Torah School reflects the creativity of our Jewish heritage and traditions, weaving new colors and threads into the tapestry of Jewish living. The school offers programs for preschool through high school, from September to May. Registration packets are available in the office.
Early Childhood Programs
Parent & Child Torah Time, an interactive and enriching experience for preschoolers and their parents, celebrates Jewish holidays and Shabbat five times during the year.
Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 meet on Sundays to create the building blocks for Jewish learning, Jewish celebrations, and Jewish identity. A Consecration Ceremony is held in Grade 1, when students begin a Hebrew Reading Readiness program.
Primary Years
Grades 3 through 7 meet twice a week on Sunday mornings, and either Tuesday or Thursday afternoons. The foundation of our Hebrew Studies program is prayer and its meaning for us today. During Grade 3, children learn to read Hebrew, and to master the lettervowel combinations and the techniques needed for blending them into words. From Grade 4 on, students read and chant blessings and prayers, and develop an understanding of the choreography of the service.
For Grade 5, Grade 6, and Grade 7, students learn trope, the skill needed for chanting Torah and haftarah, a selection from the Book of Prophets. In the final year, students engage in the B’nai Mitzvah Program, and are guided in the meaning of becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
An important element of the curriculum, actual prayer experience, includes attending prayer services on Tuesdays or Thursdays, as well as during Shabbat and holidays. To become active and knowledgeable members of our prayer community, students are required to attend a specified number of services over the year. A Jump Ahead program offers a head start on requirements for the next year by attending services in June, July and August.
The program is enhanced by a Judaic Studies curriculum, including holiday preparations and celebrations, lessons on Israel and Torah, mitzvot, and schoolwide events. The sounds of children’s voices fill the classrooms and hallways when the cantor leads the children in song.
During Family Programs, offered throughout the year, children and their parents gather to discuss, to celebrate, and to create: making Shabbat totes filled with ritual items to welcome Shabbat at home; honoring our children’s Hebrew names; creating family seder plates; designing a Shema pillow; and holding class-wide Shabbat family dinners.
High School Academy
The Torah School Academy, for Grade 8, Grade 9 and Grade 10, meets weekly on Wednesday evenings. The Academy year is divided into four quarters, with courses designed to reinforce Jewish identity and connections. Students choose a mix of required courses (Comparative Judaism, Modern Israel, and The Holocaust) with electives (Cooking Holiday Foods, Film, Art, and Tikkun Olam, social action). The Grade 10 Confirmation Program includes a trip to Washington, D.C., to the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center, and actively become engaged in the governmental process to promote their discussions and projects. A Confirmation Service on Shavuot is created and led by the students under the guidance of the rabbi and cantor.
Post Academy, for Grade 11 and Grade 12, meets twice a month on Wednesday evenings, October through May. As students discuss issues of importance in their lives, within a Jewish framework, they develop their voice in the assembly of our people, as well as the community at large. As they head into the world beyond high school, we prepare them to consider the paths they will take, and the decisions they will make, from a Jewish perspective.
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