Kehillat Israel Religious School-A Snapshot

• Think Jewishly: to possess a Jewish imagination filled with Jewish stories, songs, expressions, customs and cultural idiosyncrasies
• Be Jewishly Literate: to know how to pick up a siddur (prayerbook) and daven (pray), or pick up a Chumash (Torah text) and learn
• Be Jewishly Active: to know how to perform synagogue, home and community rituals, and to participate in synagogue and Jewish communal life
• Live Ethically: to live according to Jewish values and ethics, committing themselves to tzedakah (justice and righteousness), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and gemilut hasadim (acts of lovingkindness)

Left: Students learned about Tu B'Shevat, Jewish wedding rituals, and caring for the earth as they created a bride, groom, and chuppah from recycled and reused materials. Right: 4th grade students teach guests about Jewish cultures in Israel during the Israel Celebration.

CURRICULUM

The school's curriculum provides developmentally appropriate instruction in the areas of Hebrew (pronunciation, word recognition, decoding, and reading mastery), Prayers and Services (participating, reciting prayers fluently, leading, understanding key Hebrew words, understanding themes of particular prayers and parts of services, finding personal meaning), Torah and other biblical texts (stories, characters, values we can glean from them), Jewish history, Jewish literature, Ritual Observance and Practices, Holidays, Life Cycle Events, and Social Action/Mitzvot.

	Arts and crafts, music and singing, and drama are integrated into the curriculum to enhance and enrich the learning experience.
Students learn through board games, active games, dramatic play, music, and reading and written work.		Traditional Jewish texts and new Jewish children's literature are important parts of the KIRS experience.

DAYS AND TIMES

Preschool children work on a holiday project with their parents.

• Preschool meets one Sunday per month. Parents and children attend together.
• Kindergarten through 2^nd Grade meets each Sunday morning and occasional Friday evenings or Saturday mornings.
• 3^rd Grade through 7^th Grade meets each Sunday morning, Wednesday afternoons, and occasional Friday evenings or Saturday mornings.

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT

Ellen Rothfeld volunteers to teach Israeli dancing to enhance our holiday celebration.

One of the things that makes KI unique is the participatory nature of our congregation. In the religious school, this manifests itself in several ways:

Members of the congregation often teach classes. Our volunteer teachers are a tremendous asset to the religious school. Last year, volunteers taught drama, mitzvot, parsha text study, Israeli dancing, interview skills, and Hebrew. Parents are encouraged to volunteer at least two times during the school year. In addition to teaching, parents can volunteer to read a story in the library, tutor individuals in Hebrew, or prepare classroom projects.

A madricha helps a student.

Post b'nai mitzvah teens volunteer as madrichim, classroom aides. They assist children with projects, work with small groups, read stories, lead games, and tutor individuals.

Parents, extended family, and congregants are invited to participate in Family Programs. Family programs may include learning on an adult level, preparing to teach students, teaching and learning from the students in the school, observing student presentations and projects. Examples from last year include the Chanukah party, the Tu B'Shevat seder, the Purim Carnival, and the Israel Celebration.

Congregants serve on the school board advising the school director and guiding the school.