FROM THE
CONCIERGE’S DESK BY LIESSA ALPERIN Reader Requested!
*Editor’s Note: To ALL of the religious school directors: Please accept a huge thank you from St Louis Jewish Parents magazine. In order to answer a specific question asked by several readers, I reached out to you with very little notice. Many of you were able to provide me with a short quote/blurb on your perspective. If anyone else would still like to do so, please email them to me, and I will put them in the next issue. I am so grateful for how united and helpful our entire Jewish community keeps proving to be. I was excited to learn that the St Louis Religious School Directors meet regularly as a team to learn and talk as a cohesive group of equals.
Choosing a Religious School Mazel Tov! You’ve reached another one of the big decisions of parenthood! Sending your child(ren) to Religious School! Now comes the next question…which one? We are blessed in St. Louis to have so many great choices for our children and our families! When you decide to send your children to Religious School you are giving them a gift! Truth be told, it is a gift for the entire family; a gift of a partner in providing a Jewish education for your family. However, with any gift, there are many options and choices along the way. We all want to give thoughtful gifts. Here are some aspects to consider: First and foremost, you are not only choosing a place to partner in providing a Jewish education, but you are choosing a community. You are choosing the community where your family will celebrate many milestones together, pray together, learn together, and perhaps even turn to in times of need. It is important to spend some time in that community. Go to services. More than once or twice. Make an appointment with a member of their clergy. Read their webpage. Attend a program or two that interests you. Ask if you can talk to a member about their experiences there. As they say in Sesame Street, these are the people in your neighborhood… Meet them. Understand that the decision, although not permanent, is not merely a choice for a year or two. Jewish education, being Jewish, does not have an ending. Meet with the Religious School Director. If your
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children are old enough, bring them to the meeting. Ask lots of questions. Let your child ask questions too. If your child is in Kindergarten, ask also about the 3-6th grade program. If they are in 3-6th grade, ask about the middle school and high school years. Ask if your child can visit a classroom more than once. It takes at least two visits to really get a sense of a day at Religious School. Think about what you want your “gift of Jewish education” to include. What do you want your child/ family to learn and experience? Do you want them to learn Hebrew? Learn about Tzedakah and Tikkkun Olam? Do you want them to have a B’nei Mitzvah? Be Confirmed? Do they have a youth group program? Who are the teachers in the school? Are there opportunities for families to attend programming with their students? And then…ask the other questions that are the logistic aspects that also need to be asked. What days do the students attend? What are the days of the week options for my child at different ages and stages? Very importantly, if my child has learning, social, emotional needs; are they able to support my child in being set up for success in their program?