by Lori Silberman Brauner
NJJN Staff Writer

August 18, 2009

Beginning this fall, Temple Beth Shalom in Manalapan is restructuring its religious school schedule.

The Conservative synagogue’s school will become a one-day-a-week program with an optional second-day “honors” component, in a move to accommodate the increasingly busy schedule of students and families. The school previously met twice a week.

“The world is changing very fast,” said Nancy Shechter, Beth Shalom’s educational director, adding that the synagogue’s goal is “not to change our religious school but reformat it.”

The new format really meets “the needs of our members,” said synagogue president Richard Cohen of Manalapan.

For some, having two mandatory days a week was “too much for them to handle.” He said that some 16 new families have joined Beth Shalom because of the school’s new hours.

The restructured curriculum consists of a “core” day, when basic subjects will be taught, with an hour for Hebrew and about 55 minutes for Jewish studies, Shechter said.

On the optional day, the school will offer more informal educational activities, such as family programming, a Rosh Hodesh “nosh,” and a Bracha Bee. Additionally, “we have different months that are designated for different topics,” Shechter said.

“It’s exactly the same curriculum,” Cohen said, noting that all of the “core” matter would be taught on that one day rather than spread over two days. “Nothing has changed in terms of our standards.”

Schechter said meetings were held with textbook editors to determine “how to maximize our plan.”

An August 2008 survey of supplementary schools by the Avi Chai Foundation found that the majority of schools under Conservative auspices require twice-a-week attendance, while over half the schools under Reform, Reconstructionist, and Chabad auspices require attendance only once a week.

Beth Shalom gave up its affiliation with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Conservative movement’s umbrella organization, last year. USCJ member synagogues have a Framework for Excellence program in which its accredited religious schools offer at least five hours of instruction a week, including family educational programs, said Wendy Light, an educational consultant and director of the Framework program.

At least one other Monmouth County Conservative synagogue, the Perrineville Jewish Center, holds religious school classes one day a week, with one Sunday a month additionally devoted to Jewish cultural programming.

At Chabad of Western Monmouth County in Manalapan, students have the choice of two afternoons a week at the center or every Sunday at an alternate Freehold location.

Beth Shalom will continue to expect students to fulfill its service requirements; students last year who went over and above them were rewarded with a “mystery trip,” Cohen said.

And while 25 percent of the school’s approximately 250 students have signed up for the optional second day, “we expect there to be more,” Schechter said, noting that students do not have to commit each week to the second day but can decide on a week-to-week basis.

“We all wanted to do what was best for our students and what was best for Jewish education,” Shechter said. “We feel that it is a positive step for our community.”

Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com

--TOP--