"The World Endures Only Because of the Breath of Schoolchildren..."
Education is B'nai Emunah's first priority, and young people are at the very center of our hopes. Our school staff offers formal instruction combined with effervescent informal programming, including an emphasis on music and visual arts. Our school is eager to make sure that youngsters from early-childhood through secondary school take pleasure in their studies take pleasure in their studies and develop a solid familiarity with Jewish civilization.
ShulSchool
The Synagogue’s Sunday morning educational program for students from early childhood through seventh grade is called ShulSchool. Our curriculum is shaped by our association with the Institute for Southern Jewish Life, a visionary agency which serves congregations in the South and Central Midwest. The ISJL curriculum connects our young people with their Jewish peers in other cities and ensures a rich and stimulating experience in the classrooms of our school.
Our ShulSchool program is steeped in community building, values exploration, and creating fluent Jewish identity. Through school-wide projects and programs like our Zemer youth choir, family service projects, and holiday celebrations we recognize that learning happens in many ways. We are happy to be a safe space for children to embark on their Jewish journeys.
Hebrew Language Lab
An additional learning experience for students in second through sixth grade is The Hebrew Language Lab. Meeting Wednesday afternoons during the school year, students dive into building the baseline skills for Hebrew Language learning and acquisition. We see Hebrew as a portal for connecting with Jewish history, prayer, culture, and Israel. Our program is structured in a way that students will gain familiarity with Hebrew letters and vowels, learn to decode Hebrew, develop prayer reading and chanting skills, and build confidence in Hebrew as well as a positive attitude toward Hebrew. Learning happens in a classroom setting with students divided by skill level. Participation in the Hebrew Language Lab is an expectation for students and families wishing to study for Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
Madrichim
Madrichim, the Hebrew word for “guides,” refers to our program for eighth through twelfth-grade students to serve as teaching assistants in our ShulSchool and Hebrew Language Lab programs. The Madrichim program is designed to help students develop their leadership skills, learn about child development and take part in the formation of Jewish learning experiences for younger children. These wonderful teenagers serve as excellent role-models for all the students enrolled in the Synagogue’s programming.
Midrasha
In cooperation with Temple Israel, our sister congregation, B'nai Emunah is actively involved in Midrasha (grades 8 through 12). We think it's important that children continue their Jewish educations beyond bar and bat mitzvah, and the vast majority do exactly that. These advanced learning opportunities offer a wonderful way for students to explore Judaism and develop the skills to be lifetime-learners.
Summer Programs
The Synagogue is a strong proponent of experiential Jewish summer programs and their undeniable impact on Jewish identity and formation. Substantial support is available to students who wish to participate in an Israel Pilgrimage or Jewish summer camping program. We are committed to the Ramah camping movement, but will also help underwrite summer experiences in any program that affirms basic standards of observance and involves young people in a program of formal Jewish study. Many of our young people spend a substantial stretch of summer vacation at Ramah in the Rockies outside Denver. It's a rugged turn on the standard Ramah model, and we think that it's a boon to confidence, sturdiness, and self-mastery.
To learn more about any of our education programs, please be in touch with the Director of Jewish Life and Learning, Morah Sara Levitt.