TheLehrmanLinkA weekly publication of

lehrman community day schoolcontaining time-sensitive information for members of the school community

Vol 11 • Issue 4 Thu, September 17, 2009 • 28 Elul 5769 • y"xa, kukt j"f Candle lighting Fri 9/18: 7:04 pm

This edition plus The Link archives are available on the web lehrmanschool.org/LL Copyright ©2008 Lehrman Community Day School

Rosh ha-Shanah EditionexpandedWhy Day School Matters, Now More Than Everby Rabbi Joshua ElkinThe Jewish Week, June 17, 2009

I applaud Gary Rosenblatt for putting the issue of Jewish day school education and affordability squarely on

the table of the Jewish communal agenda (“Jewish Day School Model May Now Be Thing Of Past,” May 8), and for generating ample serious and thoughtful discourse on this important issue. The headline of his article is sensationalistic and grossly misrepresents current realities, but the multiple questions Rosenblatt raises are worthy of further attention. Informed by 12 years of deep engagement in Jewish day schools across North America through the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), I offer the following perspective.

Numerous studies point to day school education as the most successful means of maintaining Jewish identity and affiliation. Research funded by PEJE and conducted by Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies proves that day school graduates thrive academically in competitive colleges, participate in Jewish activities more than their non-day school peers, and engage civically in leadership positions throughout campus at significantly higher rates. There is little debate over the value of Jewish day schools in equipping our communities with the next generation of informed and engaged leaders.

The growth of the day school movement in recent decades is nothing short of extraordinary. Since 1978, enrollment has doubled. With the rise of community day schools and pluralistic high schools, more families from outside Orthodoxy have chosen day school education for their children and, as pointed out by Alex Pomson and Randall Schnoor, the lives of parents as well as children have been greatly affected.

For all the positive news about the impact of day school education and the growing number of families choosing day school for their children, as Rosenblatt and so many others have articulated, the current economic climate presents painful challenges for day schools. Staff layoffs, tuition increases, reductions in some programs — these are happening at schools across North America.

In metropolitan New York, home to half of all the Jewish day schools in our country, the impact is perhaps felt even more strongly. Families — particularly those with middle-level incomes — are feeling squeezed more than ever before. Jewish day schools already have a great track record in providing support to those in greatest need, distributing more than double the average amount of financial aid as independent schools. But this is not enough for the growing number of families struggling to meet the demands of increasing tuition in our current economy. Across denominations and across schools, we must now find ways to make day school affordable to middle-class families without requiring them to spend one-third or more of their income.

Initiatives to address the affordability challenge, particularly for the middle class, are capturing the attention of schools, federations, foundations and

individual donors. Before the economy turned, many communities were exploring endowment campaigns on behalf of day schools, and while some of those efforts are temporarily put on hold (we look forward to their resumption when conditions improve), the infrastructure for communal investment in Jewish education is enabling federations and community foundations to coordinate the raising and allocation of emergency funds to help more families. Groups of schools are creatively collaborating across denominational and ideological divides to identify shared cost-saving strategies. To be sure, much more can and will be done in the months and years ahead.

“Times of crisis call for creativity,” is a saying I’ve heard a lot lately. Efforts to imagine new models of Jewish education are cropping up, and I salute the entrepreneurial thinking and passion behind these ideas. As Jack Wertheimer points out in “Linking the Silos,” the more opportunities for access to Jewish education, the more robust and inclusive our Jewish future will be.

At PEJE, we are creating our own innovative approach to strengthening the day school field. We firmly believe in the determinative power of leadership — both professional and board level — to steer day schools to a stronger future. Coupled with efforts that address financial sustainability, our emerging initiatives will catalyze the day school field so that day school education becomes even more irresistible as it fosters an engaged, enduring Jewish people. Exemplary and affordable education is the right of every Jewish family.

To suggest that day schools are irretrievably broken, or that they represent a “luxury” model, is to fail to grasp exactly how vitally critical these institutions are for our short-term and long-term vitality and literacy. Whether or not one’s family benefits directly from enrollment in a day school, these “neighborhoods of Jewish life and learning” are an indispensable part of the landscape of an enduring Jewish community.

The precious quality of these schools must now propel community leaders — in schools, federations and in regional and denominational networks — to address today’s urgent needs. We must continue to demonstrate the day school value proposition, to promote excellence, to raise the needed resources and to embrace our central place on the strategic agenda for a bright and vibrant Jewish future.

Rabbi Joshua Elkin is executive director of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE).

New Cash for Jewish Educationby Tamar SnyderThe Jewish Week, September 8, 2009

School’s back in session — and, despite the recession — new money is coming in for Jewish education.This week Manhattan’s Heschel School, a pluralistic

Jewish day school, announced new gifts totaling $75 million, part of a $100 million campaign to expand its student population and relocate its elementary and middle schools.

And, in a gift that is smaller than Heschel’s but will affect more people, the Jim Joseph Foundation announced $12 million in grants to improve teacher training and attract more aspiring educators to the field of Jewish education. Through the foundation’s initiative, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Yeshiva University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary will receive $700,000 each for the next five academic years, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in seed funds for planning purposes. The initial grants will provide financial aid for students pursuing education degrees.

“The quality of future heads of school, teachers and educational leaders in Jewish education will improve directly because of this funding,” said JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen.

Heschel’s $100 million One Campus Campaign underwrites the cost of building a 135,000 square foot K-8 building adjacent to its high school on West End and 61st Street. The single campus will accommodate more than 1,000 students.

A lead gift of $33 million comes courtesy of Ronald P. Stanton, a Heschel parent and chairman of Transammonia, Inc., a company that trades, distributes and transports fertilizers, ammonia, liquefied petroleum gases, petrochemicals, and crude oil. Stanton’s $100 million to Yeshiva University in 2006 was touted as the “largest single gift ever in North America in support of Jewish education and Jewish life.”

“I am pleased that Heschel can now proceed with its much needed expansion,” Stanton told The Jewish Week. “The additions and improvements to the school’s physical plant will enhance the education Heschel provides to our children, which is my goal in making this gift. I hope that my pledge will inspire others to support the school as this project moves ahead.”

Eight other philanthropists, including trustees of the school, and parents and grandparents of current students and alumni, committed $42 million.

When asked why Heschel chose to launch an expansion campaign in this tough economic climate, Head of School Roanna Shorofsky explained that the expansion plan has been 10 years in the making.

“Recently it became apparent that we would not be able to admit all the siblings of our current parent body. Furthermore, we would not be able to entertain applications from new families applying to the school,” she told The Jewish Week. “We were confident enough to continue this effort in this economic climate because of the response from a small group of donors who understood both the immediate as well as long-term strategic need and were willing and able to bring us to this point.”

According to Alisa Doctoroff, a Heschel parent and past president who contributed to the expansion campaign, “A sign of the health of Heschel is that even in the midst of a serious economic downturn there is still unmet demand.”

Is the good news on the day school front here to stay? “When you take the Jim Joseph announcement and you

take the Heschel School announcement, to us it says that Jewish day schools as the most intensive form of Jewish education, continue to be recognized for what they are able to accomplish,” says Rabbi Joshua Elkin, executive director of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Elkin senses “realistic optimism” and resilience in the air. “Last year many day schools raised more annual funds than they did in any previous year in recent history, in part because they redoubled their efforts, broadened their donor base and are bringing the message of a vibrant Jewish future,” he says.

TheLehrmanLinklehrman community day school

Dear LCDS Family,As we close the books on 5769 here at LCDS (and begin our Fiftieth Anniversary celebration), we can point to

many objective indicators of the acceleration in our academic quality, profile and reputation; we highlight three of these in the background montage on this front page. In just three years, we became the first Jewish day school in North America – and first school of any kind in Miami-Dade and Broward counties – to secure designation as Official Core Knowledge K-8 School and Visitation Site. See www.coreknowledge.org. Thank you to Roger and Jana Miller, whose farsighted gift made this achievement possible, and to Janet Fein, coordinator extraordinaire, and the faculty who make Core Knowledge a substantial advantage for our students. Now our youngest students are starting to enjoy the benefits of the PreSchool Core Knowledge program, too. This past year, faculty, staff and volunteer teams worked together to secure five-year reaccreditations from the Association of Independent Schools of Florida (“AISF”) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (“SACS CASI”). In the 2009 PEJE/Measuring Success, LLC Parent Survey, the school achieved highly positive ratings from our parents (and we learned that you want to help us nourish our social community – thank you, Deborah Bienstock, Dana Martorella and the PA volunteers for focusing on that goal for this year).

What makes this place special, however, is not fully measurable. An intriguing Mishnah (Rosh Ha-Shanah 3:7) discusses what happens when a Shofar is blown from a pit or a cave (perhaps in a time of persecution). One fulfills the obligation to hear the Shofar only if certain one has heard the direct sound and not an echo. What an LCDS education does is to serve as the ultimate noise-isolating earphones, the means to separate the meaningful sounds from the echoes of life. The syntax and semantics of a school day - the content and relationships that take shape in our classrooms, ballfields and other spaces - are the ultimate drivers and dampers to leading a life of purpose. Together with you, we develop each student’s individual intellectual, spiritual and physical capacities, so that a graduate is prepared to listen to others with fidelity, appreciate beauty and address pain, think critically and be involved passionately.

We have included on the last page of this “year-end” issue two reprinted pieces suggesting that, to paraphrase Mark Twain (1835-1910), the reports of the decline of day school education have been exaggerated. This demonstrable reality arises from what is reflected on pages 2 and 3 of this issue (and in every weekly edition of the Lehrman Link): the mosaic of learning and activities that combine to form a sense of calling, a love of people, and a cognizance of moral responsibility – the daily training in separating the noise from the echo.

On behalf of our faculty, staff and trustees – and from Deana and our family: vcuy vnh,ju vch,f, a happy and healthy New Year to you and yours.

Seth Linfield, Head of School

50 Years, 50 QuestionsEach week we will publish one of the 50 questions from the PA’s LCDS History Cards. Know the answer? e-mail us answer@lcdspublications.org or find the answer online at lehrmanschool.org/50

4. When is LCDS not only “on the beach,” but actually becomes a beach??

PaPa•razzi patrolImages of Life@LCDS

Shabbat Shalom v’Shanah Tovah! ECD students celebrate kabbalat shabbat with Miss Ana and Morah Rachel; LCDS families were well represented at Sunday’s PJ Library Holiday Read-a-Thon at Books & Books, Bal Harbour; Tashlikh, the symbolic casting off of sins, at the nearby canal; our early childhood bakers prepare a challah for the holiday…and see the results fresh from the oven!; kindergerteners stretch the limits of their dough; first graders do the twist; second grader Kayla displays her perfectly round challah; and Alexa Greenstein (first grade) checks her hermit crab into L’Hotel de Science for an extended stay.

“Passport to Learning”Mark your calendar for Wednesday evening, September 30 (see revised times below) for this years “Passport to Learning.” We are proud of our faculty and the academic programs we offer at LCDS and want to share with you what your child experiences each day. Enjoy your journey as you travel from class to class, experiencing the sights and sounds of the ‘Land of Lehrman.’ Come prepared for a learning adventure!

ECD through Grade 8: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

for this years “Passport to Learning.” We are

to share with you what your child experiences each day.

3rd Grade Parents!Our next two

Torah Study Sessionswill be held on

Wed., Sept. 23 & Mon., Oct. 12 from 7:00-8:00 pm

Remember…Attendance brings rewards!Attend all three sessions, and upon completion

you, too, will receive a personal chumash at Haggigat ha-Torah with your child!

RSVP to Renee Steinmanrsteinman@lehrmanschool.org • 305.866.2771 x10

Answer to last week’s question: Q In what school year did LCDS get its super Early Childhood playground? A: 2009.

What’s for Lunch?Monday, Sept 21Caesar salad • Chicken schnitzel • Oven roasted

potatoes • Corn • Apples • Water (M/W/F)

Tuesday, Sept 22Greek salad • Angel hair pasta with broccoli

Garlic bread • Peaches • Milk (T/Th)

Wednesday, Sept 23Vegetable soup • Hamburgers • Tossed salad

Corn on the cob • French fries • Watermelon

Thursday, Sept 24Greek salad • Vegetable cutlets parmigiana

with ziti • Apple crumb cake

Friday, Sept 25 • ouka ,caChicken noodle soup • Turkey sandwiches

Casear salad • Sun chips • Oranges

Food Factoid #236Apples, potatoes, and onions all taste the

same when eaten with your nose plugged.

LOTS OF PA NEWS!The PA is thrilled to announce our Book Fair: BOOKS: Your Passport to the World!

with Books & Books. Our Interna-tional Fair will take place Sept 30 (8am-4pm and 6pm-9pm), the same night as “Passport to Learn-ing,” and Oct 1 from 8am-4pm.Volunteers are needed! Please sign-up to “work a shift” at the sign-up

sheets in the school lobby (next to Alvaro’s desk) , or email info@lcdspa.org if you would like to help out!Also, please consider reading to your child’s ECD class at AROUND THE WORLD STORYTIME (Toddler through Pre-K). Sign-up sheets are located in the school lobby. Parents of elementary students can set up a reading time directly with their teacher. 25% of all sales benefit LCDS!

Event Co-chairs: Diane Breslow and Tracy MoretSAVE THE DATE(S)!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT: Thu, Oct 22, graciously hosted by Tracy Waserstein.

Thank you, Tracy! Come see what makes Lehrman moms so great! Email info@lcdspa.org if you’re inter-ested in helping out.Next PA meeting: Wednesday, October 7 8:45amOfficer Michael Putz from the Miami Beach Police Department, will speak on “Internet Safety and Creating a Cybersafe Home.” He will demonstrate how a skilled internet predator can find out about your child based on the information s/he shares online, and what parents can do about it. ALSO: Our FIRST Book Club selection will be announced by our fabulous reviewer and faculty mem-ber, Ms. Judi Fishkin. The book selection will be available for purchase at the meeting. Come join us!Holiday Bazaar!!!! Thursday, Nov, 5, 8am-6pm. Co-chairs Jodie Rozencwaig and Amy Siama. Volunteers needed to assist with set-up, implementation and break-down of this spectacular event. Please email info@lcdspa.org to join the fun associated with this shopping extravaganza!

January Toddler ClassClass begins Jan. 4, 2010 and ends June 10. Enrollment open to children 18 mos. and older. The half-day option ends at 1:00 pm; full-day until 3:30 pm Mon–Thu and 2:40 pm Fridays. Contact Jodi Bruce 305.866.2771 x25. Space is limited!

SEPT 0918 FRI NO SCHOOL: Rosh ha-Shanah

19-20 SAT-SUN Rosh ha-Shanah

27 SUN Erev Yom Kippur

28 MON NO SCHOOL: Yom Kippur

30 WED PA Book Fair 8:00 am–4:00 pm & 6:00 pm–9:00 pm; Passport to Learning 6:30–8:00 pm

OCT 091 THU PA Book Fair 8:00 am–4:00 pm

2 FRI 1:00 pm Dismissal Erev Sukkot

8 THU Dinner in the Sukkah

9 FRI 1:00 pm Dismissal Hoshana Rabba

Clip & Save!

Thank You!We thank Neil and Jennifer Taplin Sazant (LCDS Class of 1985) and the Sol Taplin Charitable Foundation for a new commitment to our students through our Library and the Accelerated Reader program.

For the past six years, our students have been improving their reading skills, and, at least as important, learning to love to read, through the Accelerated Reader (“AR”) program. Now, 75 percent of LCDS second graders and 74 percent of third graders read above grade level!

Accelerated Reader is a self-paced, individualized, motivational reading program designed to improve our students’ reading comprehension. The students select and read a book, followed by a quiz on the computer, which allows student and teacher to receive immediate individualized constructive feedback to direct ongoing reading practice. Each student, based on grade level, is assigned a number of points that can be reached by passing each quiz. Once a goal is reached, each student’s accomplishment is highlighted on the colorful AR wall located on the second floor. A variety of fiction and non-fiction books, for all grade levels, are available under the AR program. AR provides a powerful incentive to motivate children to check out appropriate books from the school library and read them at home or during silent reading time in class. Moreover, AR integrates well with our CoreKnowledge curriculum! Even more information about the Accelerated Reader program can be found through the program’s developer, Renaissance Learning, www.renlearn.com.

The Foundation’s gift will allow us to materially enhance our collection of AR books and quizzes, which will benefit each and every child in grades K-5, now and in the future. Accelerated Reader coordinator, Lili Rotholz, will be guiding the acquisition process.

Thank you again, Neil and Jennifer and the Taplin Foundation, for the longstanding support you provide to the students of Lehrman Community Day School.

Andrea Schleider, Director, Constituent Relations, 305.866.2771 x23aschleider@lehrmanschool.org

LCDS is pleased to announce

a monthly social networkfor LCDS parents.

Schmooze with old & new friends on Fridays, Oct 16, Nov 13, and Dec 14

from 8:00-10:00 a.m.in the school lobby.

A continental breakfast will be served.

ParentConnect

Flag FootballPractice for JV, Girls Varsity, and Boys Varsity is every Thurs. from 3:45-5:30.FINAL SCORES:Varsity LCDS 14, Hebrew Academy 28 JV LCDS 18, Hebrew Academy 13Varsity LCDS 13, Greenfield 21 UPCOMING GAMES:Varsity Wed, Sep 23, 4:30 vs. Hochberg Prep Junior Varsity Wed, Sep 23, 3:30 vs. Hochberg Prep • Both games are at Crespi ParkFor a complete schedule, go tolehrmanschool.org/athletics*Exciting Sports Program@Lehrman

*

LCDS is proud to welcomethe author of The Secret Series,

Pseudonymous Bosch

on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 am.Mr. Bosch will be speaking with our 4th–8th graders and will be signing

his books. The following books will be available for purchase:

This Book Is Not Good for YouIf You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late

The Name of This Book Is Secret

New at

Sign, Say & Play™, is a six-week program teaching signing especially developed for parents and babies. Each session covers an area of your child’s routine: Mealtime, Bedtime, Bathtime, etc. Fee: $150 (includes a Sign, Say & Play Kit enabling you to con-tinue the learning at home.) First session: Tues., Sept. 22, 10:00 am for six weeks through Oct. 27. For details, contact Allison Gechtman at agechtman@lehrmanschool.org*LCDS

*

CARPOOL TIP: We now have 2 Drop-Off locations—by the parking lot and by the PE court gates

(however, only between 7:45 and 8:15 am!). Also, for our children’s safety, use of cell phone in car pool line is not permitted. Thank you!

CARPOOL TIP:We now have Off locations—by the parking lot PE court gates

(however, only between

50 Years, 50 QuestionsEach week we will publish one of the 50 questions from the PA’s LCDS History Cards. Know the answer? e-mail us answer@lcdspublications.org or find the answer online at lehrmanschool.org/50

4. When is LCDS not only “on the beach,” but actually becomes a beach??

PaPa•razzi patrolImages of Life@LCDS

Shabbat Shalom v’Shanah Tovah! ECD students celebrate kabbalat shabbat with Miss Ana and Morah Rachel; LCDS families were well represented at Sunday’s PJ Library Holiday Read-a-Thon at Books & Books, Bal Harbour; Tashlikh, the symbolic casting off of sins, at the nearby canal; our early childhood bakers prepare a challah for the holiday…and see the results fresh from the oven!; kindergerteners stretch the limits of their dough; first graders do the twist; second grader Kayla displays her perfectly round challah; and Alexa Greenstein (first grade) checks her hermit crab into L’Hotel de Science for an extended stay.

“Passport to Learning”Mark your calendar for Wednesday evening, September 30 (see revised times below) for this years “Passport to Learning.” We are proud of our faculty and the academic programs we offer at LCDS and want to share with you what your child experiences each day. Enjoy your journey as you travel from class to class, experiencing the sights and sounds of the ‘Land of Lehrman.’ Come prepared for a learning adventure!

ECD through Grade 8: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

for this years “Passport to Learning.” We are

to share with you what your child experiences each day.

3rd Grade Parents!Our next two

Torah Study Sessionswill be held on

Wed., Sept. 23 & Mon., Oct. 12 from 7:00-8:00 pm

Remember…Attendance brings rewards!Attend all three sessions, and upon completion

you, too, will receive a personal chumash at Haggigat ha-Torah with your child!

RSVP to Renee Steinmanrsteinman@lehrmanschool.org • 305.866.2771 x10

Answer to last week’s question: Q In what school year did LCDS get its super Early Childhood playground? A: 2009.

What’s for Lunch?Monday, Sept 21Caesar salad • Chicken schnitzel • Oven roasted

potatoes • Corn • Apples • Water (M/W/F)

Tuesday, Sept 22Greek salad • Angel hair pasta with broccoli

Garlic bread • Peaches • Milk (T/Th)

Wednesday, Sept 23Vegetable soup • Hamburgers • Tossed salad

Corn on the cob • French fries • Watermelon

Thursday, Sept 24Greek salad • Vegetable cutlets parmigiana

with ziti • Apple crumb cake

Friday, Sept 25 • ouka ,caChicken noodle soup • Turkey sandwiches

Casear salad • Sun chips • Oranges

Food Factoid #236Apples, potatoes, and onions all taste the

same when eaten with your nose plugged.

LOTS OF PA NEWS!The PA is thrilled to announce our Book Fair: BOOKS: Your Passport to the World!

with Books & Books. Our Interna-tional Fair will take place Sept 30 (8am-4pm and 6pm-9pm), the same night as “Passport to Learn-ing,” and Oct 1 from 8am-4pm.Volunteers are needed! Please sign-up to “work a shift” at the sign-up

sheets in the school lobby (next to Alvaro’s desk) , or email info@lcdspa.org if you would like to help out!Also, please consider reading to your child’s ECD class at AROUND THE WORLD STORYTIME (Toddler through Pre-K). Sign-up sheets are located in the school lobby. Parents of elementary students can set up a reading time directly with their teacher. 25% of all sales benefit LCDS!

Event Co-chairs: Diane Breslow and Tracy MoretSAVE THE DATE(S)!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT: Thu, Oct 22, graciously hosted by Tracy Waserstein.

Thank you, Tracy! Come see what makes Lehrman moms so great! Email info@lcdspa.org if you’re inter-ested in helping out.Next PA meeting: Wednesday, October 7 8:45amOfficer Michael Putz from the Miami Beach Police Department, will speak on “Internet Safety and Creating a Cybersafe Home.” He will demonstrate how a skilled internet predator can find out about your child based on the information s/he shares online, and what parents can do about it. ALSO: Our FIRST Book Club selection will be announced by our fabulous reviewer and faculty mem-ber, Ms. Judi Fishkin. The book selection will be available for purchase at the meeting. Come join us!Holiday Bazaar!!!! Thursday, Nov, 5, 8am-6pm. Co-chairs Jodie Rozencwaig and Amy Siama. Volunteers needed to assist with set-up, implementation and break-down of this spectacular event. Please email info@lcdspa.org to join the fun associated with this shopping extravaganza!

January Toddler ClassClass begins Jan. 4, 2010 and ends June 10. Enrollment open to children 18 mos. and older. The half-day option ends at 1:00 pm; full-day until 3:30 pm Mon–Thu and 2:40 pm Fridays. Contact Jodi Bruce 305.866.2771 x25. Space is limited!

SEPT 0918 FRI NO SCHOOL: Rosh ha-Shanah

19-20 SAT-SUN Rosh ha-Shanah

27 SUN Erev Yom Kippur

28 MON NO SCHOOL: Yom Kippur

30 WED PA Book Fair 8:00 am–4:00 pm & 6:00 pm–9:00 pm; Passport to Learning 6:30–8:00 pm

OCT 091 THU PA Book Fair 8:00 am–4:00 pm

2 FRI 1:00 pm Dismissal Erev Sukkot

8 THU Dinner in the Sukkah

9 FRI 1:00 pm Dismissal Hoshana Rabba

Clip & Save!

Thank You!We thank Neil and Jennifer Taplin Sazant (LCDS Class of 1985) and the Sol Taplin Charitable Foundation for a new commitment to our students through our Library and the Accelerated Reader program.

For the past six years, our students have been improving their reading skills, and, at least as important, learning to love to read, through the Accelerated Reader (“AR”) program. Now, 75 percent of LCDS second graders and 74 percent of third graders read above grade level!

Accelerated Reader is a self-paced, individualized, motivational reading program designed to improve our students’ reading comprehension. The students select and read a book, followed by a quiz on the computer, which allows student and teacher to receive immediate individualized constructive feedback to direct ongoing reading practice. Each student, based on grade level, is assigned a number of points that can be reached by passing each quiz. Once a goal is reached, each student’s accomplishment is highlighted on the colorful AR wall located on the second floor. A variety of fiction and non-fiction books, for all grade levels, are available under the AR program. AR provides a powerful incentive to motivate children to check out appropriate books from the school library and read them at home or during silent reading time in class. Moreover, AR integrates well with our CoreKnowledge curriculum! Even more information about the Accelerated Reader program can be found through the program’s developer, Renaissance Learning, www.renlearn.com.

The Foundation’s gift will allow us to materially enhance our collection of AR books and quizzes, which will benefit each and every child in grades K-5, now and in the future. Accelerated Reader coordinator, Lili Rotholz, will be guiding the acquisition process.

Thank you again, Neil and Jennifer and the Taplin Foundation, for the longstanding support you provide to the students of Lehrman Community Day School.

Andrea Schleider, Director, Constituent Relations, 305.866.2771 x23aschleider@lehrmanschool.org

LCDS is pleased to announce

a monthly social networkfor LCDS parents.

Schmooze with old & new friends on Fridays, Oct 16, Nov 13, and Dec 14

from 8:00-9:00 a.m.in the school lobby.

A continental breakfast will be served.

ParentConnect

Flag FootballPractice for JV, Girls Varsity, and Boys Varsity is every Thurs. from 3:45-5:30.FINAL SCORES:Varsity LCDS 14, Hebrew Academy 28 JV LCDS 18, Hebrew Academy 13Varsity LCDS 13, Greenfield 21 UPCOMING GAMES:Varsity Wed, Sep 23, 4:30 vs. Hochberg Prep Junior Varsity Wed, Sep 23, 3:30 vs. Hochberg Prep • Both games are at Crespi ParkFor a complete schedule, go tolehrmanschool.org/athletics*Exciting Sports Program@Lehrman

*

LCDS is proud to welcomethe author of The Secret Series,

Pseudonymous Bosch

on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 am.Mr. Bosch will be speaking with our 4th–8th graders and will be signing

his books. The following books will be available for purchase:

This Book Is Not Good for YouIf You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late

The Name of This Book Is Secret

New at

Sign, Say & Play™, is a six-week program teaching signing especially developed for parents and babies. Each session covers an area of your child’s routine: Mealtime, Bedtime, Bathtime, etc. Fee: $150 (includes a Sign, Say & Play Kit enabling you to con-tinue the learning at home.) First session: Tues., Sept. 22, 10:00 am for six weeks through Oct. 27. For details, contact Allison Gechtman at agechtman@lehrmanschool.org*LCDS

*

CARPOOL TIP: We now have 2 Drop-Off locations—by the parking lot and by the PE court gates

(however, only between 7:45 and 8:15 am!). Also, for our children’s safety, use of cell phone in car pool line is not permitted. Thank you!

CARPOOL TIP:We now have Off locations—by the parking lot PE court gates

(however, only between

TheLehrmanLinkA weekly publication of

lehrman community day schoolcontaining time-sensitive information for members of the school community

Vol 11 • Issue 4 Thu, September 17, 2009 • 28 Elul 5769 • y"xa, kukt j"f Candle lighting Fri 9/18: 7:04 pm

This edition plus The Link archives are available on the web lehrmanschool.org/LL Copyright ©2008 Lehrman Community Day School

Rosh ha-Shanah EditionexpandedWhy Day School Matters, Now More Than Everby Rabbi Joshua ElkinThe Jewish Week, June 17, 2009

I applaud Gary Rosenblatt for putting the issue of Jewish day school education and affordability squarely on

the table of the Jewish communal agenda (“Jewish Day School Model May Now Be Thing Of Past,” May 8), and for generating ample serious and thoughtful discourse on this important issue. The headline of his article is sensationalistic and grossly misrepresents current realities, but the multiple questions Rosenblatt raises are worthy of further attention. Informed by 12 years of deep engagement in Jewish day schools across North America through the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), I offer the following perspective.

Numerous studies point to day school education as the most successful means of maintaining Jewish identity and affiliation. Research funded by PEJE and conducted by Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies proves that day school graduates thrive academically in competitive colleges, participate in Jewish activities more than their non-day school peers, and engage civically in leadership positions throughout campus at significantly higher rates. There is little debate over the value of Jewish day schools in equipping our communities with the next generation of informed and engaged leaders.

The growth of the day school movement in recent decades is nothing short of extraordinary. Since 1978, enrollment has doubled. With the rise of community day schools and pluralistic high schools, more families from outside Orthodoxy have chosen day school education for their children and, as pointed out by Alex Pomson and Randall Schnoor, the lives of parents as well as children have been greatly affected.

For all the positive news about the impact of day school education and the growing number of families choosing day school for their children, as Rosenblatt and so many others have articulated, the current economic climate presents painful challenges for day schools. Staff layoffs, tuition increases, reductions in some programs — these are happening at schools across North America.

In metropolitan New York, home to half of all the Jewish day schools in our country, the impact is perhaps felt even more strongly. Families — particularly those with middle-level incomes — are feeling squeezed more than ever before. Jewish day schools already have a great track record in providing support to those in greatest need, distributing more than double the average amount of financial aid as independent schools. But this is not enough for the growing number of families struggling to meet the demands of increasing tuition in our current economy. Across denominations and across schools, we must now find ways to make day school affordable to middle-class families without requiring them to spend one-third or more of their income.

Initiatives to address the affordability challenge, particularly for the middle class, are capturing the attention of schools, federations, foundations and

individual donors. Before the economy turned, many communities were exploring endowment campaigns on behalf of day schools, and while some of those efforts are temporarily put on hold (we look forward to their resumption when conditions improve), the infrastructure for communal investment in Jewish education is enabling federations and community foundations to coordinate the raising and allocation of emergency funds to help more families. Groups of schools are creatively collaborating across denominational and ideological divides to identify shared cost-saving strategies. To be sure, much more can and will be done in the months and years ahead.

“Times of crisis call for creativity,” is a saying I’ve heard a lot lately. Efforts to imagine new models of Jewish education are cropping up, and I salute the entrepreneurial thinking and passion behind these ideas. As Jack Wertheimer points out in “Linking the Silos,” the more opportunities for access to Jewish education, the more robust and inclusive our Jewish future will be.

At PEJE, we are creating our own innovative approach to strengthening the day school field. We firmly believe in the determinative power of leadership — both professional and board level — to steer day schools to a stronger future. Coupled with efforts that address financial sustainability, our emerging initiatives will catalyze the day school field so that day school education becomes even more irresistible as it fosters an engaged, enduring Jewish people. Exemplary and affordable education is the right of every Jewish family.

To suggest that day schools are irretrievably broken, or that they represent a “luxury” model, is to fail to grasp exactly how vitally critical these institutions are for our short-term and long-term vitality and literacy. Whether or not one’s family benefits directly from enrollment in a day school, these “neighborhoods of Jewish life and learning” are an indispensable part of the landscape of an enduring Jewish community.

The precious quality of these schools must now propel community leaders — in schools, federations and in regional and denominational networks — to address today’s urgent needs. We must continue to demonstrate the day school value proposition, to promote excellence, to raise the needed resources and to embrace our central place on the strategic agenda for a bright and vibrant Jewish future.

Rabbi Joshua Elkin is executive director of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE).

New Cash for Jewish Educationby Tamar SnyderThe Jewish Week, September 8, 2009

School’s back in session — and, despite the recession — new money is coming in for Jewish education.This week Manhattan’s Heschel School, a pluralistic

Jewish day school, announced new gifts totaling $75 million, part of a $100 million campaign to expand its student population and relocate its elementary and middle schools.

And, in a gift that is smaller than Heschel’s but will affect more people, the Jim Joseph Foundation announced $12 million in grants to improve teacher training and attract more aspiring educators to the field of Jewish education. Through the foundation’s initiative, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Yeshiva University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary will receive $700,000 each for the next five academic years, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in seed funds for planning purposes. The initial grants will provide financial aid for students pursuing education degrees.

“The quality of future heads of school, teachers and educational leaders in Jewish education will improve directly because of this funding,” said JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen.

Heschel’s $100 million One Campus Campaign underwrites the cost of building a 135,000 square foot K-8 building adjacent to its high school on West End and 61st Street. The single campus will accommodate more than 1,000 students.

A lead gift of $33 million comes courtesy of Ronald P. Stanton, a Heschel parent and chairman of Transammonia, Inc., a company that trades, distributes and transports fertilizers, ammonia, liquefied petroleum gases, petrochemicals, and crude oil. Stanton’s $100 million to Yeshiva University in 2006 was touted as the “largest single gift ever in North America in support of Jewish education and Jewish life.”

“I am pleased that Heschel can now proceed with its much needed expansion,” Stanton told The Jewish Week. “The additions and improvements to the school’s physical plant will enhance the education Heschel provides to our children, which is my goal in making this gift. I hope that my pledge will inspire others to support the school as this project moves ahead.”

Eight other philanthropists, including trustees of the school, and parents and grandparents of current students and alumni, committed $42 million.

When asked why Heschel chose to launch an expansion campaign in this tough economic climate, Head of School Roanna Shorofsky explained that the expansion plan has been 10 years in the making.

“Recently it became apparent that we would not be able to admit all the siblings of our current parent body. Furthermore, we would not be able to entertain applications from new families applying to the school,” she told The Jewish Week. “We were confident enough to continue this effort in this economic climate because of the response from a small group of donors who understood both the immediate as well as long-term strategic need and were willing and able to bring us to this point.”

According to Alisa Doctoroff, a Heschel parent and past president who contributed to the expansion campaign, “A sign of the health of Heschel is that even in the midst of a serious economic downturn there is still unmet demand.”

Is the good news on the day school front here to stay? “When you take the Jim Joseph announcement and you

take the Heschel School announcement, to us it says that Jewish day schools as the most intensive form of Jewish education, continue to be recognized for what they are able to accomplish,” says Rabbi Joshua Elkin, executive director of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Elkin senses “realistic optimism” and resilience in the air. “Last year many day schools raised more annual funds than they did in any previous year in recent history, in part because they redoubled their efforts, broadened their donor base and are bringing the message of a vibrant Jewish future,” he says.

TheLehrmanLinklehrman community day school

Dear LCDS Family,As we close the books on 5769 here at LCDS (and begin our Fiftieth Anniversary celebration), we can point on

many objective indicia of the acceleration in our academic quality, profile and reputation; we highlight three of these in the background montage on this front page. In just three years (where the normal timeline is five years), we became the first Jewish day school in North America – and first school of any kind in Miami-Dade and Broward counties – to secure designation as Official Core Knowledge K-8 School and Visitation site. See www.coreknowledge.org. Thank you, to Roger and Jana Miller, whose farsighted gift made this achievement possible, and to Janet Fein, coordinator extraordinaire, and the faculty who make Core Knowledge a substantial advantage for our students. Now our youngest students are starting to enjoy the benefits of the PreSchool Core Knowledge program too. This past year, faculty, staff and volunteer teams worked together to secure five-year reaccreditations from the Association of Independent Schools of Florida (“AISF”) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (“SACS CASI”). In the 2009 PEJE/Measuring Success, LLC Parent Survey, the school achieved highly positive ratings from our parents (and we learned that you want to help us nourish our social community – thank you, Deborah Bienstock, Dana Martorella and the PA volunteers for focusing on that goal for this year).

What makes this place special, however, is not fully measurable. An intriguing Mishnah (Rosh Ha-Shanah 3:7) and related sources discuss what happens when a Shofar is blown from a pit or a cave (perhaps in a time of persecution). One fulfills his obligation to hear the Shofar only if he is certain he has heard the direct sound and not an echo. What an LCDS education does in essence is to serve as the ultimate noise isolating earphones, the means to separate the meaningful sounds from the echoes of life; the syntax and semantics of a school day, the content and relationships that take shape in our classrooms, ballfields and other spaces, are the ultimate drivers and dampers to leading a life of purpose. Together with you, we develop each child’s individual intellectual, spiritual and physical capacities, so that a graduate is prepared to listen to others with fidelity, appreciate beauty and address pain, think critically and be involved passionately.

We have included on the last page of this “year-end” issue two reprinted pieces suggesting that, to paraphrase Mark Twain (1835-1910), the reports of the decline of day school education have been exaggerated. This demonstrable reality arises from what is reflected on pages 2 and 3 of this issue (and in every weekly edition of the Lehrman Link): the mosaic of learning and activities that combine to form a sense of calling, a love of people, and a cognizance of moral responsibility, in sum, the daily training in separating the noise from the echo.

On behalf of our faculty, staff and trustees – and from Deana and our family: vcuy vnh,ju vch,f, a happy and healthy New Year to you and yours.

Seth Linfield, Head of School