June 20, 2025 by
From May 1-11, Grade 8 students completed their capstone trip to Israel. Their days were action packed, with opportunities for meaningful learning and reflection in nature, museums and monuments, neighborhoods and towns, cultural sites, archaeological digs, and more. Each student connected with the content of this trip in their own way, and the group received […]
June 17, 2025 by
“Throughout my experience in Colombia with Cadena I learned how to be a better team player and how to make the best of hard situations. Additionally, I learned that no matter what, it is always possible to communicate and relate to the people and places around you.” – Shira S-E, Class of 2025 “Cadena provided […]
April 29, 2025 by
In early April, students from Pre-K to Middle School celebrated Pesach in creative and often interdisciplinary ways. Check out our roundup below:
May 31, 2016 by
In this parasha, God enumerates the rewards for keeping the commandments and the punishments for violating them; the laws of tithes are then listed. The parasha mentions different legal terms in various places: Chukim, Mishpatime, Mitzvot, and Torot. There are many, many different explanations for the differences between these terms. The translations do us no good […]
May 26, 2016 by
Today, JPDS-NC students celebrated Lag Ba’Omer like they do in Israel – by lighting a bonfire, eating hot potatoes that are cooked in the bonfire, and with a lot of spirited singing. Enjoy the video below of our Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and First Grade students at their joyful Lag Ba’Omer celebration! We also invite you to […]
May 26, 2016 by
The Fourth Grade Trailblazers class was invited to a special program at the Embassy of Israel on Friday, May 20. A Fifth Grade class from Hearst Elementary School was invited too. We performed an Israeli dance routine for everyone. Every year, JPDS-NC has an Israeli Dance Performance. We performed the choreography from that show. Then […]
May 25, 2016 by
At a Math Awards ceremony on Friday, we recognized the achievements of our Math Olympiad team and the 85 individual students who successfully participated in math challenges this year! JPDS-NC placed fourth among all schools in the Maryland Math League and first in the District of Columbia in the math competition for Grade 6 students. […]
May 24, 2016 by
This year in Kindergarten, our Project Work curriculum was intentionally designed to use the theme of Community. In the second semester, we focused on comparing our community to those of social insects including ants, bees, and wasps. We specifically chose social insects because they naturally connect to humans as they share common characteristics that include […]
May 24, 2016 by
In this parasha, God tells Moshe to instruct the people on the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, as well as on how to relate to those in the community who become impoverished. Anyone who has visited the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia (including all those who have passed through our fifth grade) knows that it […]
May 19, 2016 by
On Sunday afternoon, eleven educational leaders came to JPDS-NC to start an intensive three-day visit to our school, a significant step in our school’s re-accreditation process for the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS). They visited every classroom and observed every teacher. They met with administrators, parents, trustees, and the Mo’etzet Hatalmidim (Student […]
May 19, 2016 by
This spring, Sixth Grade Hebrew students at JPDS-NC began a unit on their family’s history, roots, and journey to America, culminating in each student creating a documentary film in Hebrew about their family’s immigration stories. Throughout this project, the students practiced advanced Hebrew language skills, expressing complex ideas and using rich language in both their […]
May 17, 2016 by
In this parasha, Hashem gives Moshe a series of laws specific to the cohanim (priests); Hashem then instructs Moshe to tell the people about the festivals in addition to the laws of blasphemy and murder. The Torah commands us the following (23:15-16): “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of […]
May 16, 2016 by
JPDS-NC had a school-wide, all-day celebration for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day! The students spent the day traveling to cities and special places in Israel. In Yerushalayim, younger students built the Kotel out of boxes and wrote notes for it, and older students made trifolds of the three major religions of the city. In Be’er […]
