Registration 2009 2010

Dear Parents, Enclosed are the registration forms for the 2009-2010 Religious School year. Please read all of the materials carefully (there are eight pages including this letter) and return the forms as soon as possible to Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel with a check for payment (432 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ 07079). Returning your registration forms as soon as possible greatly helps with our planning and ensures your child is placed with his/her friends. As a SPECIAL INCENTIVE to encourage early registration, if you submit your forms by August 1st your family’s name will be entered into a lottery. The winner of the drawing will receive a free pass through the carpool line and will not have to wait in the carpool line next year. Please note that the first day of Religious School is Sunday, October 4th. Refer to the Religious School calendar on our website at www.tsti.org for the complete schedule for the year. As you have read in a previously sent letter, we will be offering one school session this year on Sunday mornings and Tuesday afternoons. Below is the schedule by grade level. Please note that carpool drop off will begin at 8:45 am on Sundays. Classes will begin precisely at 9:00. Tuesday drop off will begin at 3:45 pm and classes will begin at 4:00. Kindergarten - 2nd 3rd – 6th (October 4th- May 16th)

Sunday 9:00 - 11:30 Sunday 9:00 - 11:30 and Tuesdays 4:00 - 6:00 Tuesday 6:00 - 7:00 Hebrew Tutorial

th

7 Grade Program

or Homework Hour

(October 20th - April 20th)

7:00 - 7:30 Pizza Dinner 7:30 - 9:00 Program

8th Grade Program (October 20th - April 20th) Hebrew High (October 20th - April 20th)

Tuesday 7:00 - 9:00

Tuesday 7:00 - 9:00

If you have any questions please email me at [email protected] or call 973-763-3793. Thank you,

Pia Kutten Director, Linda and Rudy Slucker Religious School of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel

Dear Religious School Families, According to our tradition, when God gave us the gift of Torah we promised to commit ourselves to teaching each new generation to live a life guided by its principles. This year our Temple community will be writing our very own Torah scroll. As part of this exciting journey, all of our students will have the privilege of meeting with our scribe Zerach Greenfield, to learn about the process of writing and caring for our Sefer Torah. During this Year of the Torah, our students will become intimately connected to both the Jewish world of our ancestors and the future generations of our community, as we share in this great mitzvah. By participating in curriculum related Torah lessons in the classrooms, as well as school-wide events, our students will experience the sacredness of Torah while creating precious memories. I would also like to highlight a number of important and exciting changes that will take place at the Linda and Rudy Slucker Religious School during the coming 2009-2010 academic year. Most significant is our new schedule, about which a separate letter has been sent. COMMUNICATIONS The Religious School is committed to ongoing communication with families. During the 2009-2010 school year, families can expect to see the following advances in school communications: •

E-Mail All communications regarding events, scheduling, etc. will now be by e-mail. With rare exceptions, there will be no physical mailings. You will receive a welcome e-mail from your children’s teachers at the start of the school year. If you do not receive an e-mail, please check your spam or junk e-mail filters to make sure our e-mails are not being filtered out. If you are still not receiving e-mail, please contact the Religious School office to make sure we have your correct e-mail address. Please make sure to inform the Religious School office if your e-mail address changes.

•

WebSite The Religious School’s website has been redesigned and will be used more effectively. The complete Religious School calendar will be available on-line, and will be updated regularly. (The refrigerator magnets with the school calendar will no longer be used.) Although we do not expect to have it ready for all grades at the beginning of 2009-2010, curricula for each grade will eventually be made available on the website.

•

Teacher Updates Parents will receive periodic e-mail updates from their children’s teachers explaining what topics are being addressed in class, and making suggestions about things parents can do or discuss with their children at home that will reinforce the curriculum.

NEW HEBREW CURRICULUM The school’s current Hebrew curriculum, Mitkadem, is being replaced with an innovative curriculum created by Behrman House that features both a book and a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM will be provided to every student and will reinforce what is learned in the classroom while also serving as an entertaining educational tool. Parents are encouraged to play along and learn with their child. Our 3rd grade students will be using the Alef Bet Quest primer (for a preview go to www.alefbetquest.com) and all 4th graders will be using Kol Yisrael (www.kolyisrael.net). Our 5th graders will study Hebrew prayers with Behrman House’s Hineni prayer packets, while our 6th graders will continue to utilize their Bat/Bar mitzvah materials. The decision to change to this Hebrew curriculum comes at the recommendation of our Hebrew teachers who have identified ways to improve upon our previous program. In addition, this new program does not require testing, and will therefore eliminate unnecessary stress for our students. We are confident that this dynamic, new program will provide a more positive learning experience. STUDENT PLACEMENT The Linda and Rudy Slucker Religious School is a comprehensive, K-12 Reform Jewish supplementary school. We encourage all students to enroll in kindergarten and continue their Jewish education through to graduation in 12th grade. However, we also recognize that many of our students do not enroll until 3rd grade. We will place students who start in 3rd grade into a class which will focus on learning basics such as the Hebrew alphabet that were covered in grades K-2. Continuing third grade students, who already covered this material in K-2, will start with a more advanced 3rd grade curriculum. (Exceptions can be made for anyone who chooses an alternative class for social or other reasons). B’LAY’VAV The B’lay’vav program will continue, providing resources to students with special needs, as well as enrichment opportunities for those students who want to pursue their Hebrew or Judaic studies further than the standard curriculum provides. Despite our overall budget cuts for the upcoming academic year, our budget for B’lay’vav will increase. The B’lay’vav program is customized for the needs of each child so that they can work to their individual potential. Should a teacher determine that a child might benefit from the B’lay’vav program, either for extra help or enrichment, the teacher will contact the child’s parents. Students and parents may also request tutoring with B’lay’vav at any point during the year as well. We are looking forward to instituting these changes and encourage you to read over our newly revised Parent Manual for additional information about the Religious School. Please remember to regularly check our website at www.tsti.org for school updates. I hope you have a relaxing summer and I look forward to seeing you in October. B’Shalom,

Pia Kutten, Director, Linda and Rudy Slucker Religious School of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel

STUDENT INFORMATION Name of Student(s):

Hebrew Name:

Grade

Date of Birth:

Gender:

FRIEND REQUEST Please place my child with the following friends: (Requests must be mutual and may not exceed two friends)

SCHEDULE BY GRADE Kindergarten - 2nd Grade

Sunday 9:00 - 11:30

3rd - 6th Grade

Sunday 9:00 - 11:30 and Tuesdays 4:00 - 6:00

(October 4th- May 16th)

Tuesday 6:00 - 7:00 Hebrew Tutorial or Homework Hour

7th Grade Program

7:00 - 7:30 Pizza Dinner

th th (October 20 - April 20 )

7:30 - 9:00 Program

8th Grade

Tuesday 7:00 - 9:00

th th (October 20 - April 20 )

Hebrew High

Tuesday 7:00 - 9:00

(October 20th - April 20th)

PUBLICITY † Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel has permission to submit photographs of my child to local publications and/or to exhibit on the Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel website. (Please note- identifying information will not be used, only the grade level and the activity.) † I prefer that photographs of my child not be used for publicity purposes. (Please enclose a picture of your child so we can easily identify them and ensure they are not exhibited on our website). Parent/Guardian Signature: ___________________________

You may not know that our religious school operates at a deficit. Tuition payments cover less than 77% of the cost it takes to run the school, including teachers, books, materials, programming and facilities. That gap between tuition payments and the actual cost of providing a Jewish education is funded through the Temple’s annual operating budget. The Temple is willing to subsidize the cost of educating our members’ children because learning and instilling a love of Judaism in our children is at the very core of our communal obligations. Like prior years, we are asking that those among us who are financially able to please increase their religious school payment to “Bridge the Gap” by covering all or a portion of the Temple’s subsidy for their children. This year, the need for Bridge the Gap contributions is particularly necessary. Given economic conditions, we expect that more families than usual will require tuition support to keep their children in school. Bridge the Gap contributions help us keep the religious school doors open to all. We ask that you please help us Bridge the Gap – at a level that you are financially able, or with a special gift – by checking the box below and entering the amount.

TUITION The Grade Your Child is Entering

Full Cost of Educating Your Child

Tuition Due

K-2

$625

† $475

† $150

3-7

$995

† $760

† $235

8 - 12

$625

† $475

† $150

Non-Member High School Tuition

$625

† $610

† $15

Yes, I Will Bridge the Gap

†

I will bridge a portion of the gap in the amount of $ ________________________________________

†

I will bridge the tuition gap for another child or children in the amount of $ ____________________ Total amount paid for child: ______________________

For Office Use:

Member #: ______________________________

Amount Received: _________________________

Received by: _____________________________

CHK #: __________________________________

Date: ___________________________________

Signature: ________________________________

Child’s Last, First Name (Please fill out a separate form for each child) ___________________

MEDICAL INFORMATION Physician Name & Phone: Dentist Name & Phone: Orthodontist Name & Phone: Allergies (food, drugs, other): Dietary Restrictions (milk, nuts, eggs, gluten): Medical condition(s) the school should be aware of: Medications: Child may be given acetaminophen (Tylenol): † yes Child may be given ibuprofen (Advil): † yes Child my be given Benadryl: † yes

† no

† no

† no

Medical Insurance:

Policy Number:

I hereby authorize the above physicians and/or their associates or assistants, or their covering physicians, or in the event these persons cannot be contacted, the emergency physician to provide emergency medical treatment to my child for: a. any laceration, fracture, or other traumatic injury; or b. any symptom, disease, or injury that may be life threatening, disfiguring, or cause permanent impairment. No major surgery or life-threatening procedure may be performed on my child and no general anesthesia may be administered unless: a. The life or health of my child is in danger or if delaying such treatment to obtain consent would cause a threat or serious injury to the health of my child; and b. the attending physician and one other physician consult and agree that such a treatment is necessary for the health of my child. Parent/Guardian Signature: ______________________________________ SPECIAL NEEDS INFORMATION Please indicate any special needs your child may have. This information will help us do our best in providing your child with a warm, creative, and nurturing environment in which he/she will learn and experience success. If your child has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) or other special instructions, please provide a copy. † ADD

† Learning Disability

† Hearing Loss

† ADHD

† Dyslexia

† Visual Impairment

† Autistic Spectrum Disorder

† Perceptual Impairment

† Other (please explain on the back of this form)

Parent Communication Form

Please help us go green! All communications will be via email when possible. Indicate where we should contact you via phone in the event of a school closing on both Sunday and Tuesday afternoons.

Parent/Guardian 1:

Parent/Guardian 2:

Home Phone:

Home Phone:

Work Phone:

Work Phone:

Cell Phone:

Cell Phone:

Email Address:

Email Address:

Home Address:

Home Address:

Emergency Contact Name & Phone: (Please indicate relationship of contact to child.)

Dear Parents, Your assistance with school programs is critical to the success of the Religious School program. If you would like to help, please check the appropriate box and a member of the Religious School Board will contact you regarding the specifics of your choice. Please return this form to the Religious School. Class Parent Chanukah Mania (Sunday, December 13th) Religious School Consecration of New Students (Friday, November 20th) Purim Extravaganza (Sunday, February 28th) K-1st Grade Passover Seder (Sunday, March 28th) 3rd – 6th Grade Passover Program (Sunday, March 28th) 1st Grade Pizza Lunch (Sunday, November 1st) 2nd Grade Pizza Lunch (Sunday, November 22nd) 3rd Grade Family Shabbat Dinner (Friday, March 26th) 4th Grade Family Shabbat Dinner (Friday, February 26th) 5th Grade Family Shabbat Dinner (Friday, May 14th) 6th Grade Family Shabbat Dinner (Friday, January 8th) End of the Year Celebration (Sunday, May 16th) Guest speaker (Do you have a special talent or topic you would like to share with your child’s class? If so, please let us know. ) __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Parent’s Name__________________________ E-Mail_________________________ Child’s Name________________________________ Grade____________________ Daytime phone_________________ Evening phone___________________________