Message from Heather Moore, Head of School
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Dear Parents,
The SIA annual scholastic book fair is going virtual! We invite you to shop our book fair online beginning this week, Monday, May 4, 2020 – Sunday, May 17, 2020. This is a great opportunity for you to choose books with your kids from the comfort of your favorite reading spot!
May has arrived and as is a tradition, SIA graduates received their Caps and Gowns yesterday. This year the delivery may have been a little different, but the sentiment and excitement remain unchanged. We cannot express in words how amazing it has been to watch your children grow and develop. Ms. Jenkins will be coming by to drop off caps and gowns and welcomes you to come out and wave from a safe distance away.
Mazel Tov Class of 2020!
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Join all your SIA friends on
Thursday, May 7, 2020 for our first Virtual Bingo Night from 5:00pm – 6:00pm.
Let’s come together and have a fun night together. Hope to see you there!
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, Monday May 4 – Friday, May 8, 2020!
Thank you to all our amazing teachers who do so much for our children and families! Because of our teachers, SIA's distance learning program is the best in the area!
SIA's Virtual Field Day
is coming up next week on Tuesday, May 12. Look out for more information from Mr. Leiderman.
Below you will see some reminders for next week.
Shavuah Tov,
wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!
Heather Moore, Head of School
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SIA Upper Grade Students Virtual Visit with
Peace Corp Volunteer, Hannah Crockett
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This past Friday, our Primary Years students in grades 2 through 5 met with
Hannah Crockett, a Peace Corp Volunteer.
Hannah talked to the students about her experience serving in the Peace Corp. She was invited to serve as a Peace Corp Public Health Volunteer in New Guinea, West Africa. Thank you Mrs. Cornelius for continuing to bring global experiences to our students!
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FINANCIAL AID/ FLEXIBLE TUITION
APPLICATION REMINDER
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Dear Parents,
We understand that some families may need to apply for financial aid or flexible tuition to make tuition affordable. If you need to apply for tuition,
we have extended the deadline to Friday, May 8
. Please note that families need to re-apply for aid each year. If you have already applied for aid and have not heard back, please review your application for any missing documents which may be delaying the process.
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Shop Our Virtual Scholastic Book Fair
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Shop at our Scholastic Book Fair online from May 4th-May 17th.
Access the virtual fair by visiting our
Scholastic Homepage
and clicking on "Shop Now" in the yellow section. Then, create an account with Scholastic by clicking on "Sign In or Register" in order to continue shopping. Please visit the link below to access the SIA Scholastic Homepage.
I hope everyone finds many great books to read!
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Still Celebrating Being Together
By Lorna Orleans, Director of the Early Years
Program
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Dear Families,
In these times of being apart, kudos to our teachers for finding ways to still celebrate together.
As we began distance learning in mid March our teachers taught the narrative of the Passover story on all age levels. Then, in the spirit of sharing, they created an opportunity for our EY2-EY4 community to come together for a virtual model Seder. We even had a digital Haggadah!
As spring moves forward we continue to come together for Havdalah and Shabbat Sing-a-long gatherings on Mondays and Fridays. This Monday, Morah Lisa Rosenbach our Judaic Resource teacher returned to leading our Havdalah service as she always did when classes met in our building.
Our teachers have been taking turns hosting our Shabbat sing-alongs, most recently with Morah Nicole G. and Nicole B. as well as with Morah Jennifer and Morah Gabby. This Friday, Morah Veronica and Morah Judy along with Morah Jamiesha and Morah Diana Matchett will be our hosts from home. Don’t forget when you join in to pin whoever is leading to the screen so she will look visually larger and be easier to follow.
Many of our teachers shared Earth Day resources on their class websites and our families shared news and pictures of "at home" Earth Day activities. Last week our teachers prepared virtual Israeli Independence Day celebrations. Each of our EY4 classes created amazing videos for a virtual trip through the land of Israel. Our EY3 classes collaborated and held one meet as an EY3 community to celebrate with a video featuring a friendly dinosaur who toured with our young friends throughout the country. Our EY 2 friends used props, stories and their imaginations to experience Israel through their five senses. Our infant/ toddlers friends had a PJ Library Story Walk through the land of Israel led by their very animated teachers.
Looking ahead we will celebrate Lag B ’Omer, the scholars’ holiday, on May 12. This has traditionally been our Field Day at SIA. We will be encouraging all of our families to play outdoor games if you can and share your experiences via pictures or videos with your child’s teacher. As the bonfire is the most recognizable image of this holiday, our preschool class groups will hold joint bonfire happenings (both real and pretend) along with a story time. Watch for the scheduled class times from your child’s teacher.
Though we are physically apart we can still be together in spirit for the celebrations of our tradition.
Shavuah Tov and Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of our teachers!
Lorna Orleans
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Our EY friends shared their Earth Day celebrations: Above, Jessica give two thumbs up to the great outdoors on Earth Day.
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Above: Our friend Kale is proud of all his plants on Earth Day. Below, Ella plants flowers.
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Above and left: These EY2 friends had a virtual birthday party for Israel. Meirav brought her flag to celebrate.
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Below Left and Right: There are so many ways to represent Israel's flag.
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Our friends Esther and Mendel, above, recreated an edible Western Wall in celebration of Israel's Birthday. Below, who are those kids? Could that be Morah Diana's class on their virtual trip to Israel?
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CLINIC CORNER WITH NURSE SUSAN
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Dear SIA Families,
I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the great weather.
Here is the link to the updated Clinic Site. Scroll through each page to see what has been added. There are a couple new activities, videos and word games posted.
The parent page has a message from me regarding preparing for how school (and summer programs) may look when we are able to return to our campus, A Healthy School Starts at Home. There are a couple new activities, videos and word games posted, too.
SIA Hand Washing Heroes!
Parents and Staff... I would love to see our school community's creativity shine...
Upload a short video via Parent Square, to me, no more than a minute of you or your student or your family showing off their best hand washing demo, moves, songs, messages. We can share the clips and inspire & entertain each other. I have started to think about mine.
Any message or demo should include or recommend the following: using water, SOAP, a thorough 20 second scrub, rinsing well and drying.
If you want to incorporate music, Hebrew or another language, that would be great.
Ideally, the videos should be in by May 19 (but late submissions will be happily welcomed).
This is a completely voluntary project. We will share the videos on Parent Square and I am hoping we will have some videos to use in school years to come.
Wishing you all good health and the ability to find some happiness in every day,
Susan
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Literacy Resources Available Online
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Try these great resources with your kids!
GetEpic
has both fiction, non-fiction, and popular chapter books that are great for all age levels (audio books, read-to-me, and e-books).
StorylineOnline
has actors and actresses reading stories, along with supplemental material for teachers - I will be using some of these lesson plans for my classes.
VOOKS
has both fiction, non-fiction, and IB related topics that are appropriate for all age levels (all animated videos with authentic illustrations and text from books)
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EVEN APART, WE STAND TOGETHER.
The current COVID-19 pandemic makes our work and our responsibility to take care of one another more urgent and more vital than ever.
The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, and our constituent agencies and affiliates are dedicated to helping our most vulnerable community members and protecting our vital institutions during these unprecedented times. We are asking for your assistance to enable us to provide that help.
Now more than ever, as a Jewish community, we need to make a difference.
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR EVERYONE
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Simon Family JCC Online Classes
While the Simon Family JCC is closed, check out our FREE online classes. We'll post videos so you can join your favorite JCC instructors and get some exercise. Visit our
Facebook
and
YouTube
pages for the latest videos.
PJ Library is a Jewish family engagement program implemented on a local level throughout North America. In response to the CDC recommendations during this time, PJ Library in Tidewater will be going virtual!
You never know when you’ll need help, but you’ll always know where to find it. Whether you need assistance with putting food on your table, or help coping with the stress of these uncertain times, JFS is here to help.
Synagogues
Get updates from area synagogues
here
.
Our partners at Les Mills understand how important it is for us to be there for our members during these difficult times. They have made available 95 workouts across 8 categories FREE for all JCC members. No sign up is required.
Click here to see the workouts.
INFORMATION ABOUT COVID-19
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JCC Summer Camp Information
If your child is not already signed up with the SIA 12 month plan,
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