About the Institute:

The 2026 Winter Institute provides California school and district teams* with evidence-based instructional and culture-building strategies that foster safe, inclusive, and equitable school communities.

Through interactive sessions featuring standards-aligned curriculum, approaches to teaching the Holocaust and genocide, and tools to interrupt and respond to antisemitism and hate, participants learn strategies to strengthen their capacity to ensure that all students can access a full and joyful sense of peoplehood while at school.

Interactive sessions include:

• Standards-aligned curriculum that elevate the diverse histories, cultures, and contributions of California’s communities, and that teach the Holocaust and genocide with attention to culture, resilience, and lived experiences.
• Strategies and a toolkit that guide school communities in interrupting and responding to antisemitism and hate by fostering school environments in which all students feel inspired to explore peoplehood and foster meaningful allyship with their peers.
• Celebration of the diverse histories and contributions of California’s minority communities.
• An opportunity to study with experts in education, Holocaust and genocide studies, as well as leadership from the California Department of Education.

*Teams may include, and are not limited to, classroom teachers, administrators, district leaders, guidance counselors, curriculum specialists, and county office of education representatives. Financial assistance to help cover substitute teacher costs is available to participating schools.