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3/29/14

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Judaism is an organic entity – a religion that has grown and evolved, while maintaining its core values, traditions, and identity.  By acknowledging this evolution, and understanding the challenges facing southern Jewish students – location, resource limitations, scheduling, and support, we meet this need in the 2014-2015 school year, by focusing on 4 key areas of growth for the Identity of our Jewish students:

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• The Religious School of Temple Kol Ami will create a new environment for the fast-paced, busy Jewish family, through family education and restructured Religious School classes.

 

• Temple Kol Ami and its Religious School will focus, not only on, the success of our B’nei Mitzvah students, but on the process of creating knowledgeable, giving and supportive Jewish adults as well, through the use of a set of guidelines for Bar/Bat Mitzvah students and continuing education for students and families afterward.

 

• School pride and pride in the Jewish self will go hand-in-hand at Temple Kol Ami. Students will be encouraged to show Jewish identity at school, and beyond its borders. Students will be encouraged to wear Temple Kol Ami t-shirts, kippot, and other Judaica that represent their Jewish identity. The school will also aim to display and celebrate student work, continue and grow Kehillah programming, and students and teachers will begin addressing each other using Hebrew names and greetings.

 

• Community engagement will grow during this initiative with the addition and flexibility of ritual and community events, and students and families will actively attend and participate through the use of incentives and involvement. 

 

 

We expect that through the implication of this new partnership and initiative, the Religious School of Temple Kol Ami will maintain its active enrollment and encourage long-term participation and attendance. It is our goal that we continue to serve our students and community, and increase our potential for growth, while still holding steadfast to our school’s mission:

 

The mission of the Religious School of Temple Kol Ami is to inspire students and their families a commitment to avodah (prayer and spiritual growth), to Torah, and to gemilut hasadim (the repair of the world through goodness) through the learning of Jewish texts, life cycles, rituals, and history. The goal of this school is to provide all of this within a safe and loving environment and help to foster a sense of Jewish identity and modern community within our students and families.

 

The Staff of Temple Kol Ami Religious School