Wow! What a fantastic start to our 2022-2023 school year! We have been so excited to both welcome our new students and to welcome back our returning students. 

Our students have been having SO much fun. Despite a few tears and a little bit of trouble with separation, our students played together, made new friends, and explored our space. Overall, this week has been all about getting to know each other. Our students have been getting comfortable with their new classrooms and new educators. Our educators have been getting to know our new students and reacquainting themselves with our returning students. Speaking of new educators, we are so excited to welcome two new members to our team, Danielle Grimaldo and Cristin Pryblo! Danielle and Cristin teach in the Toddler Class and bring their incredible experience, bright and bubbly personalities, and new ideas to our team. 

As we welcome our new educators to our team, it seems more than appropriate to share our intention for the year. Our intention is a positive, cohesive guiding value or theme that we can periodically reflect on/share/document as a whole community. This year we've chosen "Mishpacha" or "Family". This year we want to focus on connecting our families together and on celebrating each family's unique heritage, traditions, values, and experiences. We also want to hear from you! What does family mean to you? How do you spend time with your family and celebrate your time together? 

We also want to share our traditions with you! We are fast approaching the High Holiday Season. You can read more about that below with words from our Director of Ruach and Youth Engagement, Grant Halasz (known to our students as Mr. Grant):

Chodesh Tov!
This past Shabbat welcomed in the new month of Elul, Elul is traditionally a time that we prepare ourselves for the High Holiday Season. This could be anything from taking some time for self-care to helping those in our community around us to prepare, cleaning up and preparing your home, and anything else that you find meaningful. Below there is a calendar with ideas of how you can prepare yourselves and your families for the season! There are questions and different activities to get into the mindset of the HHD Season. These are not the only things that you can do, however, they can serve as a good starting point for preparations. You can also find the calendar HERE if you need a slightly better image.