Rabbi Akevy Greenblatt Article – Summer Newsletter July 16, 2010

I hope you are all having an enjoyable and relaxing summer. It is difficult to believe that in about one month our faculty will be returning for in-service and that the first day of school is less than five weeks away.
Over the past few years I have written about the importance of Curriculum and the Tal Am program. However, learning is an ongoing process that is constantly evolving and we cannot rest on our laurels and be content with what we have achieved. I am certainly not denigrating our past accomplishments in the area of elementary Judaic Studies. We have the Tal Am curriculum in grades 1-4 which is a Hebrew immersion program based upon the latest in “brain based research,” we have differentiated many aspects of our fifth grade curriculum, and the technology that was introduced last year in sixth grade will now be available in every classroom. These improvements do not, however, address everything that we want our students to learn.
Over the summer I have begun the process of looking at ways to improve the Tal Am curriculum and to bring more differentiated initiatives into the Judaic classrooms. This is not a process that can be done alone nor is it something that can be accomplished overnight. Throughout the year I will be working closely with our teachers, whose input into this process is essential to accomplish this goal. We will need to establish benchmarks and standards to enable us to enhance our curriculum so that our students can achieve optimum success in Judaic Studies. Another project that we will be working on is getting Chumash and Ivrit standards in place by the end of the 2010-2011 school year.
We cannot operate in a vacuum and your input and support is important. To that end I have created a blog “Lower School JS” so that I can communicate with you about what is going on and I encourage you to send comments. The blog can be accessed at mhalowerschooljudaics.blogspot.com. I hope to send out divisional emails as well as a means of open communication. Enjoy the rest of the summer, stay cool and have a meaningful fast.

Welcome

I have started this blog in an effort to communicate with you about the wonderful things that are going on in the Judaic studies program at the Margolin Hebrew Academy. I encourage you to comment and follow what we are doing.
I am looking forward to a wonderful year of learning and growth.
Have a wonderful summer and see y'all in about five weeks

Akevy