In accordance with the mission of The Shlenker School, Jewish learning is integrated into every aspect of the school day.  Jewish content is used to enforce specific skills, while higher-level thinking is encouraged by discussions based on Torah learning, holiday observance and ethical decisions.  This focus on integrated learning begins in our youngest classes and culminates with the graduation of our fifth graders, who write the prayer book they use for their graduation service.

In the Early Childhood program, integrated thematic units are designed around Torah stories and Jewish holidays.  For example, Older Toddler students learn about animals at the same time that they learn the story of Noah’s Ark; PreK-3 students learn about hospitality and good nutrition when they learn about Thanksgiving and Abraham’s hospitality to strangers; PreK-4 students discuss the difference between things made by humans and things made by God when they discuss Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, and creation.

In the Elementary School, students engage in Torah study all year.  As we do in Early Childhood, the themes and content of Torah are fully integrated into our curriculum.  For example, when first graders study the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, they also discuss how rules and laws help societies.  This is one of the content areas in the first grade social studies curriculum. Third graders study immigration around Thanksgiving; as part of their social studies curriculum, they also study Torah. Their teachers introduce them to the story of Abraham’s immigration from the land of his birth to the land of Canaan.  As well, specific language arts and literary skills, such as sequencing, character analysis and predicting outcomes, are reinforced using the translated Torah texts  that are part of the unit.  Torah units are designed using the Understanding by Design model, which allows for differentiation and deep learning.

Beginning in PreK-3, all Shlenker students learn Hebrew.  Our PreK-3 and PreK-4 students have one Hebrew class a week; our kindergarten and first grade students have a half-hour class every day; and second through fifth grade students learn Hebrew for 45 minutes daily.  The emphasis in our instruction is conversational Hebrew, and the content matter of the lessons enables children to talk about things that are important to them such as their families, their personal descriptions, activities, school trips, etc.  Students also learn the prayers used in Reform services; fifth graders have the opportunity to learn to chant and read from Torah.