ELEMENTARY PROGRAM  (Grades K - 7)

Temple Beth El Hebrew School offers quality Jewish education in the Conservative tradition. Regular classes are supplemented by special events, family programs and religious services.  Please our calendar for the 2009-2010 school year so you can plan ahead accordingly.  2009-2010 Calendar (290.38 kB)

Kitah Gan-Alef (Grade K-1) students come on Saturday or Sunday mornings for stories, songs, holiday celebrations, art projects and special activities designed to introduce them to Jewish life and traditions while having fun and making new friends. The core grades Kitot Bet-Vav (Grades 2-6) meet for a total of five hours a week; Saturday or Sunday 9:00 a.m to noon and Wednesday 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Because of the intensity of Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation Kitah Zayin (Grade 7) attends only on Saturday or Sunday morning. Other features of our program include:

Assemblies and Services. From time to time some or all of the grades gather together in the Sanctuary to daven or for special assemblies to enhance the regular curriculum.  Parents are welcome to join us on these occasions.

Music. All classes have music on Sundays. Gan/Alef and Bet (grades K/1 and 2) have music twice a month under the leadership of music specialist, Charlie Miller. Students in the upper elementary grades learn prayer melodies for Shabbat and festivals, as well as holiday and Israeli songs and dances with both the music and classroom teachers.

Parashat Hashavuah. All classes study Parashat Hashavuah (the weekly Torah portion) in class and periodically Rabbi Braun joins them for their discussions and to share her insights. This gives students the opportunity to become familiar with the cycle of Torah reading throughout the year and to explore its many themes and lessons.

Tzedakah. The practice of "giving tzedakah" (money to help those less fortunate than ourselves) is central to the Jewish tradition. Children are encouraged to bring tsedakah money with them to be collected in each class. Together, the classes decide where to send their donations at the end of the school year. In the past students have raised as much as $2000. Each year they choose to send tsedakah money to many worthy organizations, both in Israel and the U. S.  Hebrew School children are also asked to bring canned goods and other food items to school to be donated to Project Feed, a local food pantry.

Family Activities. The Hebrew School holds family dinners, services, speakers, and holiday celebration activities throughout the year and strongly supports the involvement of families in the Hebrew School experience.  We welcome your involvement as a participant or as an activity leader!

Parent Volunteers. Participation by parents in our Hebrew School enhances the classroom environment and is essential to making our special programs run smoothly. Please contact the school office if you would like to volunteer on a regular basis or for special events. We encourage parents to assist in the classrooms, help with services, dinners, holiday programs, fundraising, or to get involved in any other way that will benefit the children and the school. We would be most happy to have you.

Special Donations. Many of our extra family events are offered at no charge. Families may want to sponsor these activities in honor of their child's birthday, a family anniversary, or other happy occasion. People may contribute to the Hebrew School Fund in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special event. The Temple office sends acknowledgement cards to the families of those honored or remembered. The Temple Beth El Hebrew School appreciates all donations.

School Closings. Hebrew School will be canceled for inclement weather on Wednesdays when the Portland Public Schools or after school activities are canceled. Announcements will appear on the front page of the Temple website and aired over radio stations WGAN-AM, WMGX -FM, and WPOR. If the weather worsens on a day when public schools have not been canceled, the individual public schools as well as the radio stations will be notified. The decision in these instances will be made no later than 1:30 p.m. On Sundays, the decision to cancel school will be made by 7:30 a.m. and stations notified. A message will also be placed on the Temple’s answering machine.

Innovations & Enhancement

The Hebrew School Committee is proud of the excellent education the Hebrew School provides.  Nevertheless, in its quest for continual growth and improvement the committee identified several directions for enhancement.

The Hebrew School has adopted the innovative multi-age classrooms approach to learning as its educational model.  This combining of classes offers a number of educational advantages.  It enhances community by increasing interaction among students within and between grades.  It encourages peer teaching. And it allows more madrichim (teacher aides) to assist each class.  This model offers greater flexibility in grouping students based on learning styles, academic levels, social interaction, and it encourages the creation of learning centers Overall it provides for more individualized instruction and increased teaching creativity.

The Hebrew School is also enhancing Tefillah (Prayer) in the school in several ways, including the creation of the position of Tefillah Specialist to work regularly with each class on chanting prayers.  Having a Tefillah Specialist creates greater continuity among classes and from year to year.  We are also creating regular, age-appropriate minyanim to enhance familiarity with services and facilitate more opportunities for prayer.  Comfort with prayer requires not only learning the meaning of prayers and their chanting, but also having actual practice praying.

As a way to enhance community as well as Shabbat within the school, each class will have one Shabbat evening dinner during the school year.  Students will lead much of those Friday services.  And families will have an opportunity to get to know each other better over a shared Shabbat.

Another way to enhance Shabbat is the creation on four Shabbat mornings during the year of a Shabbat Morning Experience which will include Kids Kehillah (Beth El’s version of Youth sevices) as well as adult options for parents. On these four Saturday mornings the Shabbat Morning Experience will replace Sunday morning classes. Having the rest of the weekend uninterrupted by Sunday School on those weekends will also create opportunities for more sustained family time.

This new Shabbat Morning Experience includes creative learning by all classes on a single topic (in age-appropriate ways) along with an optional adult learning session on that same topic.  As an adaptation of the monthly Shabbat morning Bagel Brunches introduced during Shabbat services this past year, the entire Hebrew School and those attending the adult learning session will join the main congregation these weeks for a communal brunch.  After brunch parents will be invited to a joint activity with their children developing the topic of the earlier learning sessions.  Students will then hold age-appropriate Kids Kehillah services to which parents are invited.  Finally, students will join the regular Shabbat service helping to lead the concluding hymns.

We are very excited about these new avenues for growth and welcome the entire congregation’s participation throughout the year.