Religious School

Hallmarks of the Rodef Sholom Temple Religious School include dynamic programming based on the actual student population and a willingness to try new approaches. The general contours of the program include classes, primarily on Sunday mornings, for students in kindergarten through 10^th grade Confirmation.

However, for example, the 2025-26 Confirmation Class included a high school sophomore, junior and senior because of the specific needs of these students who helped shape their curriculum in conjunction with the Rabbi. Confirmation culminates in an overnight class trip and a Friday night service during which the students reflect on their religious and educational experiences.

The school periodically schedules a “Trade the Date” in lieu of Sunday mornings. When the school attends Friday evening services, we devised a customized timeline and private Shabbat dinner venue for the families. Other Sundays trade for Shabbat morning or mid-week holiday observances.

A typical Sunday morning begins at 10am with 20 minutes of prayers- or prayer study- in the sanctuary. Students preparing for B-Mitzvah help lead some of these prayers. Classroom time for teachers and students follows until noon. Students vote on the distribution of the tzedakah funds they donate on Sunday mornings and at Purim.

We also pivot to take advantage of various religious school curricular program opportunities, always seeking the best fit for our students and teachers. In the 2026-27 school year, we will be using lesson plans provided by the Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) for K-6^th grade. The upper grades will be studying from lesson plans provided by a new provider to our school: Moving Traditions focuses on the social, emotional and spiritual well-being of teens through a Jewish lens. These teens will also attend multiple “Judaism Out of the Building” (JOTB) local field trips in lieu of some classroom sessions.

Family Education programming has been revamped as well. Several times a year, parents and grandparents now study parallel materials with the Rabbi while students study the same topic with their teachers. We continue to respect the variety of learning modalities by including experiential learning opportunities that incorporate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities. At Passover, costumed Moses and Pharoah argued and bargained for the student and parent Israelites’ freedom. Students threw rubber frogs at Pharoah and gained access to the synagogue, passed through walls of water on dry land and began a morning of pre-Passover studies for all grade levels including a Chocolate Seder for the teens. Photos below.

Religious School starts August 30, 2026.

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