YES! Whether virtual or in-person, we plan to offer you the same amount of  “school” as in the past.

We know many of our students will be all or mostly virtual for their secular schooling. We know and we plan to make virtual learning at Temple Israel dynamic and interactive.  All educators will be trained and supported in utilizing tools and strategies that promote experiential virtual learning to keep everyone engaged.

We hear you and we have a plan for that. We have spent 6 months evaluating, researching and strategizing for our youngest learners. We plan to offer an exciting new elective model, allowing our students to learn Jewish values, holidays, and traditions in a “choose your own Jewish adventure” type program! Our focus will be to learn through exciting and interactive classes such as cooking, art, and music (to name a few) and an exciting new bonus this year… Shabbat Sha’Buddies! Our youngest learners will be paired with our dedicated and enthusiastic teens to help build social connections and special mentor/mentee relationships!

You may switch your K-3 student from in-person to the virtual option at any point. Simply let us know as soon as possible. Given class size constraints, any K-3 students that would like to switch from virtual to in-person can do so only if there is space available. In the meantime, we will put you on a waiting list and inform you immediately of an opening if one becomes available.

YES. Rabbi Melissa has been overseeing virtual learning for the last 12 years and with the help of our education team has refined that learning to include Jewish virtual content that is leap years beyond the old strategies for learning Hebrew. In fact, we found that when we pivoted to an all on-line platform last spring, our Hebrew learners excelled beyond our expectations. The virtual platform gives us incredible flexibility and even offers smaller groups for learning Hebrew, offering our student personalized attention.

While we understand this question, our cost per student is actually increased for virtual learning. We are investing in better technology, teacher training, expertly curated and newly created digital curriculum, and more. In addition, our typical tuition has always been generously subsidized by our congregational leadership and has never covered all of our operational costs.

Our team of TiLearn administration and faculty are virtual veterans. In fact, they have been instrumental in helping us train educators and curate digital content. TiLearn was designed as a blended learning model, with half of the learning taking place with our renown “Shalom Learning” digital curriculum. While we usually use our “on-site” day for Hebrew learning, we have developed a robust plan to tackle Hebrew in the virtual space with lots of opportunities for individualized help.

Last year we piloted a new Jr. Academy program that empowers teens to have a voice in their learning, speaks to their maturity, and accommodates individual interests. We plan to harness technology to accomplish even more this year!  This year our Jr. Academy students will study Israel as their core content in one semester and then choose an elective for the other semester. In addition, our Grade 6 students will have weekly one-on-one Hebrew tutoring sessions via Zoom and group Hebrew learning with our team of educators.

Academy teens will continue to meet bi-monthly for engaging learning, social justice and advocacy training as well as youth group nights that help bring our teens together for some much needed social connectedness. Topics are determined by teen interest, and will continue to be taught by Temple Israel educators, clergy, and visiting scholars.