January 31, 2025 by
Across the grades, the STEM department incorporates engineering design into its curriculum, often in order to tackle real world problems. Below, we feature examples:
January 29, 2025 by
On Friday, January 17, family members of our Pre-K class gathered to celebrate their children’s learning. Throughout the morning, students shared what they had learned and done from August through January, from Hebrew and Judaics to general studies. This Chagigat Halomedim, or celebration of learning, largely featured the students’ year-long study of identity. As Pre-K […]
January 13, 2016 by
This week’s parasha tells the story of the last three plagues, the preparations that the Bnei Yisrael need to make in order to leave Mitzrayim, and the actual exodus itself. There is an unusual and unexpected verse right in the middle of the section when God relates to Moshe what will happen during the plague […]
January 12, 2016 by
The third grade classes made an American Indian Museum. All fifty-one students in the grade worked to research and make displays about different Native American tribes. We learned about the Sioux, the Cherokee, the Northwest Coast, and the Iroquois tribes. For our museum, the students made everything from tomahawks to tipis to feather headdresses. Students […]
January 7, 2016 by
What do an ancient Greek mathematician, little green people, and a karate-kicking 12-year-old girl have in common? They’re all in Hypatia Academy, a novel written and published by Esther Goldenberg, alumni JPDS-NC teacher and parent (mother of Ellie, class of 2014). The book is “the story of one girl’s unintended quest to find the source […]
January 6, 2016 by
I had a Bible Professor who often said about the Biblical text, “Everything else is around it or about it. This is it.” I feel that way about the various genres of Jewish texts, both biblical and Rabbinic. For our children to be educated Jews, it is not enough for them to learn around them […]
January 6, 2016 by
In this parasha, through Moshe and Aharon, Hashem brings plagues on the Mitzrim (Egyptians), and Paro repeatedly refuses to allow the Bnei Yisrael to leave. When Moshe goes to speak with Bnei Yisrael about redemption and the wonders that God will use to bring them into the Land of Israel, the Torah tells us [6:9]: “And they […]
December 29, 2015 by
In this parasha, Bnei Yisrael become slaves to Paro; Paro’s daughter saves Moshe from the Nile and, after killing an Egyptian taskmaster, Moshe flees to Midian where he marries and has children; Hashem instructs Moshe to liberate the people; Moshe returns to Egypt, and Moshe and Aharon approach Paro, who refuses their request for liberation. […]
December 23, 2015 by
In this parasha, Yaakov blesses his sons on his deathbed and asks them to bury him in Canaan. Many of us know the story of the blind patriarch who, ostensibly due to his lack of sight, gives the younger son the blessing of the firstborn and vice versa. Of course, this scenario describes Yitzchak’s blessings of […]
December 17, 2015 by
At our school, we have been exploring a seemingly obvious notion that actually has profound implications. When I first began to explore the concept that “Children are competent/capable,” I thought, “Of course, what’s so new about that insight? I have always believed children are capable, and I support them to see themselves that way….” But […]
December 16, 2015 by
The Fifth Graders at the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital have just finished their Colonial History unit. For a few months, the students learn about the founding of the colonies and about famous figures such as John Winthrop, John Smith, and the Kings of England. Then, each student chooses a colonial profession […]
December 16, 2015 by
In this parasha, Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers, prompting the entire family to move to Egypt, where Yosef reunites with his father, Yaakov. Yaakov’s story comes full circle in chapter 46, verses 2-4, a passage with many intriguing parallels to a text that we read five weeks ago, about Yaakov starting out on […]
