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2009: Outstanding Religious Elementary School

Values, Academics and Community
Rodeph Sholom raises the next generation of active Jews

Tammy Klein’s 4th grade class was a ball of energy near the end of the school day, and it wasn’t because the kids were going home soon. The class had just returned from a field trip to Little India, where they were immersed in a culture that most kids only knew from what Klein had taught them in class.

“Many of them hadn’t ever tried Indian food,” she said as her students excitedly chatted about their adventure and showed off the colorful bangles a vendor gave them.

The class got its first taste of Indian cuisine and took pictures that will be part of a photo essay about India. By the end of the term, each 4th grade class will have covered a different culture and will show off what they learned in presentation to the other students.

Established as an Upper West Side school in 1958, the Rodeph Sholom School originally started out as an orthodox synagogue in the Lower East Side in the mid-1800s. Its revival as a school stemmed from the Jewish Reform Movement, which aimed to keep Jews in the city at a time when New York wasn’t the desired place to live. Now the school boasts three campuses and more than 600 students in a program that runs from nursery school through 8th grade.

“What separates us from other schools is the academic program combined with Jewish values,” said Paul Druzinsky, head of school. “We are raising kids to become the next generation of active Jews.”

Colleen Dundon, head of the elementary division, added, “It’s a really warm and caring environment, and the children come together, especially since we are all working toward the same morals and values.

Approximately 244 students attend Rodeph’s elementary program, and each grade focuses on a topic. In kindergarten, students learn about Central Park. Then in 1st grade, they study the farmers’ market, learning math and science in the process. The 2nd graders in Sarah Schimmel’s class were learning about New York. Already, the kids had ridden the Circle Line to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and by the end of the year, they will have made a small model of the city and gained a firm grasp of what makes their home extraordinary.

“I love the kids and the way they respond to the community,” Schimmel said. “It’s really something special.”

One of the tools Schimmel uses in her class is the Smart Board. This electronic, touch screen projector is found in most of the classrooms and allows the students to meld technology with basic lessons, a parallel to one of the school’s main objectives, which is to mesh Jewish studies with education. The goal of the program, said Rabbi Ben Spratt, the rabbi-in-residence, is to break down the boundaries between religion and education in order to entwine the two.

“The school has a truly unique approach to what it means to be a Jewish student in a modern world,” he said. “We want these kids to see that Judaism isn’t just what happens when you walk into a synagogue; Judaism is a way to see the world. We want the questions they are asking in their math class to delve into their Jewish identity.”

The kids start learning to recognize Hebrew in nursery school when they are 2 and 3 years old, and continue to integrate language, history and culture into their everyday academic life.

To many people involved in the school, being Jewish isn’t just about faith. It’s about how you live your life. Natalie Silverstein, who has three kids at Rodeph, remembered one program that her daughter, and now her son, did in kindergarten to learn about charity. Each week, she said, the kids would pass around a tzedakah (charity) box and talk about giving back to the community. At the end of the year, they take the money from the box, go to the bank, learn about counting and then go to the store to buy dry goods for a homeless shelter.

“It’s a very concrete way for small children to understand what charity is,” Silverstein said. “It’s being a good citizen in the world but incorporates the Jewish concept of giving back to the world.”

Aside from the strong moral values, Rodeph also incorporates physical education, outside excursions (such as overnight trips to Washington, D.C., the Deep South and Israel) and arts exploration, including two musicals, art shows, and band and choir performances.

Just in time for this school year, administrators finished renovations to the West 79th Street campus, where grades 2 through 8 are housed. The improvements include a gym that’s 50 percent bigger, a green wall and a whole brownstone incorporated into the original building.

While the upgrades definitely make the school a better place to be, the real satisfaction comes from within, Druzinsky said.

“We pride ourselves,” he said, “on having teachers that love kids and understand where they are at.”

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Rodeph Sholom School
10 W. 84th St.
646-438-8500
www.rodephsholomschool.org
Paul Druzinsky, Head of School
Colleen Dundon, Head of Elementary Program
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— Linnea Covington

ABOVE: Top-A Hebrew and Jewish studies workgroup. Rodeph strives to break down the boundaries between religion and education. Middle-Students follow a lesson on how to use maps. Bottom-Colleen Dundon, head of elementary program. Classroom photos by Linnea Covington