December 23, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff) Sharon Freundel (Community)

This morning, we explored together the various meanings behind Chanukah and engaged in fun hands-on learning. Following a discussion of the nes nistar, the covert miracle of the Maccabean victory over the massive Greek forces and the nes nigleh, the overt miracle of the one day of oil burning for eight days, we lit the […]

• Holidays

December 22, 2016 by Gili Bitton (Faculty and Staff) Hannah Seidel (Faculty and Staff) Vered Goldstein (Faculty and Staff)

JPDS-NC is celebrating Chanukah! Watch our holiday video and see first graders discuss the story of Chanukah – all in Hebrew! – and hear Kindergartners and first graders sing Chanukah songs! We wish everyone a chag sameach (happy holiday)!

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• Holidays
• Multimedia
• Music

December 1, 2016 by Naomi Reem (Faculty and Staff) Sharon Freundel (Community)

We are delighted to introduce the fourth edition of the JPDS-NC siddur (prayerbook). Nine years ago, we embarked on our quest for a multi-denominational, kid-friendly siddur. Unable to find such a thing, we created our own and have been successfully using it for the past six years. With this newest edition, we have renamed it Siddur Am Echad, literally, […]

• #ThisIsWhy
• Creative Writing
• Holidays
• Visual Arts

October 20, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

Sharon Freundel, JPDS-NC’s Director of Jewish Life, has been named one of only 10 Jewish educators in the world who will serve on HaKaveret, an innovation design team focused on improving Jewish education. The team of elite Jewish educators will spend the next year learning with and from each other as well as external experts, […]

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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

September 29, 2016 by Sindy Udell (Faculty and Staff)

What does Rosh Hashanah have to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)? Last Sunday, thirty children from the greater Washington, DC area came to JPDS-NC to find out. Kindergarten teacher Xani Pollakoff and Admission Associate Lindsey Marks led an innovative program that uniquely combined Rosh Hashanah teachings with STEM and design thinking. Children […]

• Design Thinking
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• STEM

September 14, 2016 by Mindy Hirsch (Faculty and Staff)

Third Graders at JPDS-NC are getting ready for the high holidays. This week, they went to the Shofar Factory where they learned about the process of making a shofar and what makes it kosher – and then each student got to make one of their own! Check out their video below.

• Holidays
• Multimedia

June 29, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff) Shifra Chelst (Faculty and Staff)

This year, our sixth graders were drawn into a mystery in their Judaic Studies class. Exploring the text of Melachim Bet, Kings II, they discovered that puzzling stories abound in our past, rich with plots, lost tribes, confounding motives, and the appearance of multiple golden calves. And with these mysteries came many opportunities to question, […]

May 16, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff) Sharon Freundel (Community)

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 […]

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• Holidays
• Israel
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May 11, 2016 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

Yasher Koach to Batya S., who is featured on the homepage of Jewish Braille Institute International (JBI). The website includes a link to a video of Batya’s extraordinary and inspiring reading of Megillat Esther. The Third Grader read beautifully from her braille megillah as part our campus-wide Purim celebration. Kol Hakavod to Batya! And thank […]

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• Music