“L’chi lach, on your journey I will bless you.” As the third graders beautifully sang this song at their milestone event, I had tears in my eyes. This moment in the life of a third grader marks the beginning of a lifelong journey of learning and studying Torah. They have reached a point in their education where they are ready to dig deeper, ask richer questions, and understand at a new level.

I can relate to their feelings because I was in their shoes when I experienced my third grade milestone. I remember looking out into the audience and seeing my parents, grandparents, and teachers watching me as I started this journey. Their proud and loving faces provided me with the support and knowledge that I was not alone in this journey. I felt like a grown-up ready to start this new chapter in my learning. I also remember being surrounded by my classmates and friends. I wasn’t alone; we were connected as a class ready to start something new and different together.

Now, as I looked at my students leading T’fillot, singing songs, reading their similes about Creation, and sharing a piece of the text, I knew they had made it. I could tell by their proud smiles and confident voices that they were experiencing what I had felt. Together as an entire third grade, the bond between them all was evident. Their journey is beginning and the joy and eagerness I get from being able to guide and experience this journey with them is incredible. They are ready, I am ready, and we are taking off to new exciting levels of learning, questioning, and understanding the Torah.

Julia Horowitz is a third grade teacher at KSA and an alumni of the school, class of 2002. The third grade milestone is Bereshit – The Book of Genesis, In the Beginning.

Och Academy receives $17 million from Ross estate
Long-time supporter leaves ‘investment’ for school’s future

Calling it a major “investment” in its future, the Golda Och Academy announced a $17.2 million bequest from the estate of the late philanthropist Eric F. Ross.

Ross, who died in September 2010 at the age of 91, was a major supporter of the Conservative day school. Its upper school campus in West Orange is named in his honor in recognition of a donation he made that led to the opening of the campus in 1991.

In 2007, the school broke ground on a $4.5 million renovation funded largely by Ross.

Joe Bier, chair of the school’s board of trustees, said the bequest would initially be used to support the Lore Ross Neshama Program. Ross provided annual travel grants so that all students who wanted could participate in the program, in which seniors spend their second semester in Israel after a week in Eastern Europe….

Read the full story in the New Jersey Jewish News »

“There are moments when one dares to dream the impossible and this is such a moment,” says Dr. Barry Chazan, Director of the MAJPS program. “Schechter and Spertus – academy and day school – are bringing professors and practitioners together to create a lab school right in our own city. This type of venture has yet to happen in this way in contemporary Jewish education. It is one of the exciting moments in my professional life!”

Adds Linda P. Foster, CEO/HOS, “We are thrilled to partner with Spertus in this venture. At Schechter, we are committed to professional development for our faculty and staff. This type of learning allows our educators to expand their knowledge and skills to grow personally and professionally. The outstanding Spertus faculty is coming directly to Schechter so that our educators can simply walk down the hallway and become learners themselves. They are setting a tremendous example for our students and are participating in one of Schechter’s core values – our commitment to life-long learning.”

The Spertus MAJPS program is a two-year master’s degree program in Jewish Studies that includes the development of strategic professional skills and personal mentoring. For the new Solomon Schechter Day School cohort, the students’ final projects will be integrated into cutting-edge programs and directions for the day school.

“The Schechter/Spertus partnership represents a serious commitment to developing a learning community among the faculty that is both able and inspired to create an exemplary day school education,” says Arna Yastrow, a second grade general studies teacher at Solomon Schechter Day School. “The classes are rigorous and interesting and have real value in our classrooms and in the work we do to plan for the future of Solomon Schechter Day School. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to study with the learned faculty at Spertus and my colleagues, whose wisdom and generosity make each class exciting.”

Adds seventh and eighth grade Judaic Studies Teacher Betsy Forester, “I am excited about working with such a wonderful cohort of dedicated teachers as we explore ways to help make Solomon Schechter Day School an even more exciting place to learn and to teach.”

Several of the professors and administrators in the program are Schechter parents, alumni, and alumni parents including:

• Schechter parent Barry Chazan, EdD, Director of the MAJPS program
• Schechter alum and parent Diane Halivni, Academic Advisor and Campus Coordinator
• Schechter graduate Claire Sufrin, PhD, MAJPS faculty member and mentor
• Schechter alumni parent Betsy Katz EdD, MAJPS faculty member and mentor
• Schechter alumni parent Jane Shapiro, MAJPS mentor

“Pictured above in alphabetical order are SSDS faculty members: Faye Bearman, Robin Bright, Betsy Forester, Danielle Gershon, Deborah Harris, Ariela Ish-Hurwitz, Karin Klein PhD, Osnat Lichtenfeld, Holly Rosenberg, Lilach Schrag, Barbara Tatz, and Arna Yastrow.

Also pictured back left: Hal M.Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and a professor in the MAJPS program.

Not pictured: Anna Raiber, Solomon Schechter Day School Faculty

The cohort is joined by a number of talented colleagues from allied professional fields.
Also pictured are Rebecca Rubin (JRC), Lora Shiman (JCC) Marlene Dodinval (ARZA/URJ), and Sandra Imar (Moriah Early Childhood Center).

Kol Hakavod to this new co-hort of students!

Read all about it in NJ Jewish News »

Pressman Academy Day School was nominated for Blue Ribbon School status by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) last school year. The US Department of Education then verified that Pressman is ranked among the nation’s highest performing schools as measured in both reading (English language arts) and mathematics on tests referenced by national norms in at least the most recent year tested.

Also take a look at our Photos from Israel Trips.

 ?The California Math League is part of the national Math League and is dedicated to bringing challenging mathematics materials to students. League specialties include math contests, books, and computer software designed to stimulate interest and confidence in mathematics for students from the 4th grade through high school. Over 1 million students participate in Math League contests each year. Contest questions are designed to cover a range of mathematical knowledge for each grade level. Questions on the contests never require any mathematics beyond the grade level tested. This year over 137 private and public schools participated in the California competition.? 

Athletic Fields Renovation Set to Begin

We are excited to announce that the final stage in the Upper School renovation is about to begin with the upgrade of our athletic fields! The plan includes renovating the existing soccer and softball fields and adding a new running track. The improvements to the existing fields will include re-grading them to improve drainage and bringing them to regulation size so that more home games can be played at the school instead of traveling to local town fields to “host” a home game.

The new fields and track will significantly enhance the athletic experience of Schechter’s student athletes. The Physical Education program will also benefit from the improvements. In addition to raising the quality of the athletic facilities, the safety of the athletes and spectators will be greatly enhanced with the addition of a fence between the fields and the adjoining property that operates next door. The improvements will also include the addition of an underground sprinkler system and a water fountain. A small weight room will also be added indoors.

Immediately following the earthquake, SSDSEU Chilean Exchange program coordinator Gail Shapiro, reached out to Instituto Hebreo and the surrounding Jewish community. “Thankfully no one in the community that we know has suffered any physical harm and there was minimal structural damage to their homes and school,” said Shapiro in an e-mail to the SSDSEU community. “Nonetheless, as a school we wanted to help the greater Chilean community.”

Through her synagogue, Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, Shapiro and a small group of Agudath congregants, together with Rabbi Tzvi Graetz, Executive Director of Masorti Olami, World Council of Conservative Synagogues, were able to connect with Rabbi Angel Kreiman, the rabbi of the Comunidad Israelita de Concepcion, the sole synagogue in Concepcion, Chile, the epicenter of the earthquake. “We learned that we were the first formal group of people to contact him outside of Chile since the earthquake, and he was deeply touched by our effort to reach out to him,” said Shapiro. Shapiro learned that the synagogue has suffered significant damage and is the only religious home to approximately 600 Jews in and around Concepcion, which is located approximately 200 miles south of Santiago. In addition to the approximately $200,000 needed to rebuild the synagogue, Shapiro learned that there was an immediate need to help families celebrate and observe Passover.

With that in mind, Shapiro reached out to SSDSEU Chilean exchange families, current and from the past two years, requesting that they each “adopt” a Concepcion family for Passover. “The response has been overwhelming,” said Shapiro. “It is truly heartwarming how our community has come together in a matter of just days to offer support for our friends in Concepcion, Chile. Once again SSDSEU families demonstrate through their generosity that among brothers and sisters, there is no distance (entre hermanos y hermanas, no hay distancia),” said Shapiro. On March 17th, Shapiro sent an envelope to the World Council of Conservative/Masorti Synagogues for the Concepcion Relief Fund, that contained checks totaling $1,788 from approximately 25 exchange program families plus faculty and staff who each contributed amounts varying from $36 to $180. Additionally, L’Mad (SSDSEU National Honor Society chapter) contributed $360 toward this effort, and the SSDSEU Parents’ Association has decided to contribute an additional $1,500 as well. Shapiro expects that additional donations will continue to trickle in for the Concepcion Relief Fund.

“Solomon Schechter Upper School has done amazing mitzvah work, raising funds to support families with Passover supplies,” said Rabbi Alan Silverstein of Agudath Israel. “What a great story of Maot Chitim” (the centuries old custom of helping gathering wheat to provide the poor with matzos and other items for the observance of Pesach.)

Article written by: Chilean Exchange Program Coordinator, SSDS of Essex and Union, NJ.