The common question

When I say that my daughter attends The Jewish Academy of Wake county the most common question asked is "Isn't it Orthodox?"


At the Jewish Academy we are all just parents and kids. Half of the families and kids in the school happen to practice Orthodox Judasim and half of us do not. The philosophy of the school is to teach what we all have in common.

I think what I need to reply when that question is asked is "What specifically are you concerned about?"

For instance, people have often asked if the girls and boys at the school pray and learn together, and if there is a mehitzah (divider). There is no mehitzah at the Jewish Academy. The children participate in all religious activities together with no separation of genders.

Another question that comes up is "Do you have to keep kosher now?" Although we are members of the Conservative movement that also believes that keeping kosher is an important Jewish practice, my family does not currently keep kosher and nobody at the Jewish Academy has made us feel uncomfortable about that choice. The children that come from homes with different levels of kashrut observance have playdates and attend each others Birthday parties.

As far as Judaic studies go, I am not actually scholarly enough to understand the theological differences in how the kindergarten version of the story of Abraham (for example) would be taught differently in the different synagogue's religious schools or in other day schools. I do know that she is learning a great deal (often teaching me something new) and always takes away a lesson, be it tzedakah, the mitzvah of welcoming guests into your home, or wishing a sick friend a refuah shelemah (complete recovery). She really loves the Judaics lessons and so I'm happy.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

We recently had our parent/teacher conference with R.'s kindergarten teacher, Morah (teacher) Erin. Our kid is doing very well, but we still had a lot to talk about. We had a thorough conversation for almost 40 minutes (much longer than the scheduled time). We were not rushed out. Because of the small class she is able to schedule one conference a day.

The conference started with a self-evaluation sheet that R. had filled out. It asked questions about classroom behavior. R. had filled out the sheet very truthfully with some self-criticism and plenty of self-praise. We thought it was both cute and telling.

Then we looked through R.'s writing journal to see how her penmanship, writing, and expression of ideas has improved over the past couple of months. The kids work in a journal every day and it's R's favorite thing to do. It was really fun to look through and read and the progress was amazing.

We learned something about the way our daughter reacts to pressure that we didn't already know. At first, we doubted that Morah Erin was even correct, but now I see exactly what she was talking about. I am now working on adjusted my own behavior while watching R. do her homework. We were also told to stop spelling things for her, which is a really, really hard habit to break, but we're working on that as well. (A retired teacher who volunteers at the school also tapped me on the shoulder in the middle of Shabbat services to remind me that I need to stop spelling for her. How's that for a community school? I love it. It takes a village!)

As parents we send them off for a day of learning and only get back little snippets of what went on in that time. I do feel very lucky, as a parent, to have my child in a school that is small enough to provide me with such a clear window into my child's school life. I am also thankful for a teacher who is willing to sit down with us for a long conversation about how to help a child who is doing well to do even better.