Sarah Lipinsky
Director of Education
214-939-7348
Jillian Lipper
Religious School Coordinator
214-939-7370
From PreK through 12th grade, our curriculum invites students to discover Judaism through stories, prayer, holidays, Israel, Jewish values, and hands-on experiences. As students grow, their learning deepens, from joyful exploration and foundational stories to thoughtful engagement with Jewish history, identity, and the world around them.
Young learners experience Judaism through stories, songs, movement, food, dramatic play, and holiday traditions. They discover Creation, Shabbat, blessings, Israel, and what it means to be a mensch and a caring member of a community.
Students explore Torah stories, Jewish holidays, mitzvot, prayer, and Jewish history. They begin exploring the Jewish connection to Israel, the global Jewish community, and ways Jewish values inspire us to care for others.
Students deepen their relationship with Torah and prayer while exploring Jewish holidays, Israel, and lifecycle traditions. They encounter mitzvot such as tzedakah, kashrut, welcoming others, and disability justice, connecting Jewish tradition to the world around them.
Students explore biblical leaders and texts, Jewish history, prayer and liturgy, the arts, and Jewish values. They consider how Judaism guides us in relationships, community, social justice, and significant moments throughout life.
Israel is home to people of many ethnicities, religions, traditions, and perspectives. Our 7th grade curriculum invites students to discover that diversity through an immersive exploration of Israeli society.
Each week, students “try on” a different hat representing an Israeli community, from sports fans and kibbutzniks to religious communities, the Druze, Bedouins, and the IDF. Through food, music, conversation, debate, and hands-on activities, students encounter the experiences and questions that shape different Israeli communities.
By the end of the year, students understand Israel not as a single story, but as a collection of many voices, experiences, and perspectives, and develop a meaningful personal connection to the land, people, and state of Israel.
With guidance from one of our rabbis, students engage in meaningful conversations about the Holocaust, antisemitism, Israel, and Jewish identity. They are encouraged to ask challenging questions and consider what Judaism means to them personally and as members of the wider Jewish community.
Across every grade, students are encouraged to ask questions, explore tradition, build community, and live Jewish values. Our curriculum grows alongside our students, helping them develop the knowledge, confidence, and sense of connection to shape their own Jewish journeys.
Our Hebrew learning is rooted in meaningful prayer, helping students build both language skills and a lifelong connection to Jewish life. In the early grades, students develop a love of Hebrew through music, movement, games, and other engaging, hands-on experiences. As they grow, they build confidence with the aleph-bet, expand their vocabulary, and develop reading fluency through an integrated curriculum centered on Jewish values and sacred texts. During midweek religious school, students in 4th–6th grade receive individualized one-on-one Hebrew tutoring, allowing each child to learn at their own pace and receive the personalized support they need to succeed.
Developing an understanding of Israel’s history and culture is an important part of students’ developing relationships with Israel. Our students’ education on the state of Israel provides a rich and nuanced backdrop for the development of advocacy skills in the upper grades, giving our young people the tools and the confidence they need to discuss Israel with their peers.
During midweek classes for 3rd–6th grade, students deepen their connection to Israel through enriched curricula provided by the Center for Israel Education and the iCenter.
From lifecycle events to current events through a Jewish lens to contemporary Jewish communities around the world, students learn about the richness of Jewish life today, as well as the meaningful ways our tradition helps to frame crucial events in each Jew’s life, from birth to death.
4th-6th grade students are divided into three advisory groups, each of which will meet with one of our senior rabbis for 8 sessions. The rabbis will each discuss one topic with their group during the year: Reading and Understanding the Hebrew Bible, A Tour of Ritual Objects, and What are Mitzvot and Why Should we Observe Them? Over the course of three years, students will rotate through each topic with all three rabbis. We are excited that this program will both allow our students to build relationships with our rabbis and help them dive even deeper into the topics that will help them transition into Jewish adulthood.
One of our favorite programs is our grade-level Shabbatot evenings, where each grade comes to shul for an abridged Friday night service followed by a Shabbat meal. After dinner, students will participate in fun activities while parents can get to know one another better in a casual setting.
Every Sunday morning, students participate in an interactive and joyful prayer service led by our rabbis. Our students are divided into three age-appropriate groups where they learn different prayers, navigate the siddur, and develop their own relationship with God and liturgy.
Beginning in 5th grade, students start preparing for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah by diving deep into the siddur and life cycle events taught by Rabbi Matt Rutta.
