Krieger Schechter News
May 11 2012
5th & 6th Grade Lag Ba'Omer "Bonfires"
To celebrate Lag Ba'Omer and the traditional lighting of bonfires (symbolizing the light of Torah study, even in the face of persecution), 5th and 6th graders made creative (non-fire) bonfires out of craft and natural materials. Students "earned" different...
May 11 2012
Erev Zemer - Evening of Song
What a celebration! The entire KSDS community - students, parents, teachers and guests - joined together for an evening of singing, in honor of Dr. Schneider. The evening included songs sung by each grade-level in the school, and featured some of Dr. Schneider's...
May 11 2012
First Grade Yom Sh'ma
This week our first graders and their parents celebrated “Yom Sh’ma,” an afternoon of exploration, learning, creating and, of course, eating. The program focused on the Sh’ma prayer, which is the central prayer in the Siddur and is recited every morning and...
May 11 2012
Teacher Appreciation Week
It was Teacher Appreciation Week this week, and each day our dynamic Parents Association members treated the KSDS faculty to wonderful surprises. The teachers felt appreciated, and also took time to treasure some of the other gifts received this year: Bright...
May 4 2012
MS Music Bands Rock It Out!
During the Middle School Instructional Showcase, guests were treated to great entertainment from our 5th grade Recorder Ensemble, and the 6th, 7th and 8th grade Music Ensembles. Playing instruments new to many students this year, these mini "garage-bands"...
May 4 2012
Middle School Instructional Showcase
Middle School parents and students joined together to celebrate the innovative, creative and high-level learning that has taken place throughout the school year. Families browsed through tables of project displays, writing samples, art and woodshop creations...
May 4 2012
Parents Association Shabbat Share
The first annual Parents Association Shabbat Share will take place on Friday, May 4, 2012. More than 70 families and faculty members will be participating in this unique school-wide event connecting Krieger Schechter families for a home-based Shabbat meal...
May 4 2012
3rd Grade Judy Chicago Dinner Party
Imagine my delight at having the opportunity to share dinner conversation with Louisa May Alcott, Wanda Gag, Georgia O'Keefe, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Helen Keller and Ella Fitzgerald at the 3rd grade's recreation of the Judy Chicago Dinner Party this week. At...
Apr 27 2012
MS Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzma'ut
Middle School students experienced the emotional highs and lows that occur in Israel over the two days this week including Memorial Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) and Israel Independence Day (Yom HaAtzma'ut). Students participated in a moving...
Apr 27 2012
8th Grade HeLa Author Chat and Hopkins Visit
As a culminating program for our 8th grade year-long integrated curricular exploration of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, we were privileged to hear the author, Rebecca Skloot, speak to a large audience at Essex Community College. Our students heard...
Apr 27 2012
LS Celebrates Israel Independence Day
Our Lower School marked Israel's 64th birthday with an afternoon of celebration, touching on all five senses and employing multiple modalities. Each grade level created an art project on the theme of Israel, participated in Israeli dancing, viewed a video...
Apr 27 2012
PE - Gymnastics!
Do you remember the very first time you were able to balance in a headstand? The thrill of crossing the balance beam without assistance? The exhilarating feeling of climbing to the top of gymnasium? While developing their self-confidence, coordination, strength...
Apr 20 2012
Middle School Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Middle School students honored the memory of those who had to endure the horrors of the Holocaust. 8th grade students presented images from their visual journals, reflecting on their studies of the Holocaust and their visit to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum...
Apr 20 2012
7th Grade Gettysburg Field Trip
On April 17th, the 7th grade enjoyed a day of discovery at The Gettysburg National Military Park. Students were led through the re-enactment of "Pickett's Charge" in conjunction with the Gettysburg Park Ranger program. During the program, students received...
Apr 20 2012
Lower School Commemorates Yom HaShoah
The Lower School commemoration of Yom HaShoah for grades 2-4 was conducted by our 4th grade students in the chapel on April 19. Emphasis was placed on the positive impact that we can have as human beings, even in the midst of tragedy. Last year, the program...
Apr 20 2012
Friendships
As part of ongoing friendship groups occurring throughout the Lower School with Dr. Buck, Morah Reznik's kindergarten class participated in a group about respect. Respect was defined as treating someone the way you want to be treated and being considerate...
Mar 30 2012
Peter Pan - An Amazing 8th Grade Hebrew Musical!
Kol HaKavod (all the honor) to the fantastic students in the 8th grade class - your production of Peter Pan, entirely in Hebrew, wowed three straight sold-out audiences, and your matinee revue for the K-5th grade students was a wonderfully fun, interactive...
Mar 30 2012
6th Grade Science Fair Projects
The grade 6 scientists have just completed their science fair projects. After learning the scientific method (hypothesis, variables,materials, procedure, data, graph, and conclusion), the young scientists performed their experiments at home. They presented...
Mar 30 2012
Passover Preparations in the Lower School!
As you walk down the Lower School hallways at Krieger Schechter, signs of Passover preparation are everywhere! Kindergartners are listening attentively to a live performance of a Passover story. Children in grades 1-4 are reciting from the Hagaddah with enthusiasm...
Mar 30 2012
4th Grade Maryland Memories
KSDS 4th graders spend much of the year learning about Maryland's natural resources, geography, government, history, famous citizens and ... food! Last week, the 4th graders shared their knowledge by inviting the entire Lower School to the Maryland Awards...
Mar 23 2012
Middle School Students Help Israel
Many Krieger Schechter Middle School helped make phone calls on behalf of the JNF (Jewish National Fund) last month at the organization's "Green Sunday." KSMS students helped raise money and awareness for continuing ecological needs in Israel, and worked together...
Mar 23 2012
Middle School Music Ensemble Rocks!
On any Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, the sound of the KSMS rock bands - our music ensembles - can be heard in the hallways. Playing a wide array of instruments, from piano to drums, from viola to guitar, KSMS students learn to perform modern songs, complete...
Mar 23 2012
Passover Parent-Teacher Workshop
A small group of Krieger Schechter parents gathered on a beautiful spring evening for a "behind the scenes" session on the teaching of Passover. The workshop was led by representatives from our Lower and Middle School Judaic Studies faculty. The teachers...
Mar 23 2012
Super Scientists!
Schechter Science sleuths spent a slice of Sunday sorting, solving and smiling! Students cracked codes to create cartoon characters with clever characteristics, and built beautiful beaded bracelets based on biological building blocks. They displayed detected...
Mar 16 2012
Teen Immigrants Visit 6th and 7th Grades
This past Thursday, eighteen ESOL students from Patterson High School visited Krieger Schechter. Hari and Bhola, Bhutanese refugees who lived in Nepal, Lisbeth from the Dominican Republic, and Marvin from the Philippines shared personal stories with the 6th...
Mar 16 2012
8th Grade Play Rehearsals
8th graders have been rehearsing for the past months, getting ready for their upcoming all-Hebrew musical production of "Peter Pan!" With everyone's hard work, scenes, dances and songs are almost ready for opening night! We look forward to welcoming KSDS families...
Mar 16 2012
What Do Feathers and Gossip Have in Common?
In preparation for our upcoming visiting author Debbie Waldman, her beautifully illustrated book, A Sack Full of Feathers, was read to each class in the Lower School. In this adaptation of an old Jewish folktale, a young boy learns a valuable lesson about...
Mar 16 2012
Storytellers Travel to KSDS
Our first graders made many new friends this week as they immersed themselves in their study of geography and world cultures. ESOL students from Patterson High School, trained in storytelling by KSDS parent and professional storyteller Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff...
Mar 9 2012
Purim in the Middle School!
It was a wonderfully fun Purim day at KSDS! 8th grade students proudly chanted from the Megillah, according to traditional Megillat Ester trope, and helped the entire K-8 school fulfill the mitzvah of hearing the Megillah on Purim. While all of our students...
Mar 9 2012
8th Grade Learns About Israeli Arab Perspective
At a time when we face political and religious extremism in our society and in the world at large, it is so encouraging and gratifying to meet Mr. Mamoun Asady of Deir Al-Assad, Israel. This week, Mr. Asady, a friend of Krieger Schechter Day school parent...
Mar 9 2012
Lower School Celebrates Purim
With great excitement, students and faculty arrived at school in costume and gathered together as a full school to hear the reading of Megilat Esther by our middle school students. Following the reading of the Megilah, it was time for "Bargain Baffle," a Purim...
Mar 9 2012
Wagons, Ho! - the 3rd Grade Play
KSDS Lower School joined the 3rd grade wagon train last week as the pioneers led us westward on a fun-filled, musical adventure. Traveling by wagon, by river and by rail, we encountered many challenges along the trail as we pursued land, opportunity and gold...
Mar 2 2012
4th Grade Judaics Classes Create "Agam-ographs"
Our 4th grade students created an art project in the style of Yaakov Agam's lenticular printing. Each student juxtaposed two images, a hand-drawn depiction of one or more of the Ten Plagues from their Humash studies, alongside a photo of a site or scene in...
Mar 2 2012
6th Grade Family Shabbat Dinner and Service
Thank you to all of our 6th grade families for a wonderful, warm and fun Shabbat evening last week. Our 6th graders led us in Friday night davening (communal, "in-the-round style), and then we all joined together for a fun and spirited Friday night dinner...
Mar 2 2012
8th Grade HeLa Parent-Student Book Chat
Monday night saw an amazing KSMS experience - students and parents from the 8th grade participated in an inter-disciplinary book chat evening, discussing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, from three curricular lenses: literature/language...
Mar 2 2012
Learning By "Leaps" and Bounds
KSDS Lower Schoolers springboarded their learning as they incorporated Leap Day activities into their week's experiences. In math class, the students measured their own leaps, and used their data to discuss units of measurement and data analysis. Fourth graders...
Feb 24 2012
MS Crazy Hat Day - Rosh Hodesh Adar
To celebrate the beginning of the month which includes the holiday of Purim, KSMS students enjoyed "Crazy Hat Day" on Rosh Hodesh Adar! Creativity and fun abounded, as we welcomed the month of Adar with all of the fun and silliness that it deserves! If Rosh...
Feb 24 2012
KSDS Alumni Back at School
We are very lucky to have so many of our alumni who choose to come back to KSDS to teach, intern or otherwise help in many capacities. Many of our alumni, now students at Beth T'filoh High School, ho choose to come back to KSMS on Wednesday mornings to lead...
Feb 24 2012
When We Enter the Month of Adar, Our Happiness Increases
This week our second grade classes led a weekday morning Rosh Hodesh service, ushering in the Hebrew month of Adar. The children were the hazzanim, leading all of the prayers and reading from the Torah. At the conclusion of the Torah service, there was a short...
Feb 24 2012
Starry, Starry Afternoon?
As a culmination of their study of astronomy, 3rd and 4th graders were treated to a visit to Towson University's Mobile Planetarium this week. Inside the inflatable dome, the students used the Big Dipper to locate the North Star, Polaris, and witnessed, in...
Feb 16 2012
Learning Festival Olympics Day at the JCC
The middle day of our Learning Festival takes us out of the school building - and what an amazing day it was! The entire Middle School spent the day at the JCC, participating in sports races, games and friendly competitions as part of our Olympics celebration...
Feb 16 2012
MS Learning Festival - Let the Games Begin!
This week is our annual Middle School Learning Festival - a 3-day period when we take a "break" from the regular curriculum and give students the chance to explore a theme or topic throughout the disciplines, in hands-on workshops and activities, while learning...
Feb 16 2012
LS Hebrew Homework Room
In the Lower School we offer a Hebrew Homework Room at no charge on Monday - Thursday afternoons from 3:30pm - 4:00pm. One classroom is staffed by Judaic Studies teachers who provide assistance in the completion of Judaic Studies homework for grades 1 and...
Feb 16 2012
1st Grade - Cutting Edge Creativity
To a first grader, what is a rectangle? A three syllable word? A two-dimensional geometric figure? In art class, our students viewed rectangles as raw material to create wintertime collages. The first graders observed themselves in mirrors, then unlocked the...
Feb 10 2012
6th Grade Great Fruit Debate
In honor of Tu B'Svhat, the 6th graders presented the annual "Great Fruit Debate." Through speech, art and song/dance, each team showed creativity, profundity and talent in trying to persuade our judges to select that team's fruit as a new 8th fruit to celebrate...
Feb 10 2012
KSMS Pep Rally!
As we get excited for next week's annual basketball tournament, KSDS students came to a fabulous, fun pep rally to support our teams! Led by the KSMS cheerleaders and the KSDS Lion mascots, the entire school cheered for students on the Boys' and Girls' A and...
Feb 10 2012
Lower School Celebrates Tu B'Shvat
In honor of Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, the students of the Lower School learned about seasons in Israel and discussed the importance of trees in the Torah and in our world today. Our students discovered ways in which we benefit from trees, as...
Feb 10 2012
3rd Grade "Womemmy" Awards
Krieger Schechter Lower School experienced the glamour and excitement of the red carpet this week as celebrity 3rd graders presented the annual Womemmy Awards to 8 famous women from all walks of life. Among this year's honorees were Julia Child, Eleanor Roosevelt...
Feb 3 2012
KSMS Presentation of Shoshana Cardin: A Life's Journey
On Monday, students from the 8th grade and KSMS Chamber Choir presented a beatiful, artistic program in honor of the life of Shoshana S. Cardin. Through music, drama, symbolism and story, the students retold key moments from the life of this amazing Jewish...
Feb 3 2012
MS Student Council at AIMS Leadership Conference
On Wednesday, January 24th our 6th and 7th grade student council representatives attended the AIMS Leadership Conference at Garrison Forest School. The conference consisted of a hands-on workshop about leadership styles and how that translates into working...
Feb 3 2012
First Graders Celebrate Siyyum HaSefer
There was much to celebrate at Krieger Schechter, as yet another group of children marked their learning to read in Hebrew. On Thursday, February 2, the students of Kitah Aleph celebrated this important accomplishment with a short presentation emphasizing...
Feb 3 2012
Our Wonderful World - 4th Grade Wonders!
The world is full of wonder, and humans have been cataloguing the Wonders of the World since ancient times. Our 4th graders had the opportunity to learn about the Wonders as an extension of their Social Studies unit on Ancient Greece. Each student collected...
Jan 27 2012
6th Grade Tefillah - Mezuzah Project
6th grade students in Morah Yehudit's Tuesday tefillah class have been making mezuzot, in conjunction with their study of the Shema and the commandments in it. Working with a parent from the class, students first learned how to tie a set of tzitzit with the...
Jan 27 2012
Middle School Arts Coffee House
It was a wonderful evening celebrating KSMS students' accomplishments in the arts! At our annual Coffee House on Thursday night, the packed audience of parents and students were treated to performances from the Middle School music ensembles, choir, drama class...
Jan 27 2012
3rd Grade Writing in Hebrew
At Krieger Schechter writing is integrated across the curriculum. In their Judaic Studies classes, our 3rd graders have just completed a long-term project, incorporating recently acquired vocabulary to write short Hebrew stories about themselves. These stories...
Jan 27 2012
Read Me a Memory, Tell Me a Tale - 2nd Grade Fairy Tales Play
There are many storytellers and many stories, but did you know that our 2nd Graders are some of the most talented storytellers in town? On Wednesday, the 2nd Grade culminated their literature unit on Fairy Tales by entertaining the Lower School with a musical...
Jan 20 2012
5th Graders Learning Torah Trope
Each week, 5th graders work with Dr. Moshe Shualy to learn the art and skill of chanting directly from the Torah, according to the traditional trope. Students approach their study with awe and great spirit, understanding the importance of the task they are...
Jan 20 2012
KSMS Brand-New Cheerleading Team!
2..4..6..8...Who Do We Appreciate.... Yes, this year KSMS has incorporated a Cheerleading Team into the After-School Sports program. The Coach and inspiration for this idea is Mrs. Gitomer. There are 18 girls that practice twice a week and cheer for our basketball...
Jan 20 2012
The Blessing of Parents
Everyone knows that children are a blessing. In the Lower School at Krieger Schechter Day School we are blessed with 181 children. But we are also blessed with parents. Our parents volunteer throughout the school year in many capacities, enhancing and enriching...
Jan 20 2012
Ravens Fever reaches Krieger Schechter
Amid a sea of purple, some of our youngest students participated in Fantasy Training Camp activities in Phys Ed class this week. The first graders practiced passing and receiving, and simulated agility drills using hurdles and tires. Everybody agreed that...
Jan 13 2012
8th Graders Prepare "Shoshana S. Cardin: A Life Journey"
Several 8th grade students have been working for the last weeks toward a creative presentation of the life story of Shoshana S. Cardin. In collaboration with a dramatist, a Jewish History teacher, and Mrs. Cardin, the students have learned about oral history...
Jan 13 2012
5th Grade MLK Program
Through song, poetry and an amazing self-made video production, our 5th graders presented a moving tribute to the life and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The students' creative and meaningful presentation raised everyone's awareness of continuing issues...
Jan 13 2012
Kindergarten Shabbat Box
What's in a Shabbat Box? Just ask our kindergartners, who have been very busy preparing for their upcoming Kabbalat Shabbat program. The children have decorated a Kiddush cup, candlesticks, and a challah cover. They have made Shabbat candles out of beeswax...
Jan 13 2012
1st Grade MLK Play
The Lower School students were entertained and inspired this week by a touching and thought-provoking program produced by our first graders. The young actors introduced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s values of respect, brotherhood, and peace, and applied those...
Jan 6 2012
7th Grade Jewish Family History Night
Congratulations to the 7th grade and their families. We are so very proud of you and of your deep committment to the Family History Night program. Students, parents and grandparents shined as they told many fascinating stories reflecting the hardships, pride...
Jan 6 2012
Middle School Advisory and Harry Potter
What do lightning bolts, owls, and wands have to do with Krieger Schechter Middle School? If you haven’t heard, we are using the wisdom of J.K. Rowling to teach students the practical application of the Kavod Code. If you’ve ever seen the Harry Potter movies...
Jan 6 2012
4th Grade Copper Embossing - An Integrated Project
In conjunction with both their Humash and Hanukkah studies, our 4th grade Judaic Studies classes merged the symbolism of the burning bush with the custom of designing commemorative coins, which was prevalent during the time of the Maccabees. Each child created...
Jan 6 2012
4th Grade Explores the Founding of Maryland
While many of us reflected on our family travels last week, 4th Graders reflected on the historical voyage that led to the founding of the state of Maryland. Students researched the crossing of the Ark and the Dove using primary and secondary sources, and...
