Our Stories

Volunteer Spotlight: Abigail Sharon

April 21, 2015 by Sharon Samber (Community)

JPDS-NC’s strength is due, in part, to the dedication of a cadre of talented and energetic parent volunteers. To learn first-hand about what motivates and inspires our volunteers, read the interview with parent Abigail Sharon. What is your volunteer role? Abigail: I produced and directed the JPDS-NC film and was privileged to work with the school’s […]


Teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) at JPDS-NC

April 16, 2015 by Elana Cohen (Faculty and Staff)

The concept of teaching STEM is designing curriculum to include science, technology, and engineering in an applied approach. True STEM education provides opportunities for students to practice designing and implementing real-life science experiences at all ages. What does that look like in an elementary school classroom? It involves diving deeper into a topic and spending more […]


The Great and Challenging Math Carnival of JPDS-NC

April 16, 2015 by Lisa Schopf (Faculty and Staff)

This spring, the fifth grade students in my math class worked to create a math carnival to offer fun challenges in math to their fellow fifth graders. After three months spent planning the project and designing games, the math carnival opened on March 30. It all began when the students suggested preparing a math carnival […]


Pre-Kindergarten and Fourth Grade Report on JPDS-NC’s Yom Chesed (Good Deeds Day)

April 8, 2015 by Adina S (’17) (Students) Eli L (’24) (Students) Eliav B (’17) (Students) Hannah J (’24) (Students) Isaac T (’17) (Students) Joshua A (’24) (Students) Joshua K (’17) (Students) Judah B (’17) (Students) Lily L (’24) (Students) Matan S (’17) (Students) Simon K (’17) (Students) Theo P (’24) (Students)

We had a special Good Deeds Day at JPDS-NC. Every grade performed a different good deed to help the world. As fourth graders, we got to mentor the pre-Kindergarteners, and work with them to bake challahs for the Hebrew Sheltering Home, which provides transitional housing to Jewish people in need. First, we taught Torah to […]


Kindergarten Project to Help the Homeless

April 1, 2015 by Class of 2023 (Students)

In the Gan Tmarim class, we are learning about people who are homeless. When we learned that homeless people may not have a job, money, clothes, food or toys, we were surprised and sad. To learn more, we read a book about a girl who lives in a shelter and doesn’t have any toys, so […]


Volunteer Spotlight: Laurie Brumberg

March 26, 2015 by Sharon Samber (Community)

JPDS-NC’s strength is due, in part, to the dedication of a cadre of talented and energetic parent volunteers. To learn first-hand about what motivates and inspires our volunteers, read the interview with parent Laurie Brumberg. What is your volunteer role? Laurie: I chaired Birthday Lunch and Box Lunch for two years, introduced Zelda’s chocolates and Israeli […]


Supporting and Developing Teachers through the Jewish New Teacher Project Partnership

March 19, 2015 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

A great school requires the best teachers. JPDS-NC is committed to not only attracting and retaining our extraordinary faculty but to nurturing their talent as well. One of the ways we support and develop our new and veteran teachers is through the Jewish New Teachers Project (JNTP). JNTP is based on the work of the […]


Fifth Grader Reflects on their Class Shabbaton

March 11, 2015 by Jennifer N (’16) (Students)

On Friday, February 27, the forty-four students of the 5th grade class went to Kemp Mill for the annual Shabbaton to experience an Orthodox Shabbat. Several very nice families hosted three to six kids in their homes, which were within a half-mile radius of each other. My host family was very nice and welcoming, especially […]


Second Graders Transform their Classroom into the Human Body for the Art & Science Expo

March 1, 2015 by Class of 2021 (Students)

The Art and Science Expo is a special night at JPDS-NC, when children and parents come to learn in a fun and exciting way! In second grade, we focus on systems within us and around us. One of the systems we learned about is the human body. For the Expo, we decided to transform our […]


First Graders Conduct Research and Present their Oceans Studies

February 25, 2015 by Class of 2022 (Students)

We came up with “big ideas” that we wanted to learn about: the human body, technology, recycling and the ocean. We took a vote to see what we should focus on, and the ocean won.  We read books and decided to research ocean animals. We chose to focus on sharks, dolphins, fish, jellyfish, silver gulls, […]