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Dear Heilicher Families,

I am pleased to welcome our Jewish Life Director, Etan Dov Weiss, to introduce The Roar this week. New this year, we will occasionally have guest contributors introducing our weekly news.  
- Yoni

Tomorrow marks a little known Jewish holiday called Tu B'Av. The Mishna ( Ta'anit 4:8 ) recounts that on Tu B'Av , young women and men would gather for a communal feast, in the first ever speed date. This celebration underscores the value of building community/ kehillah /קהילה with food .

In recognition of Tu B'Av , and in the spirit of building kehillah /קהילה, we are pleased to introduce Heilicher's All School Lunch taking place every Friday throughout the year. The goals of these lunches are to build kehillah/קהילה through cross-grade interactions, promote school spirit, and develop a camp-like experiential education program through food, song and ritual.

All School Lunch will replace All School Kabbalat Shabbat programming. Grades K-4 will still have weekly grade-wide Kabbalat Shabbat at 2:45 p.m. every Friday to which parents and guests are invited. Grades 5-8 will extend their academic/experiential learning program through the end of the school day.

For the first few weeks, students will sit by grade at assigned tables with a faculty "parent". After the Jewish Holidays, we will reconfigure the tables into families/ mishpachot /משפחות consisting of students in different grade levels and a faculty member. Perhaps this might even turn into a Hogwarts-like House Cup competition culminating in Yom Rua h in February!

Susie Kaufman, our new Experiential Education Director, will be spearheading this initiative.  Susie comes to us with a wealth of experience in her prior role as Dean of Student Life at the Winston Preparatory School in New York.  Welcome Susie!

For questions, please email Susie Kaufman at skaufman@hmjds.org  or Etan Dov Weiss at  eweiss@hmjds.org .

Looking forward to seeing all of you on Monday, August 29!

Etan Dov Weiss
Jewish Life and Hebrew Director

Mark your Calendars
Upcom ing Heilicher  Events
  • Tonight, August 18: 6th Grade & New 7/8 parent iPad Training, 6:30-8 p.m. - East Commons
  • Friday, August 19: Price increase for HaBonim Registration, Register Now!
  • Thursday, August 25: K-2 Picnic & Kindergarten/New Student Scavenger Hunt, starts at 5 p.m. - Barry Family Campus Athletic Field - Click Here for More Information
  • Monday, August 29: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
  • Monday and Tuesday, August 29/30: Parent Coffees, 8:15 a.m. - Dining Room
  • Friday, September 2: Opening Ceremony, 2:30 p.m - Manny Fingerhut Auditorium
All School News
Back-to-S chool Forms
By now, you should have received your first Back-to-School information packet through the mail, which included the family information card. If you did not, please contact the office at 952.381.3500.

The remainder of the required forms can be completed  online Click on the Back-to-School tab on the left side and fill out each of the three forms that are there. 
  • The Back-to-School Form and Library Use Agreement are to be filled out one time per family.  
  • The Health History needs to be completed for each student.
Please complete the mailed form and these three Electronic Forms prior to the first day of school.  

Heilicher provides most of the school supplies that your student(s) will need as part of your tuition and supply fees. However, there are a few additional items that certain grade levels will need. This information is available here. 
MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Testing for Grades 3-8
Students in grades 3-8 will participate in MAP testing  September 6th-9th and 12th-16th . Students will complete MAP tests in math, reading, and language usage. Families are asked to avoid scheduling appointments during these weeks.  More information will be provided closer to the start of testing. 
Fall Conferences
Fall Conferences will be held Thursday, September 22, from 12-8 p.m., and Friday, September 23, from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

The goal of fall  conferences  is to help teachers and parents connect and nourish the partnership between home and school. Due to the early dates of  conferences  this year, teachers will be sharing their first impressions and observations with parents and setting the stage for open dialogue that will foster optimal growth for students.  Students in grades K-2 should not attend  conferences , grades 3-4 are welcome to attend, and grades 5-8 are expected to attend.

Childcare will be available for parents at a cost. Additional information will be available closer to conferences.
Heilicher Transportation Options
We are excited to offer bus pick-up AND drop-off services from Edina and the St. Paul JCC again this year, as well as an additional route through the Minnetonka/Hopkins area. Pick-up will be at the locations above and students will be dropped off at their individual homes after school.  This service is available for $1,300 per student per year for both pick-up AND drop-off, limited space is available. 

Do you have interest in an alternate pick-up location? If there is enough interest, we are happy to explore additional routes to provide transportation services to more of our students. 

If interested, please contact  Ethan Tarshsish by Monday, August 22.  

Heilicher Family Night at the Twins Game - Tuesday, Sept. 20
Heilicher Night at Target Field will be on Tuesday, September 20 2016, at 7:10 p.m. when the Twins play the Detroit Tigers.  Students, family members and staff can purchase LOWER LEVEL Twins tickets for the discounted price of only $16.00. To register, fill out this form and return it to the office with payment (PTO mailbox). 

Deadline for ticket sales is Tuesday, September 6, 2016.
After-School Program and Athletics Registration
We are excited for our new HaBonim program, as well as the other athletic and academic offerings to keep Heilicher students engaged and learning after school each day.

Click on the image to learn more about all of our after-school programming and click here to register for HaBonim, Spanish, Chess, and all Athletics. Just a reminder, HaBonim prices increase on August 19th and Athletics prices increase on August 26th!

Mazel Tov
  • Barbara Taragan on the birth of her granddaughter, Noa, born on June 13 to parents Yamit and Ari Nahmani in Tel Aviv, Israel. 
Condolences
  • Marge and Jeff Prohofsky and their children Timothy, Ryan and David on the passing of Marge's mother, Phyllis Laufenberg.
Refuah Shlema
  • Refuah Shlema and a speedy recovery to Jev Baskin, husband of Patti Baskin. 
Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School
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