School Curriculum

A Grade by Grade over view of the Or Hadash curriculum: 

Pre-K/Kindergarten and 1st Grades: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Shabbat, Basic Blessings, An Introduction to Bible Stories, Beginning Hebrew Letter Recognition, Ethics and Values and Basic Facts about Israel 

2nd Grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Chanukah, building on basic blessings, theme of religious freedom, Beginning to decode Hebrew, Ethics and Values, focus on Haifa 

3rd Grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Purim, Beginning Prayers, Review of Bible Stories, Intensive decoding skills, Ethics and Values, focus on Jerusalem 

4th grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Simchat Torah and Shavuot, A look at the evening service, focus on American Immigration, Building Hebrew fluency, focus on Kibbutzim/Moshavim, Ethics and Values 

5th Grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Passover and Lag B’Omer, Beginning the morning service, A look at Southern Israel, Concentrating on Hebrew fluency, Ethics and Values 

6th Grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Sukkot and Tu B’shevat, Knowledge of the morning and evening services, study of Parshat Hashavua, the Torah Portion of the week, Holocaust Study, Central Israel, Torah Cantillations, Ethics and Values 

7th Grade: Focus on Jewish Holidays especially Shabbat, Torah Study, Ethics and Values, Beyond B’nai Mitzvah 

Confirmation (Grades 8 - 10) 

Our Post B’nai Mitzvah program meets on Sunday mornings for 16 sessions during the year. The curriculum is based on the concept that students are ready for adult conversation about important issues that affect their daily lives. All three years include informative trips and tzedakah projects in the community as well as two retreats.  

• The 8th grade curriculum: Learning about ourselves as Jews and our relationships with others: A look at Comparative Judaism and Comparative Religions 
• The 9th grade curriculum: How can Jewish values help us make informed decisions and meet social challenges in our lives? A look at teen topics in the Torah 
• The 10th grade curriculum: Taking action in our communities and in our world: Using Jewish values to make a better world (Tikkun Olam). Panim El Panim, Hebrew for “face to face,” is a program that allows our 10th grade students to explore social justice and public policy through a Jewish lens during a 4 day seminar in Washington D.C. It is an integral part of our confirmation program.