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School/Youth Programs

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.

Parent Resources


2021-2022 School Calendar 

RS Health and Safety Policy

 

from consecration to confirmation
 

Beginning in our brand new 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 great 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 Quamily.

The brand new Pre-K program will meet once a month on Sunday 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 Wednesday Virtual Hebrew Learning program when our students reach third grade and continue through sixth grade. The program is split between 45 minutes of small-group Hebrew learning and  a 25-minute service with the Rabbi and/or Cantor. We use a Hebrew assessment to group students by their Hebrew knowledge to place them into small groups with our talented faculty; this offers a highly individualized Hebrew learning experience for our students. This is intended to be a virtual program with 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, and 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 Quamily

Schiff Tichon Sinai is intended to directly follow a students time with our religious school. The program is for  8th, 9th and 10th-grade teens and will help them to experience joy in Jewish learning, pride in being Jewish, and a commitment to participation in Jewish life. When our teens are connected to Temple Sinai, they learn about Jewish life by actively experiencing it! Tichon Sinai combines the best classroom-based and experiential education in a cohesive program that fosters Jewish identity development and community-building.  

Post-Confirmation Sinai Circle - For students who have completed the Confirmation program as a part of Schiff Tichon Sinai, this two-year program continues for 11th and 12th graders.  Using a curriculum based on the principles of Mussar, the students will do careful self-analysis to discern where they still have growth to pursue.  This 19th-century program of character improvement has been embraced by the progressive Jewish community as a meaningful way to translate the best wisdom of our tradition into practical steps toward living one's best life.  These teens are right in the midst of their most important maturation and the Mussar work could not be more important nor better timed in their lives.

Senior Youth Group - meant for our high school students, Sinai of Stamford Temple Youth (SoSTY) participates in community service, social and recreational activities. Our local chapter of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY), SoSTY, is an opportunity for students to learn, grow, do and socialize past their bar/bat mitzvah with the kids they've known at Temple for many years. In addition to many other activities, the SoSTY members have organized the Purim Carnival for our younger students, sponsored a bake sale, and held a "shul-in" (a sleepover at the Temple). Click here to visit SoSTY's Facebook page.

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.

 

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Tue, March 19 2024 9 Adar II 5784