Our Stories

Student Tefilah Committee Presents New School Ark

October 6, 2016 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

The Tefilah Committee is a volunteer group of students in Grades 3 to 6 whose goal is to make Tefilah (prayer) a better and more meaningful experience for all the students. This fall, the Committee presented the newly restored ark, which will be used by third, fourth, and fifth graders during tefilah. The ark was unveiled to the 3rd-6th grade students during Big […]

  • Visual Arts

2015-2016 Kindergarten Community Quilt Goes on Display

September 21, 2016 by Lisa Davis (Faculty and Staff)

Last week, we were thrilled to welcome the South Campus parent community to a new school year at Back to School Night. As part of our preparation of the shared spaces, we hung the Kindergarten Community Quilt above the fireplace in the Kikar. The quilt was made by the students during the 2015-2016 school year. […]

  • Visual Arts

JPDS-NC Fourth Graders Perform and Teach Israeli Dance to Area Students at Embassy of Israel

May 26, 2016 by Eleanor F (’20) (Students) Lilli L (’20) (Students) Zoe K (’20) (Students)

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 […]

  • Dance
  • Israel
  • Performing Arts
  • Student Stories
  • Washington D.C.

Comparing Communities: Kindergarteners Engage in In-Depth Study of Social Insects

May 24, 2016 by Lisa Davis (Faculty and Staff) Vas Pournaras (Faculty and Staff) Xani Pollakoff (Faculty and Staff)

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 […]

  • Environmental Education
  • Project Based Learning
  • Visual Arts

Sixth Graders Create Hebrew-Language Documentary Films Exploring Family Immigration Stories

May 19, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff) Shoshana Sfarzada (Faculty and Staff)

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 […]

  • Creative Writing
  • M'dor L'dor
  • Multimedia
  • Project Based Learning

Sixth Grade Students Invited to Display Art about the Holocaust at Community Commemoration

April 20, 2016 by Shifra Chelst (Faculty and Staff)

A fishbowl, half-filled with dirt, with a paper butterfly inside. Taped around the outside of the fishbowl: the poem “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” which we read during our 5th grade Holocaust study. A tube of golf balls, 6 yellow for the Jews, 5 others in various colors for the gays, Jehovah’s witnesses and Roma […]

  • Holidays
  • Project Based Learning
  • Visual Arts

Watch the Video of Our Performing Arts Program

April 13, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

This Sunday we held our annual Performing Arts Show, featuring fabulous Israeli dancing by students in grades Pre-K to Six, as well as exuberant performances by our fifth and sixth grade Percussion Chug and Drama Chug students. Watch the video of this wonderful event! (Please note: this link will take you to a 15-minute preview; you will have […]

  • Dance
  • Multimedia
  • Music
  • Performing Arts

Interdisciplinary Learning on Display at the Art and Science Expo

February 17, 2016 by Elana Cohen (Faculty and Staff)

With our North Campus Design Lab up and running, teams of students had opportunities to practice Design Thinking and to make their learning visible with access to a variety of materials and tools for this year’s Expo projects. Calling it an “Art and Science” Expo is somewhat limiting, as much of the work was truly […]

  • Design Thinking
  • Project Based Learning
  • STEAM
  • STEM
  • Visual Arts

Changemakers: Kindergarten Students Redesign South Campus Library

February 10, 2016 by Lisa Davis (Faculty and Staff)

The grand re-opening of the South Campus Community Library occurred last week during the Kindergarten Bayit Patuach (Open House). With a flourish and a “one, two, three, cut!” every Kindergarten child used scissors to snip a long ribbon stretched across the library. The ceremony culminated months of hard work by the three Kindergarten classes as […]

  • Design Thinking
  • Project Based Learning
  • STEAM

In the News: Students Create "Art from the Heart" for Area Hospitals

February 9, 2016 by Washington Jewish Week (Press)

Read the Washington Jewish Week article about our amazing students who created artwork to decorate spaces used by young patients and their families at Children’s National Medical Center and at Shady Grove Hospital. Students in grades Kindergarten to 5 created vibrant works of art with “Birkat Habayit: Blessings of the Home” as the theme. Thank […]

  • In the News
  • Tikkun Olam
  • Visual Arts