Bracha Rutner never thought she would go into education, as her dream while growing up in Silver Spring was to go to medical school and become a doctor.
That dream changed in high school with two teachers. The first invited her to his Gemara class in ninth grade, and Rutner fell in love with learning Torah.
The second was a chemistry teacher in 10th grade who told Rutner that she would struggle in medical school if she had a tough time with chemistry, which she did.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I went to college. I dabbled in business, I dabbled in history, I dabbled in psychology, and I ended up majoring in Judaic Studies,” Rutner said. “I still didn’t know what I wanted to do when I graduated college.”
Rutner and her husband moved to Israel, and she started doing some informal teaching, which made her want to do teaching work full-time.
They eventually moved to New York and Rutner got a job working at Yeshivah of Flatbush, which was where she said she fell in love with teaching and began considering a career in administration.
“In my second year in Flatbush, they wanted to make some changes in the school, and they wanted lots of different voices. And so, as one of the newer, younger teachers, they invited me to participate, and I realized then that I could have an impact on my classroom, on other teachers and in the broader scheme of the school. And that really got me thinking bigger picture, potentially going into administration,” Rutner said.
Rutner joined the staff at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls, spent the last five years as head of school there and then made the switch to become head of school at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in July.
Rutner said that BT offers a unique role because the school is heavily connected across divisions of preschool, lower school, middle school and high school. She added that there’s a unique element of religious diversity, as BT is a community school and Orthodox.
Rutner said that she is committed to working as the head of school on being a daily influence on her students.
“I want to be able to make an impact on families and on students. That’s what gets me up every morning. And that’s really what drives me. I ask myself every morning, how am I going to make an impact today? What seeds am I planting? Because you don’t always see the impact right away,” Rutner said.
For Rutner, who lives in Silver Spring, it’s been a learning experience becoming acquainted with the Baltimore community and the nearly 900 students and 200 staff at the school.
Rutner said her goal for this year is to build relationships in the school and the greater community by reaching out, listening and learning.
“[It’s] for me to get to know the school, and for people to get to know me, so that we can all figure out the style that works best for everybody. I started out in the summer with a two-day retreat for my administrative team. They all read a book together, and we did getting-to-know-you activities where we could really build a lot of trust and collaboration,” Rutner said.
Rutner said she is looking to maintain BT’s welcoming atmosphere for a wide range of students and to be very intentional in preparing students for transitions between school divisions.
She added that preparing students for these educational transitions will be a good experience for life after school.
Rutner said that today’s Jewish educational landscape is working toward preparing kids for the realities of the future with a focus on Jewish identity in a post-Oct. 7 world, dealing with new AI tools and Israel and Zionism.
Rutner said that her identity as an educator blends with her personal life because Jewish education is so close to her heart professionally and as a parent of four kids.
“I love what I do. I’m a person who really cares very deeply. I’m very intentional about everything that I do, not only in school but also in my life in general. I love to learn, whether it’s reading a book or interacting with other people. I love to learn from people. I care about the world and about students a lot,” Rutner said.
