We would like to congratulate Rabbi Silvestri in being selected to the Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI), the most prestigious Jewish Day School Head of School leadership program. During this 2 year program, Rabbi Silvestri will be involved in intense training and development with the goal of continuing to grow and hone his craft as our Head of School. This program will begin with a two week intensive opening training in July and a few smaller retreats throughout the year. We are excited for Rabbi Silvestri and for all that he will bring back to RMBA as we continue to shine! 

Morah Aviva's ECE4 class is getting ready for Yom HaAtzmaut! Morah Aviva explained that Israel is having a birthday next week because it formally became a state 75 years ago and therefore it is considered 75 years old! The children are learning about the landscape, agriculture, architecture, and culture of our beautiful Medina. In preparation, the children are creating large maps of Israel with different grains and sand to represent the different types of landscape. They had so much fun turning elbow pasta blue with blue food coloring and white paint, making green rice, and orange barley. Everyone also made their own Degel Yisrael (flag) using blue dotters and scrunching different shades of blue tissue to form the Magen David in the middle. The class's Israel unit will lead up to a special presentation which will feature the children’s work on Israeli architecture and a special song performance in honor of Yom HaAtzmaut .

4th grade had a wonderful field trip to George Ranch Historical Park this week. The Ranch took the students on a trip back in time to the year 1830. They experienced how school was taught, how butter was made, how they made tools at a blacksmith, and how to rope cattle safely. The students favorite parts were the blacksmith and the cow dipping presentation. This was an awesome trip that brought the class's social studies lessons on Texas to life.

"לכל אדם יש שם" Every Person Has a Name. We were also fortunate to hear from longtime Houston activist and lecturer Ira Bleiweiss, who spoke about his parents, Sophie and Edward Bleiweiss, survivors of the Holocaust.

Please look out for an email from Mrs. Schneider to let you know if your child qualifies for the School Marathon Celebration! Thanks again to our sponsors who help make this program possible: Core Chiropractic, Crossfit Central Houston, Tanglewood Foot Specialists, and Yoga2gather.

This week 9th and 10th grade students took part in "Matkon Im Zikaron" a recipe and a memory. 

They learned about 4 people who fell protecting the State of Israel and in terror attacks, and then made recipes that their families said were their favorites.

Bar Rahav z"l

Kim Yehezkel Levengrond z"l

Matan Gottlieb z"l

Amotz Grinberg z"l

May their memories be a blessing!

This week in STEAM students learned about Earth Day and how and why we need to protect our planet! They picked up trash around the school/magical forest and brainstormed ideas about conserving energy and using clean energy. They learned about reducing, reusing and recycling our waste while dancing and playing music with recyclables. They also made awesome jewelry from drinking straws, used plastic utensils to make a tree, and made paper windmills!

The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston is accepting need-based scholarship applications for Jewish overnight summer camp and Israel travel, including gap-year programs, which will help enable children and teens to participate in these transformative Jewish educational experiences. Scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Scholarships are for children in the greater Houston area who will attend an overnight Jewish-content summer camp for at least one week, and for high school students to have an intensive, more than three-week educational Israel experience. All scholarships are need based and applicants remain anonymous throughout the committee process. For more information and to apply for scholarships, visit the Jewish Federation website here.  

Lower school students are so excited for the upcoming talent show on May 24 where they will have the opportunity to showcase their talents and see how talented all their friends are. Students interested in participating should sign up with Ms. Morrison by May 17.