It’s a new school year at Temple Emanu-El

Rosh Hashanah is a time to renew and look ahead to the year to come. We began this process last year as we assessed the needs of our religious school community and the needs of potential members of the community. This year, Rosh Hashanah will mark the implementation of some of these ideas. Throughout this process we learned that families need some schedule flexibility, that Shabbat experiences matter to many of our families, that feeling like a part of an intimate community is important, that social action matters and that basic Jewish literacy taught in an experiential environment is important to nearly everyone.

After a careful review of the curriculum, including engaging parents as well as teachers and students in the process, Temple Emanu-El is announcing some schedule and content changes that meet the community’s changing needs.

Religious School hours are Tuesday afternoons from 3:45-6:30 (including dinner), and Sunday mornings from 9:30-12:30. There will be Shabbat “school” programming for families on the first Saturday morning of each month which will replace the first Sunday class of each month. Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 will meet from 9:30-11:30 a.m. only.  The Tuesday schedule includes optional activities (chugim) such as Jewish cooking, Tikkun by Design (in partnership with The Jewish Community Day School), Jews in Sports, Theater, Art and a Junior Choir. These will run from 3:45-4:45 p.m., and classes will run from 4:45-6:30 p.m., including dinner. Other curricular changes include Hebrew taught by teachers using a web-based program called Shalom Learning, which will allow for greater individualization of material. Social studies and other Judaic subjects will have an experiential component as students live and practice what they learn.

The Temple Emanu-El Religious School is open to the community. Membership in the synagogue is not required. School will begin on Sunday, Sept. 16 with an opening breakfast followed by classes for students and an information session for parents.

For more information, call the school office at 401-331-1616 or email the school director, Ronni Saltzman Guttin, at ronni@teprov.org.

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Temple Emanu-El