It’s no surprise that in an era where extracurricular activities are beginning at younger and younger ages and where working families are trying to maximize their time together that making time for Jewish education can be daunting. With that in mind, Temple Har Shalom in Warren, NJ is looking to make Religious School not another activity to schedule around but an organic part of the week, based on a new flexible and family-friendly model.
Beginning with the 2013-2014/5774 academic year, Sunday Religious School, which was previously two separate sessions, will now be combined into one single session, creating a true community inside the synagogue with over 240 students learning and experiencing their Jewish education together. “We know how many parents wrestle with ever-growing jam-packed schedules for their children,” said Rabbi Randi Musnitsky, “and we hope that moving to one main session of school will allow for a better balance between secular activities and their children’s Jewish education.” For families with more than one child, centralizing Sunday Religious School makes it much easier to accommodate schedules, with no more running back and forth to pick-up/drop-off at different times for different sessions. Sundays can now mean making it to sports games on time, grabbing brunch with family after school or giving plenty of time to enjoy the remainder of the weekend. In addition, this new schedule lends itself to family programs, adult learning opportunities, Temple-wide programming and social action projects when a majority of families are already at the Temple.
On the heels of the new schedule, Temple Har Shalom is also proud to now offer an optional Hebrew add-on program for Sundays. In addition to regular Tuesday & Wednesday Hebrew School, the synagogue will now offer Hebrew classes on Sundays immediately following Religious School from 11:15am-12:45pm. While the day may be long for some, others may find relief in being able to centralize their schedules to one day. Classes will mirror their midweek counterparts with no difference in the quality of instruction.
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Finally, the 7th Graders will now be joining the 8th-12th Graders on Wednesday evenings to experience the community of over 150 students enrolled in the High School program. This change is in direct response to many 7th grade parents asking to make their schedules more manageable. Understanding that the students’ 7th Grade year already involves appointments with the Cantor and meetings with the Rabbi, classes now meet only on Wednesday evenings from 6:15-8:00. In addition to simply making scheduling simpler, the hope is that the 7th Grade students will see the major social components that come along with high school, including being a part of a more mature, discussion based classroom setting and enjoying the weekly dinner. Finally, by experiencing the high school atmosphere on a weekly basis, the decision to continue their Jewish education through high school graduation will be, as it is for most of the students at Har Shalom, an easy choice to make!
