Notes from Joyce
I hope that everyone enjoyed their summer with family and friends. As I reflect upon the past year at the Shalom School, I smile as I remember the wonderful opportunity I had getting to know the students personally and seeing their smiling faces weekly as they learned together. This summer I have been preparing for the coming year. As part of that I have been interviewing teachers. When asked how to describe the Shalom School and its students, I had one word to describe it, "SPECIAL". There is something very special about the students who attend the Shalom School. When asked what makes the school so special I responded with the answer that the children and families are caring, warm, appreciative and really want to learn. At the Shalom School the greatest reward is making a difference in a child's life and of passing on our beautiful traditions from generation to generation (l'dor v' dor). This year my hope is to build upon what has been created in the past year, and create new positive experiences for everyone as they venture on their own Jewish journey. We will continue our tradition of beginning each Sunday morning at 9:15am with a Family Havdalah. In addition, this year we will be focusing on building community and sharing in Shabbat. (Watch for more information to come shortly....)
In order to achieve the above goals, I have done some restructuring of the Shalom School. The Preschool will join the Kindergarten class on a monthly basis. The 1st and 2nd grade classes will meet together and the 3rd and 4th grade classes will meet together.
The Preschool will meet monthly on a Sunday morning from 9:30am – 11:00am and the Kindergarten class will meet on a weekly basis on Sunday mornings from 9:30am – 11:30am. The 1st and 2nd grade classes will be combined and meet on Sunday mornings from 9:30am – 11:30am. The 3rd and 4th grade classes will be combined and meet twice a week, on Thursday afternoons from 4pm – 6pm and Sunday mornings from 9:30am – 11:30am.
The Preschool and Kindergarteners will focus on learning the Alef Bet, holidays, about the synagogue, sing songs and listen to stories and do many hands-on projects. The 1st and 2nd graders will be learning the Alef Bet and vowels, reading in Hebrew, Jewish traditions, and the holidays. The 3rd and 4th graders will be building on the previous years of learning and will be learning the basic prayers and blessings as well as beginning their study of the Bible. The 5th, 6th, and 7th grades will be building upon the basics learned in the lower grades. In addition, we are forming a new 8th grade + program called the Shalom School Teen Initiative.
We welcome four new teachers to the Shalom School. Abbey Weintraub will be teaching the 1st and 2nd grade class, JP Kaytrosh will be teaching the 3rd and 4th grade class, Harriet Wallen will be teaching the 6th grade class and Vered Schreiber will be facilitating the Shalom School Teen Initiative. The one thing that all 4 teachers have in common is their LOVE for being Jewish and passing this feeling onto the students.
The first day of Shalom School will be Sunday, September 18th for students in Kindergarten – sixth grade and will meet from 9:30am – 11:30am. For the first day of school we will all meet in the Sanctuary for an opening program from 9:30am – 9:50am and then the teachers will escort the students to class and from 10am – 10:45am there will be School Orientation for parents. Please make sure that at least one parent attends the first day with their child.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
B'shalom,
בשלום
Joyce R. Siegel
