Our Stories

JPDS-NC Students Meet their Israeli Pen Pals

January 14, 2015 by Gabriel T (’17) (Students) Noah T (’20) (Students)

We are brothers who are in 3rd and 4th grade at JPDS-NC, and we each have a pen pal in Israel. Over the break, we traveled to Israel with our family. We visited JPDS-NC’s sister school, Har Tuv, and got to spend time with our pen pals, Michael and Yonatan. We write letters to them […]


Kindergarteners Create a Code for their Secrets Time Capsule

December 24, 2014 by Ayelet M (’23) (Students) Daniela M (’23) (Students) Yarden W (’23) (Students)

Our Kindergarten class has been interested in the idea of telling and sharing secrets. We thought about the Harry Potter book called Chamber of Secrets, and that gave us the idea to make a time capsule for our class. We are burying a box and the box will hold the secrets we want others to […]


Continuing a Cherished Tradition

December 18, 2014 by Adina Kanefield (Faculty and Staff)

“Voices of Wisdom” by Francine Klagsburn and “Light of Jewish Lamps” by Sidney Greenberg, two of the many books that I cherish from my father’s library, are propped next to my office computer at JPDS-NC. They sit on my desk as reminders to me that we at JPDS-NC are links in a long history; teachers, […]


JPDS-NC Presents: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

December 17, 2014 by Hannah Seidel (Faculty and Staff) Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

On December 14, fifty-five students from Pre-K to Sixth Grade took the stage in JPDS-NC’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The energy-packed performance showcased not only the extraordinary talent and hard work of the student performers and stage crew, but also the energy and enthusiasm of the twenty-two parent volunteers who helped […]


Students Tackle Math Challenges in National Math Olympiad

December 17, 2014 by Beri G (’15) (Students) Eliav B (’17) (Students) Ella E (’15) (Students) Emmett B (’17) (Students) Jacob H (’17) (Students) Jamin W (’17) (Students) Miriam S (’15) (Students) Sarah B (’17) (Students) Shuli F (’15) (Students)

This week, JPDS-NC students in grades 3-6 participated in the Math Olympiad. It is an international competition that takes place every year from November to March. Each month, we get five questions ranging in difficulty that need to be answered without calculators. There are never any multiple choice questions. Students need to use algebra, geometry […]


Primary Parents Update

December 11, 2014 by Elizabeth Goldel (Students) Yvonne White (Community)

This has been busy and productive fall for Primary Parents. Here are a few highlights so far in the 2014-2015 school year that have particularly excited us: Our website is continually evolving, and we are using it as a key resource to keep you up to date on the world of Primary Parents. We now offer […]


Fifth Graders Re-create a Colonial Village in School

December 3, 2014 by Miriam R (’16) (Students)

The fifth graders just wrapped up our Colonial America unit. We wrote essays about Jamestown, performed skits about a colonial child and a modern-day child meeting, and debated a freedom of the press case from the 1700s. The two culminating events of that unit were a field trip to Mount Vernon, and transforming the school […]


Sixth Graders Organize a “Shuk for Shalom” to Raise Money for Israel

November 26, 2014 by Isabel A (’15) (Students) Jonah B (’15) (Students) Miranda N (’15) (Students) Shuli F (’15) (Students)

This fall, the sixth graders at JPDS-NC led a school wide campaign to show our support for Israel. We decided to hold a fundraiser and organized our own shuk (market) at school. In Israel, there is a big shuk where people sell all kinds of things. At our mini-shuk, we sold donated books, toys, games, […]


A Special Visit with Ambassador Kurtzer

November 21, 2014 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt (and JPDS-NC grandparent), spoke to our students as part of the month-long Rabin Curriculum on Conflict Resolution. Students gathered in the Rabin Library for a lively discussion with the Ambassador about his recollections of Prime Minister Rabin, his work as a diplomat under Presidents Bill […]


The Shuk for Shalom, our Student-Led Tikkun Olam Project to Raise Money for Israel

November 20, 2014 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

This fall, as part of their Tikkun Olam project, JPDS-NC’s sixth graders led a school-wide campaign to engage students, show our school’s support for Israel and raise money. On November 12, the sixth graders hosted a fundraiser and transformed the Gottesman Auditorium into the Shuk for Shalom, resembling Israel’s large outdoor markets. After weeks of […]