By Cindy Mindell

Connecticut is home to nine Jewish day schools and two (pre-college) yeshivot, all working to provide a high level of education in both secular and Judaic studies. As the new school year approaches, the Ledger checked in with the schools to see how they’re gearing up for their students. With the exception of the high schools, all the day schools include nursery school through eighth grade.

BESS & PAUL SIGEL HEBREW ACADEMY

53 Gabb Road, Bloomfield
(860) 243-8333, sigelacademy.org
Head of School: Rabbi Eliot Feldman
Enrollment: unavailable

Science class at the Hebrew Academy.

The Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year by embracing 21st century teaching methods.

To meet the needs of its diverse community of learners, the Academy is implementing the educational approach of “multiple intelligences,” most notably advanced by Harvard professor Dr. Howard Gardner. Based on the premise that people learn differently, the school’s faculty employ a variety of strategies in their classrooms to connect to students and cultivate their innate creativity. Combined with differentiated instruction, this approach helps motivate each student to follow his or her passions.

The Academy will continue project-based learning, a classroom approach inaugurated in the curriculum last year. This method will be expanded to include inquiry-based learning. Over the summer, teams of teachers in both Judaic studies and general studies became familiar with inquiry-based learning at a weeklong seminar hosted by the Connecticut Science Center.

“Since students believe that all information is ‘Google-able,’ it is essential that the school’s focus be skills-based,” says Rabbi Eliot Feldman, head of school and a graduate of the Academy. “To that end, the Academy has placed an emphasis on the 21st century skills necessary for the workplace – observing, questioning, interpreting, and communicating. All of this is done within a Jewish context where teachers model the demeanor and values of Jewish tradition.”

BI-CULTURAL DAY SCHOOL

2186 High Ridge Road, Stamford
(203) 329-2186, bcds.org
Principal & Head of School: Jacqueline Herman
Rabbinic Dean: Rabbi David Israel
Enrollment: 350+

Nofi Rosovsky looks over her son Aaron’s writing samples during the first grade publishing party at Bi-Cultural Day School.

The 2014-15 school year will see several changes in Bi-Cultural’s curriculum and academic programming.

Rachel Haron will join the staff as director of secular studies. A seasoned K-8 educator, Haron holds advanced degrees from Barnard College and Iona College and a certificate in educational administration and supervision from the University of Bridgeport. In addition to teaching positions in several Stamford-area K-8 public schools, she most recently served as director of student services and staff development at Bi-Cultural.

Four new teachers will join the faculty:

Liz Marriott specializes in “differentiated instruction;” Master science teacher Devorah Kurin will be part of Bi-Cultural’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program; and Lea Kaner joins the first grade Judaic Studies staff, along with Wexner Fellow Gina Fass.

“Many of our teachers have been taking classes and attending professional development seminars,” says Principal and Head of School Jackie Herman. “We are excited to continue to offer exciting STEM initiatives throughout the grades and we will be offering a wide variety of courses, including computer coding, chess, and integrated units of study in both secular and Judaic Studies.”

CARMEL ACADEMY

carmelacademy.com, (203) 983-3503
270 Lake Ave., Greenwich
carmelacademy.com
Head of School: Nora Anderson
Enrollment: 250

Carmel Academy kindergarten students getting excited about science.

This year, Carmel Academy welcomes Rebecca Hammerman as principal, a new leadership position created as a result of the school’s growth. Also joining Carmel Academy’s leadership team is veteran educator and administrator Rae-ann Allen, as the school’s director of educational resources. Allen will lead Carmel’s groundbreaking PALS (Providing Alternative Learning Strategies) program for students with learning disabilities.

The school has several events and programs open to the wider community, including its Preschool Holiday Happening Program for preschoolers and their parents. The first program, “Torah Time!” will take place Thursday, Oct. 23 at 1:30 p.m.

Carmel’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program continues to grow. Carmel Academy offers Middle School E2K, an innovative program to teach math and science to gifted students; an award-winning SET3 2020 engineering program; and a Math Olympiad team.

The Jewish Theological Seminary and the AVI CHAI Foundation recently chose Carmel Academy as the focus of a case study, which is currently being used to train new heads of schools and leaders in best practices for teaching Jewish text.

Other new offerings include an innovative values-based character-development program. Looking ahead, Carmel has also announced plans to launch in Sept. 2015 a new transitional kindergarten program.

EZRA ACADEMY

75 Rimmon Road, Woodbridge
ezraacademy.net / (203) 389-5500
Head of School: Dr. Melanie Waynik
Enrollment: 80

Dr. Sarah Berke guides Ezra Academy eighth graders in performing a dissection.

Ezra Academy, a Solomon Schechter-affiliated day school, is using a new way to teach students math and science.

Math teacher Jennifer Edwards is introducing the “Flipping the Classroom” approach, a new, interactive method of teaching mathematics using interactive, online lessons and videos. Students watch tutorial videos to learn a concept, and make note of the parts they don’t understand. They then apply and discuss what they’ve learned, helping them to gain insight into how they can use mathematics in real-world situations.

Science teacher Sarah Berke, who holds a PhD in neuroscience, taught biology at Quinnipiac University and, prior to that, directed outreach programs for BioScience Explorations at Connecticut United for Research Excellence, Inc. in New Haven and ran her own science-education consulting firm. The beneficiaries of Berke’s advanced knowledge have been her students, as she leads them through a variety of high-level experiments and activities, such as dissecting a sheep’s heart.

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT HEBREW ACADEMY (SCHA)

261 Derby Ave., Orange
(203) 795-5261, schacademy.net
Head of School: Rabbi Sheya Hecht
Principal: Rabbi Enan Francis
Enrollment: 240

SCHA students on a field trip to the Institute of Native American Studies.

In the coming 2014/15 academic year, Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy (SCHA) will become the first Jewish day school in the country to add robots to its technology program – the NAO Robot will be used as a programming tool in the upper grades, and the Bee-Bot robot will be used to teach lower-grade students sequencing, estimation, and problem-solving.

This past year, student members of SCHA’s newly-formed afterschool robotics club worked with a two-foot-tall, voice-activated robot to learn coding and develop critical-thinking skills. Now, the school plans to use the two NAO robots as part of an enhanced technology curriculum to teach fourth through eighth grade students how to code.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER HARTFORD (SSDS)

26 Buena Vista Road, West Hartford
ssds-hartford.org, (860) 561-0700
Head of School: Andrea Kasper
Enrollment: 135

SSDS students at work in the Robotics Club.

This fall, Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford (SSDS) welomes its new head of school, Andrea Kasper. Previously at the Kreiger Schechter Day School in Baltimore, Md., Kasper has earned a national reputation as a transformational thought leader in Jewish education and in innovation in Jewish dayschool curriculum integration and pedagogy.

In the fall, SSDS will begin a Musician-in-Residence program. Joining the faculty will be Adrian Durlester, an educator and musician who brings knowledge and passion for both secular as well as Jewish music.

Also new this year is visual arts educator, Numi Hwang, who weaves world cultures, mathematics, and critical thinking into her teaching.

In the 2014-15 academic year, SSDS will integrate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) throughout the school. In the early childhood area, the school plans to add Reggio inspired programming. This approach encourages children to be active participants in their learning by creating a setting filled with engaging materials that the students are encouraged to use to explore their curiosity.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER ACADEMY

660 Ocean Ave., New London
(860) 443-5589, ssa-newlondon.org
Head of School: Tracy Todd
Enrollment: Unavailable

Solomon Schechter Academy is a co-educational pre-kindergarten through grade 6 day school offering a program of outstanding secular and Judaic studies to students in eastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island.  It is an affiliate of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, as well as a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.

YESHIVA K’TANA

32 Hillside Ave., Waterbury
(203) 528-4147
Principals: Rabbi Yehuda Brecher and Penina Noy
Enrollment: 395

Yeshiva K’tana’s rapid rate of growth has necessitated the addition of two new classrooms – one will make way for the school’s third kindergarten class, and the second will provide additional space for its second grade. Both new classrooms will be equipped with Smartboards and every classroom is connected to Internet.

Among its new staff: Tzeenie Freedman has been appointed Girl’s Division program director and a consultant to mentor our teachers in teaching the students to read the Aleph Bet.

To help keep its burgeoning student body safe, Yeshiva K’tana is planning several upgrades to its facility, including two new fire panels that will allow the fire department to be instantly notified in the event of an emergency, upgrades to the school’s 23 security cameras, as well as its emergency exits and emergency doors.

HEBREW HIGH SCHOOL OF NEW ENGLAND

300 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford
hhne.org, (860) 231-0317
Head of School: Rabbi Jeremy Bruce
Enrollment: unavailable

Hebrew High School of New England (HHNE) is a regional, Modern Orthodox, co-educational day school that provides college-preparatory Judaic and general studies.

This year, HHNE plans to bolster the Judaic curricula and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education by employing the inquiry method as a school-wide educational philosophy which holistically integrates the sciences, mathematics, arts and Judaic studies.

In addition, the high school plans to coordinate curricula with Solomon Schechter and the Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy so that there is seamless transition from middle school to high school. This summer, faculty from the three schools will attend a professional development course at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford that will focus on using the inquiry method in the classroom. This will facilitate horizontal integration and make HHNE classrooms more student-focused, with the teacher being a facilitator as students practice problem-solving. This technique will teach students to have stronger abilities to apply content, argue from evidence, and ultimately find solutions.

These are some of the new faculty and staff on board at HHNE this year:

• Rabbi Jeremy Bruce, HHNE’s new head of School, has 13 years of experience in both the private and public school sectors in the United Kingdom. Most recently, he was the deputy head teacher (vice principal) of King Solomon High School in London, a 900-student Jewish high school.

• Dr. Brian Clark, director of instructional design, will ensure that proper integration of technology is used in the classrooms to improve the educational experience of all students.

• Steph Sperber, the new student programs coordinator, is an avid social justice educator who focuses on student-centered experiential learning. She has developed, planned, and coordinated both small-group and large-scale events for teens, including a 200-plus student “Rock for Rights” educational music festival.

JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL OF CONNECTICUT (JHSC)

Science Technology Center, West Main Street, Stamford
(203) 907-0055; jhsct.org
Acting Head of School: Susan Birke Fiedler
Enrollment: unavailable

JHSC students at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington, D.C. this year.

After two years in Bridgeport and two in New Haven, the Jewish High School of Connecticut (JHSC), will enter its fifth year in a refurbished building on the Stamford-Greenwich line.

Founded in 2010 as a pluralistic regional high school serving Fairfield and New Haven counties, JHSC was originally housed at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport. In 2012, it was relocated to the JCC of Greater New Haven in Woodbridge. When a group of families in Stamford floated the idea of a new Jewish high school in their community, JHSC leaders suggested the move. The new location is a five-minute ride from the Stamford train station and will be linked by a shuttle bus.

“We want to be a transit-oriented school,” says Susan Birke Fiedler, founding president of the board of trustees and now acting head of school. “The costs of transportation have increased significantly, both for the families and the school, and that is horrible for the environment. We’ve got to get people on the trains. That goes with our whole philosophy: part of Jewish values is to be concerned about the world around you. Sustainability and environmental consciousness is something we hold dear.”

Head of school Rabbi Yonatan Yussman announced in January that he would be leaving the position. During the search process, school leadership will be shared between Fiedler and school principal Dr. Paul Castle, chair of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) department.

JHSC prides itself on a strong STEM program, with students placing in regional and national competitions. Last year, the school’s literary magazine, Echo, was ranked “Excellent” in a National Council of Teachers of English competition.

Fiedler says that the decision to move came in response to the “really tight demographics” of the New Haven region and the existence of two strong feeder days chools in the Stamford-Greenwich area – Bi-Cultural Day School and Carmel Academy. With its pluralistic model and emphasis on a foundation in Jewish literacy, Fiedler says that the school offers a different experience from the Jewish high schools across the border in Westchester County.

“The move reflects the reality of where the predominant graduates of Jewish dayschools exist and a larger Jewish community,” Fiedler says. “We will be able to fulfill our mission of serving as many kids as possible.” The student body will continue to be comprised of 60 percent day school graduates and 40 percent public-school graduates. The board, currently made up of representatives of the communities served, will be expanded.