Religious School/Hebrew Learning Program
Introduction
Temple Sinai's combined Religious and Hebrew education program is designed to inspire students to 
find joy and fulfillment in living Jewishly. Our program provides them with the tools and knowledge (ritual, spiritual, cultural, historical, ethical, and textual) that will help them begin to lead Jewish lives, feeling connected to personal practice and the Jewish community. We provide a caring environment and are staffed by dedicated and knowledgeable teachers. Our innovative K-7 curriculum includes family education programming, field trips, retreats, and worship services.
temple sinai religious school Mission statement
Temple Sinai’s Religious School is an inclusive and joyous educational environment that cultivates pride and a positive Jewish identity in our children by igniting a lifelong Jewish journey through a social, emotional, and spiritual learning experience led by our Religious School faculty, madrichim (teen leaders) and Clergy.
Family Resources
2025 - 2026 Hebrew Learning Program Calendar
2025-2026 Schedule of Family Chavurot (Programs)
2025 - 2026 Families with Young Children Shabbat Program Schedule
from consecration to confirmation
Beginning in our Pre-K program, the goal of our Religious School is to teach students about the tapestry of Jewish life. Finding the right place to make a spiritual home for one's family is crucial, and we encourage families to get to know us before making that sort of commitment. For that reason, we open enrollment for our Pre-K and kindergarten to any family, for free, with or without being members of Temple Sinai. We think it is excellent here, and we're pretty sure that, after a year or two with us, you'll think so, too. For more information about our Free Pre-K or Kindergarten, please write to our Religious School and Youth Director, Erica Santiago.
The Pre-K program meets once a month on Sundays during regular religious school hours. All grades, Kindergarten through Seventh grade, come together at Temple Sinai every Sunday from 9 am to 11:30 am. Their time together includes family-style worship services, Hebrew instruction, Judaic Studies, and other Jewish topic-based learning, highly interactive projects, all-school holiday programming, music with Cantor Micah, and much more.
Students attend the Virtual Hebrew Learning program when our students reach third grade and continue through sixth grade. Students are grouped by their Hebrew knowledge and they work in singles or pairs with our talented Hebrew Learning faculty; this offers a highly individualized Hebrew learning experience for our students. This is intended to be a virtual program with a one-day-a-week in-person cohort that will be most successful in-person.
In seventh grade (or one year before celebrating becoming b'nei mitzvah, whichever comes first), our students come to the Temple as a class once a week because they will begin one-on-one, weekly B'nei Mitzvah sessions with a Hebrew Learning program faculty member. For that final year, they'll meet weekly with a teacher, then with Cantor Micah, and finally with Rabbi TelRav. Our process of preparation for the big day is not one-size-fits-all. We have an entirely personalized approach, and we're confident that we can help you celebrate. If you'd like to speak more about your student, your questions, or anything else, please write to Morah Erica Santiago.
TS INSPIRE
Our goal is to continue to build our teen community one point of engagement at a time. Students are told they will go to religious school and participate in the B’nei Mitzvah experience. TS Inspire provides the opportunity to commit on their own. We encourage you to talk with your teen(s) about the meaning of Confirmation and/or being a part of our community. We hope they will continue to build on their Jewish education by joining us for learning and fun.
Here are a few examples of what participation in TS Inspire might look like for a teen on the path to Confirmation or who may be interested in youth engagement. Our goal is to allow teens to step in and out of activities based on their interests and schedules and to create an engagement plan that appeals to them. This includes, but is not limited to:
• A madrich who regularly works on Sunday mornings and joins Moreh Coby for Schiff Tichon Sinai as their schedule allows.
• A teen who regularly participates in Hitnadvoot (volunteering).
• A teen who participates in various TS Inspire programs as their schedule allows.
• A teen who only attends Schiff Tichon Sinai sessions with Moreh Coby.
SCHIFF TICHON SINAI
Schiff Tichon Sinai is a program that allows students in 8th – 12th grades to experience joy in Jewish learning, pride in being Jewish, and a commitment to participation in Jewish life. When our teens remain connected to Temple Sinai, they learn about Jewish life by actively experiencing it. Schiff Tichon Sinai combines the best of classroom-based and experiential education in a program fostering Jewish identity development and community-building.
The goals of the program are to meet students where they are – to provide appropriate challenges for growth, to build leadership among our teens, to give them ownership of their learning, to provide multiple points of entry into Jewish life and to promote Jewish identity formation. Most of all, it brings our kids together to have fun!
Schiff Tichon Sinai is generously funded from the Schiff Educational Fund and the United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien.
MADRICHIM (RELIGIOUS SCHOOL TEACHING ASSISTANTS)
Temple Sinai invites 8th through 12th grade students to help support our Religious School. Madrich (male), madrichah (female), and madrichim (plural) all mean guide or counselor in Hebrew. Our madrichim assist teachers in the classroom and are encouraged to plan and teach mini lessons as they wish in coordination with their classroom teacher. Younger religious school students look up to our madrichim as a dugmah/role model.
There will be monthly madrichim meetings and brunch with Moreh Coby to help develop and sharpen leadership skills. At Temple Sinai, madrichim who are graduates of our Confirmation program are paid a stipend, while others are volunteers until they reach that milestone.
teen MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING
teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) taught by Morah Erica teaches teens in grades 9 – 12, or ages 14-18, how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their friends and peers. Teens receive a certificate of training at the completion of the course (excellent for resumes, college applications, and more).
The course is offered twice a year for three ninety-minute in-person sessions.
College Students may be out of sight, but they're not out of mind. They are essential to us, and maintaining that connection with their home congregation and their Jewish identity are crucial. We have made it a priority to keep in touch with them. On holidays like Chanukah and Passover, Temple Sinai sends a small package with various goodies to help them celebrate while they are away from home. At other times of the year, they may receive a "care" package from us just to let them know we are thinking of them.
For more information, please click here.
FAMILIES with YOUNG CHILDREN @ SINAI
(geared toward families with children ages 0-4)
Twice a month we welcome Shabbat with dancing, singing, praying, crafting and playing at our Shabbat celebrations. The talented Natasha Fenster leads age-appropriate (birth to five) programs. Come, taste the challah and sip sweet grape juice as we learn about Shabbat! Stay to play in Kids Zone and enjoy lite bites and pizza (for purchase). Together we will enjoy the Festivals and Holy Days through music, educational Jewish toys, and movement. Open to the entire community.
The first Friday of each month at 5:30 pm in the Poch Family Chapel
Third Friday Shabbat program is a highly interactive, musical, and creative program that includes an art project. The third Friday of each month at 5:30 pm in the social hall:
