Message from Heather Moore, Head of School
Dear Parents,

What a difference a week makes! I know many of us were shocked to hear the news from Governor last week that we will be out of school for the remainder of the school year. The last two weeks have been a big adjustment, but I could not be more proud of our students, parents and faculty for transitioning to this new distance learning experience so quickly. The creativity and innovation that everyone has shown has been both remarkable and inspiring! From infant and toddler virtual meets and bed time stories, to Early Years google classroom lessons and home projects, to Primary Years virtual classes and independent assignments, every age group is engaged and working hard. Even our admissions department has gone virtual with virtual tours over Google Meets! I have been in touch with many other schools both locally and across the country. I am proud to say that my colleagues have been amazed at how we hit the ground running with all that we are doing at Strelitz from the very first week of distance learning.

I read recently that the opposite of depression is not happiness, it is purpose. It's important that each of us look to find our purpose during this time. Doing community service is a wonderful way to find purpose. Our friends at the Beth Sholom Village have reached out to us for a wonderful mitzvah project that you can do with your families. Please see the details below. In addition, Jewish Family Service is in need of items for their food pantry at this time. If you have extra food items or can grab some items while you're out, please drop off at JFS. There is a bin in the front of their building.

Thank you all for your support and flexibility as we have transitioned to our new virtual school.

Heather Moore
Head of School
Check out Mr. Leiderman's PE Videos:
Kindergarten is having a blast online learning!
Passover Themed Goose Chase!
Last Thursday we welcomed the Jewish month of Nissan. The holiday of Pesach (Passover) is celebrated in the month of Nissan. Some of the themes for this month are spring, miracles and freedom.

At SIA we pride ourselves on being able to continue to provide fun and interactive Jewish learning opportunities even from a distance! After watching a video about the special month of Nissan, families joined in to participate in a super fun Passover themed Goose Chase hunt! I have really enjoyed watching the many creative videos and awesome photos submitted into the game!

Congrats to the Matilsky family for collecting the most points!
Join the Whacky Hair Challenge
by Melanie Columbus, SIA Media Specialist
Ms. Columbus would like to invite all families and teachers to participate in the " Big Al Baboon's Whacky Hair Challenge " for Library this week. First, watch the story "Big Al Baboon" on YouTube. Then, get creative in front of the mirror! Design and sculpt your whackiest hairdo. If you are running low on hair products to style yourself - that's okay! Another option is to draw a picture of an animal or create a self-portrait out of any art materials, and add found objects around as hair, similar to a collaged work of art. Then, send me your photos or videos of your creations at mcolumbus@strelitzacademy.org.

Some material(s) ideas include using any sort of arts and crafts items such as paper, cardboard, puzzle pieces, yarn, fabric, colored pencils, markers, or crayons. Or, get creative in the kitchen and use different kinds of edibles like pasta, cereal, dried foods like nuts or beans, fruits, vegetables, etc. Also, you can get creative outside too! You can use natural items like sticks, rocks, grass, leaves, flowers, etc. to create your perfect hairdo!

I hope everyone has fun and enjoys creating their whacky hairdos!
And don't forget to send Ms. Columbus your family's creations! Here are some examples:
Thank you for all the great doughnut submissions for the Library Doughnut challenge from last week!
Ready, Set, Go - Online Learning!
By Lorna Orleans, Director of the Early Years Program

We finished two weeks of on-line learning on Friday and it has been amazing and heartening to see the resilience of our young friends as they adapt to a new kind of learning. It is also important to say how incredible it is to see our teachers adapt to a new kind of teaching. It is a virtual learning world but it has created very real results. 

All of our age groups from infants to EY4 are engaging in Google Meet times and are able to maintain a connection with the peers they spent time with each day at school. They are seeing the familiar face of their teacher or care giver and all this continuity is so beneficial for social and emotional growth. As my colleague Elyssa Brinn said recently, “This online presence also allows us to continue connecting as a community of educators, which is vital to all of us at this challenging time. We are so appreciative of our entire school community and look forward to a time when we can all be together again.” 

Our EY4 teachers are maintaining their kindergarten readiness learning by continuing with the teaching of phonemic awareness skills and literacy based learning. Their IB Transdisciplinary Units continue as they explore the theme of How the World Works . The central idea of this unit focuses on how scientific investigation allows us to explore and understand the physical world. As with each unit they have implemented this year, each teacher puts their individual stamp on how the lessons are planned and guided. At the same time they are integrating Jewish learning by teaching the story and observances of Passover and how this holiday fits into the cycle of nature. 

Here is our Schedule for Distance Learning over Passover Break :

Google meets continue through the morning of April 8
No Google Meets or website updates April 9 and 10
Distance learning April 13, 14, 15
No Google Meets or website updates on April 16 and 17
The regular schedule of learning will resume on April 20

You can catch a glimpse of EY4 learning in the pictures below. Watch for next week’s newsletter to catch up on EY3 learning. 

Wishing you all Shalom and a Shavua Tov for the days ahead.

Lorna Orleans
Director, SIA Early Years

Below and right: Literacy skills continue with journaling and completing drawing assignments.
Passover Learning above left and middle: On a search for signs of spring with a Passover scavenger hunt assignment. Our friend Mia found a dandelion and Luci found new green grass growing! Middle: Frogs were the second plague in the Passover story.
Above: Creating an experiment to learn about the water cycle.
Below: A representation of the life cycle of a butterfly.
Left, middle below and right: Learning about the science of cycles in nature.
Above: Stella created a clay representation of the water cycle.
Above: Creating CVC words at
home while learning on line.
Morah Nicole G. would ask ,"Is
that a real word or a nonsense
word?" Nonsense of course
but still consonant, vowel,
consonant.
Above: One friend is working
on a representation of the
Passover Seder Plate. So far
she created charoset and an
egg!
Sisters, Bri and Ari learn about
the plant cycle by planting
their own seeds.
Let's Help our friends at the Beth Sholom Village
The onset of the COVID-19 virus has been a trying time for everyone, and especially for Beth Sholom Village. We are dealing with a crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, and it is our goal to ensure that our residents and patients continue to be fulfilled and engaged in their lives at Beth Sholom Village. This is hard given our new reality, but we are persevering, and we would love the help of the community in showing our residents some love! Here is how you and your family can help and connect with patients and residents at Beth Sholom Village:
 
1.        Send us video clips of your kids or family saying “HI!” to our residents – tell us what you are up to!  We have a special internal channel on our TVs in resident rooms – and we can upload videos to that channel! At this time, we are no longer allowed to have group activities, resident outings, visitors to the building or communal dining. So we would love to help our residents feel like they have visitors right next to them! Email us your video clip (1-2 minutes) and we will make you a star on Channel 5! Videos can be emailed to  jbennett@bethsholomvillage.com .
 
2.         Help us keep activities in full swing, with donations of supplies to our Recreation Therapy Department.  We will be in need of important supplies soon, and they are crucial to our delivery of recreation therapy to our residents, even while doing them at least 6 feet apart! Our wish list includes:
  • Acrylic and/or washable paints
  • Hot glue guns & glue sticks/Elmer’s glue/Gorilla glue
  • Painters tape
  • Poster board (assorted colors and sizes)
  • Paper: construction paper, watercolor paper, cardstock
  • Canvases (any size)
  • Buttons, beads, yard, shells
  • Mason jars
  • Food coloring
  • Fake flowers
  • Magazines
  • Popsicle sticks
Donations can be dropped off at our front door, or mailed to Beth Sholom Village. You can see what our residents do with these items by checking out our Facebook page!
 
3.         Send cards and letters to residents at Beth Sholom Village.  Our residents love receiving mail, and this is the perfect time to send a card or letter with well wishes! Make it an art project for your child, a mitzvah project for your teenager, or even create a holiday themed letter for the approaching holiday season. We will distribute your cards and letters to residents and patients, and encourage them to reply if you include a return address! Cards and letters may be dropped off at our front door, or mailed to Beth Sholom Village.
 
At the end of the day, we want to help our residents connect to the your family during a time when they need the most support and care. Thank you for taking the time to think about and reach out to our residents – we look forward to connecting with you in person, as soon as we can!

All items may be sent to or dropped off at:
Beth Sholom Village, 6401 Auburn Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464,
Attn: Recreation Therapy.
If you have any questions, please reach out to
Amy Weinstein at  aweinstein@bethsholomvillage.com  or 757-961-3046.
Literacy Resources Available Online
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)

Ways to Support SIA
IN THE COMMUNITY




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. 
To learn more,  click here


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
Darchei Shalom: Building Paths for Peace
A Webinar with  2 for Seder  founder,
Marnie Fienberg
April 1, 7:30 PM
FREE and open to the community with RSVP
The instructions and link to join the webinar will be sent to you once you RSVP.
Presented by the Milton "Mickey" Kramer Scholar-in-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation's  Tidewater Together  series, in partnership with United Jewish Federation's Community Relations Council. 

2 for Seder co-founder, Marnie Fienberg, will be working with Sierra Lautman, JCC Director of Jewish Innovation to host an interactive webinar on April 1st at 7:30 PM. Join them to explore ways to manage virtual moving pieces while leading the seder and ways to keep both kids and grandparents engaged and involved. After the webinar, you will have the chance to sign up for 2 for Seder so that you can receive your Virtual Seder kit, which will have everything that you need to make this year's Passover more meaningful, even from a distance.

Join us on April 1 at 7:30 PM. 
RSVP for instructions.
For more information and to RSVP, contact Sierra Lautman,
Director of Jewish Innovation, at  slautman@ujft.org .
JCC Summer Camp Information
If your child is not already signed up with the SIA 12 month plan,