Life-Long Learning

Religious School

K4-7th Grade

Our curriculum is designed to provide Jewish learning and experiences that coincide with the developmental (intellectual and emotional) stages of our children. While some areas are repeated, each stage contains new areas of knowledge and understanding. Our curriculum also seeks to address certain topics as they come to the forefront in the religious and secular lives of our students. Holiday celebrations and Jewish values are integrated into all aspects of the curriculum. Each class participates in t’fillot (services) on a weekly basis. K4-2nd grade participate in two “specials” weekly – either music, Israeli dance, library, or Hebrew. Our older students participate in music on a monthly basis (3rd and 4th grade have Israeli dance on a monthly basis as well). Students in our 3rd – 5th grade religious and Hebrew schools have a choice between two tracks of study – Integrated (Kalal) or standard (see Hebrew class descriptions for more information).

We are fortunate to have over 30 dedicated teachers as part of our faculty, most of whom are also members of our congregation. These devoted individuals work tirelessly to provide meaningful and innovative learning experiences for their students.

The Curriculum at a Glance

K4: God Days of creation Jewish symbols Jewish holidays K5: God Bible Stories Holiday celebrations 1st Grade: Shabbat Holidays – Celebration in the Home 2nd Grade: Synagogue Holidays – Celebration in the Synagogue 3rd Grade: Israel Genesis 4th Grade: Story of Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, Entering the Promised Land Exodus Deuteronomy

5th Grade: Life Cycle Events Jewish Rituals Revisiting the Holidays 6th Grade: Jewish Values (middot) Mitzvot (Commandments), Leviticus and the Holiness Code Comparative Judaism 7th Grade: Tzedakah (Justice) Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) Our obligations, as Jews, to our community and the world Curricular Threads throughout the program: God, Holiday Celebrations, Israel, Jewish Culture, Jewish Diversity, Respecting Differences

Chai School (8th-12th Grade)

Congregation Shalom seeks to provide a deep and stimulation educational environment that encourages our teens to continue their Jewish education and to help them find their own connections to Judaism. We seek to meet the educational standards of Congregation Shalom and provided learning that is relevant and age-appropriate to our 8th-12th grade students.

The faculty and clergy are anxious to help our teens delve into the richness of our traditions and celebrations. We hope that our students, through their educational experience in the Chai School, will achieve a greater depth of knowledge about our religion and people, confront the challenging issues from a Jewish perspective, and understand and appreciate their role in the greater community as an individual and as a Jew.

Format:
The school year of 25 sessions will be divided into three sessions (trimesters). During each trimester, students will have two classes per session. The first class, which will run the course of the year, is a core class. Students will be with other students in their grade level and learn about a topic consistent with our curriculum.

8th Grade: Jewish Beliefs Comparative Religions 9th Grade: Jewish History Holocaust 10th Grade Confirmation: Understanding my Beliefs Affirming my Faith

11th Grade: Jewish Ethics and Moral Dilemmas 12th Grade: Preparing for Judaism “on your own” – “Packing for College” program

The second class of the session will be an elective. Our faculty will offer classes on different topics from which students will select what they want to study that quarter. Students may be in classes with students other than those of their grade. While elective options will vary from trimester to trimester, previous classes have included:

• Unnamed Women of the Bible
• Jewish Cooking
• Hot Button Issues for Jewish Young Adults
• Ozer/Ozeret 101
• Modesty from a Jewish Perspective
• The Sunflower (Simon Wiesenthal)
• Scrapbooking the Best of the Bible Stories
• A Jewish Voice for Justice
• Jewish Meditation
• The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• Hebrew Chit Chat
• The Shoah Through Art
• Modern Anti-Semitism and Racism
• Jews in Hollywood
• Jews in Sports

 

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