In Washington, D.C., Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Portman learned to speak Hebrew and while living on Long Island attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School in Glen Cove, New York. She graduated from Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island in 1999. She studied ballet and modern dance at the American Theater Dance Workshop in New Hyde Park, New York, and attended the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights, both on Long Island. Portman skipped the premiere of her film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, so she could study for her high school final exams.
In 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. degree in psychology. ”I don’t care if [college] ruins my career,” she told the New York Post. “I’d rather be smart than a movie star.” At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz’s research assistant. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an essay critical of Israeli actions toward Palestinians.
