Back to school Part 1

Bnot Shulamith of Long Island

Bnot Shulamith's Middle School will be in a new location at Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst. Mrs. Rookie Billet is the new Middle School principal. Dr. Evelyn Gross, who has her doctorate in School and Clinical Child Psychology, is the new associate principal and director of guidance.

The elementary division will continue to focus on building Hebrew language skills and on its successful science enhancement program. Technology classes will be held in an enlarged and updated computer room.

Young women from Israel will join the school to fulfill their year of Sherut Leumi.

The Shulamith Women’s Organization (SWO) plans a new and improved lineup of “in-school” after-school activities, among other programs for the upcoming year.

Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway (HAFTR)

The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway welcomes nearly 50 new families this year. To accommodate the new students, HAFTR is opening an additional kindergarten and toddler class. The school also plans to start new “Mommy and Me” and “Savta and Me” programs for children between the ages of 12-24 months. HAFTR has developed a half-acre of new outdoor playing fields on the school’s Central Avenue premises. Every classroom will be equipped with smart boards.

Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB)

Hebrew Academy of Long Beach is introducing a new literary program, Foundations and Balanced Literary. Teachers spent a portion of the summer familiarizing themselves with the new program as well as developing new classroom techniques.

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) — Plainview

HANC Plainview partners with Oorah to offer substantial tuition discounts including $2,500 off tuition for new students and up to $3,000 for families that are new to day school education. The student-run Community Food Pantry will continue for a second year; the student-run “hair drive” to raise money for charity will also be repeated. Students will visit residents of the Atria and Sommerset assisted living centers and perform the school's annual play before an audience at the Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. HANC will also begin hosting the “New Parents Club” for expecting families.

HANC will continue to offer Hebrew and Basic Judaism classes for parents and the larger community. The school spent the last two years developing standardized assessments and workbooks for Chumash skills with the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools and will utilize the program this year to ensure that students are developing the skills necessary for a life of Jewish learning. This November, HANC will have its first school-wide Shabbaton to bring families in the community together.

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) — West Hempstead

HANC West Hempstead welcomes a First Grade Cahal class to the school for the first time. A new elective in Halacha will allow students to select topics they wish to explore through the lens of Halacha. In addition to the mishmar program, HANC will offer special learning sessions for children of all ages, year-round, including pre-Rosh Hashanah workshops for younger students and Hoshana Rabba learning for our older students.

New academic offerings include a Mozart music program for youngest students, the Fundations and Balanced Literacy reading programs to reinforced reading literacy in grades K-3, a Humanities Program to introduce and integrate an appreciation of arts and culture for fourth grade students. Fifth graders will gain an understanding of poetry and literature with a Poetry Café, and sixth graders will learn to navigate space, culminating with a trip to the Buehler Space Station.

Smart Boards are installed in nearly every classroom, including an interactive Smart Table computer designed to encourage collaborative learning in Kindergarten.  The Waterford Computer Learning Program, sponsored by Gruss, is being introduced in Kindergarten.

Three specially trained additions to the staff include a Literacy Coach, Math Coach, and Hebrew Language Coach, serving as resources and support for our teachers and students.

North Shore Hebrew Academy

North shore Hebrew Academy begins its 57th year of service with a new middle school library. Smart boards are being further integrated into the curriculum. Continuing its tradition of annual themes, North Shore’s theme this year will be “Love your neighbors as yourself: V’Ohavta L’Reiacha KaMocha.”

Shulamith School for Girls (Brooklyn)

Shulamith will open in September with a new board and executive director as well as exciting programs that enhance both the education of the girls and the community. Rabbi Kenneth Auman of the Young Israel of Flatbush joins the school as chair of the new Board of Education.

Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ)

Yeshiva of Central Queens is now home to a diverse population of over 870 students from nursery to eighth grade. Enrollment “skyrocketed” in the words of one administrator; over 60 students hail from the Five Towns.

The YCQ Early Childhood Center implements “Handwriting Without Tears,” an innovative program designed to teach writing without stress, beginning in kindergarten. Several grades will buy and package foods for the Five Towns Food Pantry. Monthly trips will include the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn and farms and nature preserves on Long Island.

Administrators and teachers will lead monthly Rosh Chodesh celebrations. Hebrew language will be a major focus, with the Tel-Am Hebrew language program. Students will use the Gruss Success Maker computer program for math and reading. With a smart board in every classroom, technology is integrated into everyday education.

Junior High Gemara classes will meet with local kollels and rebbeim. A language arts program with a writing workshop focus will begin this year. YCQ plans emphasis on cooperative instruction, team building, leadership and technology to prepare students for the 21st century workplace.

Yeshiva Darchei Torah

This year, Yeshiva Darchei Torah grows by more than 5%. For the first time the school will have a half-dozen Pre-1A classes. In all, so far, Darchei Torah has added five additional parallel classes: one Kindergarten, two Pre-1A’s, a First Grade and a Second Grade. By the end of Sukkos, Darchei expects to complete construction on 186,00 square feet of space in a trio of new buildings on its Far Rockaway campus.

Yeshiva Toras Chaim of the South Shore (South Shore)

The yeshiva is spreading out, taking over the space formerly occupied by Mesivta Ateres Yaakov. A junior high school ‘Mechina’ program is being inaugurated in its own building with a shul, Bais medrash and high school-level lab.

Rabbi Yitzchak Goldman will serve as Mashgiach and Rabbi Gershon Greenberg as Assistant Menahel. Rabbi Mair Wolofsky, will serve as Educational Director of the General Studies Department, Rabbi Avraham Fridman will be the Associate Principal for grades 1-5 and Mr. Daniel Winkler will assume the position of Associate Principal of General Studies for grades 6-8.

Rabbi Wolofsky will organize a wide range of special activities including Knowledge Bowl, Spelling Bee, Puzzle Contests and World’s Fairs.

Yeshiva of South Shore is one of the first yeshivas to offer an after-school Applied Robotics program. The principals researched and developed the program in consultation with Lego Education and Pitsco Education; computer and technology teacher Alisa Watman will lead it.

In the elementary division extra space will afford room for a recording studio sponsored by the PTA, to be utilized by the music program led by composer and recording artist Rabbi Yitzy Bald, who is a rebbe in the yeshiva.