Bais Yaakov e-Newsletter

8 Kislev 5782 | November 11, 2021

Upper Elementary

Parshas Vayeitzei

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PTA PARTNERSHIPS

Did you know we have new presidents leading our PTA this year? Mrs. Tamar Zelcer, Mrs. Layah Greenfield, and Mrs. Malki Lehrfield joined their roles within the past year and have been doing a fabulous job finding creative ways to build meaningful connections between home and school. Your membership has its privileges for our students! This year alone, the PTA has already sponsored so many activities in the Elementary School and other divisions. These include but are not limited to the Preschool petting zoo, Yom Tov projects, Rosh Chodesh Treats, Candy-grams, and faculty snacks at conferences, and so much more. Please consider joining or calling the PTA presidium to find out how you can help, or visit the PTA page on our website: https://www.baisyaakov.net/pta/.

FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DAY

This past Tuesday, the entire Bais Yaakov School faculty joined at the Smith Avene campus for a day of professional development. There were two main tracks for the older Middle School and High School divisions and one for the younger divisions. Mrs. Zipora Schuck gave four sessions to the Preschool through Middle School divisions on mindfulness, collaborative group instruction, differentiating instruction, and effective teamwork. During lunch, we also heard divrei chizuk from Rabbi Shraga Neuberger, shlit"a who shared how the positive relationships a teacher has with her students plants a formative connection between the student and Hashem that grows and often shines for generations. We thank the Crane Foundation and the Association of Jewish Day Schools for contributing to the funding of this special day.

NEW RECESS PLAY SPACES

It is remarkable to see hundreds of children playing and thriving outdoors during recess. This past summer, the school cleared the forest area near the parking lot and converted it into a park-like environment for the girls to play and enjoy. We also recently installed some introductory ropes courses, zip lines, and other play structures for the students to enjoy.

PARSHA CAKE DECORATING

Our Fourth Grade moros encourage the girls to make real connections with the Parsha and have positive social interactions. Each week in many of our classes, the morah bakes a cake for girls to creatively decorate in a theme associated with the weekly Parsha. For Parshas Noach, the girls had animals and rainbow candies all around the cake. For Parshas Chayei Sara, one group decorated a beautiful well with camels and challos to remember the neis of the warm challos in Sarah's tent. The girls had a chance to enjoy applying their parsha knowledge to a fun activity, and the class enjoyed a delicious treat, l'kavod Shabbos Kodesh.

SOCIAL SKILLS SESSIONS

We focus much attention on social growth and development during 3rd and 4th grade. It is developmentally typical for children in this age group to discover new opportunities for friendships and forge friendly relationships both in and out of their comfort zone. Throughout the year, our guidance counselors, Mrs. Rachell Tajerstein and Mrs. Libby Kraft spend much time in our classrooms introducing practical interpersonal skills that help the girls better understand how to relate to each other and process challenges that come up. They learn about being in tune with their emotional status, empathy for others, figuring out how to deal with peer conflict, and advocacy skills to resolve challenges.

ACTIVE READING - TALK A WALK!

The Fourth Grade reading groups went on a nature walk on Bais Yaakov's Park Heights campus grounds. Using many of the five senses, the students wrote about the cool breeze they felt, the crunchy leaves they heard, and the colorful leaves on the trees that rustled in the wind. They wrote beautifully constructed paragraphs with each sentence including a complete subject and complete predicate. We're so proud of the excellent writing skills in fourth grade! The third grade also explored the outdoors to activate their schema and imagine what it would be like to be a leaf falling from a tree. The students then wrote about their favorite parts of the season. "Mah Rabu Maasecha Hashem." We thank Hashem each day for the beautiful world He allows us to see each day.

STUDY OF SHMONA ESREI BEGINS

The Third Grade has begun their study of Shmona Esrei. Each girl designs a personal notebook with ideas and explanations about each of the 19 brachos. They learn a particular song for each bracha and any special halachos that relate to the bracha. The students are always excited to learn more about connecting to Hashem in this very personal way.

SCIENCE OF VEGETABLES

You can eat your veggies and learn about plants too! Our first Third Grade science unit focused on plants, including their parts and functions. In Mrs. Rachel Gedalius's class, girls explored the properties of edible plants. They used their sense of smell, taste, and sight to figure out the properties of each vegetable. They also looked through lightboxes to analyze the nature of these delicious plants.

MALKAS TEHILLIM

In Second Grade, each student received their own Tehillim from Rabbi Sanders and Mrs. Rosen. Rabbi Sanders and Mrs. Rosen posed each girl with an exciting prospect: to complete the entire sefer Tehillim together with a parent, grandparent, or another adult. While some girls finish in second grade, most try to complete the sefer in 3rd or fourth grade. When this occurs, their parents arrange a time to come to school, and we declare the girl the Malka of Tehillim – the Queen of the Tehillim. In her honor, the teachers and students dance, hear a story connected to Sefer Tehillim, and receive a bracha from Mrs. Hoffman and Rabbi Stein. It is never too late to try to begin, and with reading even a little bit each night, before she knows it, your daughter could also complete the entire Sefer Tehillim.

NEW WINDOWS IN UPPER ELEMENTARY

The school’s Park Heights Campus facilities are continually undergoing improvement in so many ways. This past month, the school continued its window replacement project installing another set of windows using grant funding allotted for this purpose. The new windows provide lots of light, are more accessible and safer to open and close, and are highly energy efficient.

NEW STUDENT LUNCHEON

It is always fascinating to watch as girls who join our Bais Yaakov family transition to their new school. One beautiful way our Hanhala helps in this process is by bringing all the new talmidos to a luncheon in their honor so they can ask questions, see they are not alone and have the opportunity to meet elementary school coordinators and principals in a fun and welcoming way. Each student received an animal-themed cupcake in honor of Parshas Noach and other treats as well. We hope they and their families find their joining our Bais Yaakov family to be pleasant and welcoming.

CHANUKA GELT FOR OUR DEDICATED STAFF

Show hakaras hatov, appreciation, to our daughters’ moros and teachers for the incredible work they do on behalf of our girls.

If you would like to participate, please respond no later than November 17th for Elementary School and November 23rd for Middle School and High School, so we have enough time to organize and distribute the gifts during Chanukah. The gift will be accompanied by a card that lists those families who participated in the group gift.