Millstone Scholars

The Millstone Scholars Program is a unique one-year opportunity for middle school students to study the great ideas and leaders of Jewish and Western civilization, Zionism, and the heroic story of modern Israel. Students will meet in their local community cohorts of Millstone Scholars for weekly in-person high level seminars with exceptional peers and master teachers. Designed for students in public or independent private schools, Millstone Scholars engage in a one-year sequence of an in-person core seminar and online electives, combined with special events and guest speakers who share their experiences as Jewish, Israeli, and American leaders. Millstone Scholars is a national honors program, with regional clusters around the country. In an era of declining Jewish identity and rising anti-Semitism, the Millstone Scholars Program aims to educate confident and knowledgeable Jewish leaders of the future.

The Millstone Scholars Program is tailored for 7th and 8th grade students from public or independent private schools. With active cohorts nationwide, we’re expanding for the upcoming school year. Each regional cohort is limited to 15 select students.

Yes. The Millstone Scholars Program’s tuition fee is $720 for the school year. Select locations are subsidized by their local synagogues or a local donor. The Millstone Scholars Program has a generous financial aid policy — for those in need of financial assistance, please email

millstonescholarship@tikvah.org.

Typically, students don’t have the opportunity to learn about the great ideas and contributions of Judaism when getting ready to read their Torah portion and give a speech. The Millstone Scholars program allows them to join students across the country in delving into key Jewish ideas while studying for Bar/Bat Mitzvah. And in staying engaged with their Jewish identities in a serious way just after their Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which is when most students end up leaving Jewish life. Millstone continues the Jewish educational trajectory of middle school students and prepares them to be on high school and college campuses as confident young Jews.

Over the course of the 8 month academic year, students will convene in-person once per week for 75 minutes. We estimate 30-45 minutes of reading preparatory materials in advance of each class.

All supplementary activities (Millstone National Debate, Field Trips, etc) are conducted outside of these weekly gatherings. They are not mandatory, though we strongly encourage students to attend as they significantly bolster the Millstone experience!

Millstone programs are hosted at Jewish community spaces and private homes in your area.

The program runs according to the academic year. The program starts towards the beginning of the school year and ends in May or June.

Tikvah’s Jewish Parents Forum offers various opportunities and resources for parents who want to be involved in their children’s and their own continued Jewish education. Tikvah also offers podcasts, newsletters and other adult learning opportunities. Please visit the main Tikvah page (linked) for more information!

Yes! This past year, we offered a national debate, a field trip, and a writing competition. We are planning many exciting new opportunities for our students to meet outside of the classroom.

• Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year open on March 31, 2025.
• Application closes September 8, 2025
• After being accepted, the last day to enroll for the Millstone Program is September 15,2025
• The program begins on the week of October 19, 2025