathroom breaks. These might sound like small things. They are not small things. They are the foundation on which a good summer is built.

We pay attention because we believe that the details are where care actually lives.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

B’vracha,

Rabbi Silverman