Do you have your
new Levine Academy car decal? 
 

You can pick one up
at the Greeter's Desk!

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K-8 has gotten off to a wonderful start! We can tell that our returning teachers spent a lot of time planning over the summer so their students would have the best of all possible experiences. We are also thrilled with our new teachers.

Please take the time to meet and welcome:

Lynda McInnes -   LS Learning Specialist and Talented & Gifted Coordinator 

Diane Westle- not new to Levine, but moved from MS Math to 3rd grade  teacher

Regie Neff  -  not new to Levine, but moved from LS Reading Specialist to 4th grade teacher

Cory Kahn -  5th grade Language Arts

Jay Rocca - 5th/6th Science

Lili Feingold - 7th/8th grade Social Studies

Linda Fyff - Middle School Math (She will also continue in her role as our Sexuality Education program teacher.)

Haya Gross - Lower School Hebrew/Jewish Studies

Ortal Shushan -  Middle School Hebrew 
Smadar Tzur - Hebrew Resource Teacher (returning to our staff after a year's leave of absence)

Rabbi Michael Katzman-  Middle School Jewish Studies

We welcome everyone to the Levine Family!  

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 Mitzvah Projects!

From Jonathan Nurko 

Jonathan Nurko is selling beautiful kippahs from Maya Works.  All proceeds from sales will go to "A Package From Home."  This program provides care packages for lone Israeli sholdiers.  Jonathan will be set up in front of the Stallion Stop this Friday from 8-10am.
Please email Becky Nurko with any questions.

From Marlee Fleisher

For my mitzvah project I volunteered at Family Gateway. I worked with babies, toddlers and kids 5-12 years old. Working with these kids has had a meaningful impact on me, so as a continuation of my mitzvah project I will be collecting art and school supplies over the next two weeks to donate to Family Gateway. The art and school supplies that they requested are: markers, crayons, colored pencils, regular pencils, scissors, rulers, folders, calculators, notebooks, and backpacks.
The box will be right next to the front desk from Monday August 22nd through September 1st. Thank you in advance for your donation!

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NOTES FROM THE NURSES' OFFICE

Please remember to send your children to school with a water bottle.  We will remind them to drink.  The especially hot temperatures make for very thirsty children.    
 

Does your child have a cold or cough that requires cough or cold medicine?  Please send he/she  to school  with some over the counter medicine.  The nurse's office does NOT have cold medicine.  We only supply cough drops. 

Did your child wake up with a fever?  Please do NOT medicate and send he/she to school.   We want your child to get better while being fever free for 24 hours. 

Thanks so much,

Karla Jacoby,  RN

Tamara Speckman 
 

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From the Lunch Program Staff 

The very popular green salad and potato bars are available again this year.  If your child would like to permanently change a day or two in order to partake in salad or baked potato for lunch, please contact Beck Nurko or David Levitan.

The Levine Academy passed its inspection AGAIN this year with another perfect score!  Way to go, Levine Lunch Team!

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 CAR POOL SAFETY REMINDER!

Just a little reminder for all adults. 
 

Please remember to use the crosswalk when approaching the school

from the parking lot during car pool times. This will keep you and our students safe during this busy time of day!

Speech and Language Screening 

Jewish Family Services will be conducting Speech and Language Screening at Levine Academy on Sept 6, 8, 13, 15. ALL new or returning students who are experiencing any type of academic difficulty, who do NOT have current testing of any kind should register for this screening.  The screenings will cost $12.

 This screening is NOT simply for articulation although it does identify this issue. The screening is also a method for early identification of potential issues with comprehension and reading issues that may occur in later grades. Having your child screened may detect any issues BEFORE THEY BECOME APPARENT IN THE CLASSROOM. Forms returned to school will allow those students to be included in the September screenings. Any late forms will be held until a December/January screening. Forms may be returned to the Greeter's Desk. CLICK HERE to download the form.

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Sport Team Parent/ Athlete Meeting - August 29th
 There will be a Parent/Athlete Meeting for those on the volleyball, soccer, and cross-country teams on Monday, Aug 29 in the Donsky/Pailett Gym (Middle School gym) at 5:30pm.   

Judaism Has Sent You a Friend Request

There are Jewish populations in every corner of the globe. As Rabbi Larry Milder tunefully teaches, "wherever you go, there's always someone Jewish." But the question we have to ask ourselves is how do we keep Judaism from becoming diluted when its people are so spread out?

This week we read Parshat Re'eh, deep in the heart of the book of D'varim. This section of Torah is rich with commentaries on daily living and guidance for how to act. The multilayered parshah begins with a warning about rewards and punishments with blessings and curses and then moves on to focus on a central place of worship that is appropriate for the Israelites. The text also warns us of false prophets, guides us in our eating practices, teaches us how to take care of one another and explains how to celebrate the Shalosh Regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

The overarching theme of the parshah appears to be establishing both a way of life and a connection to one another. Concerned about the spreading out of the Israelites and the influence the other nations might have on their culture, God instructs them in chapter 12 saying, "Do not worship the Lord your God in like manner, but look only to the site that the Lord your God will choose amidst all your tribes as his habitation to establish his name there."
 

The Torah recognizes that the Israelites are living in a world with other religions and that these religions might have an influence over the ways that the Israelites worship. The other nations had altars and ritual grounds scattered throughout the country; wherever they needed a place to connect with their god, they set up an altar. In a certain sense, we see this happening with the Israelites throughout the Torah too. Altars are set up along the route in sefer Bereshit as God's presence is made known throughout the journey. But now, God wants there to be one unified location for sacrifice to God.

The timing of this moment makes sense. It could only happen after the Israelites arrived in their own land. As they journeyed through the desert, they were one people in one location, but as they settle in their land, the people will spread far and wide, and the unity felt at that moment might never again be reached. God's commandment is religious insurance that at least three times a year (Shalosh Regalim), the people will come together.

When they occupied one region, this sounded like a reasonable plan. But what happens when the Israelites are exiled? Or when they start to live too far away to make the journey? And how far is too far from the one place that Adonai has chosen? Ancient rabbis shared their thoughts: perhaps "too far" meant outside the Temple court or a journey of more than three days. But maybe a question more appropriate for us today is how can we stay connected? In our time, it isn't so much the place that matters, but connectivity and relationships.

Today's society has become more and more connected. We've gone from "leave a message after the beep" to being able to instantly reach people through a dozen different methods. Now we can text, tweet, email, call a mobile phone and more. In fact, we're finding it increasingly more difficult to go "out of range" where technology will not work and someone would actually need to leave a message.

There are several lessons to learn here. Like the Israelites who knew their compact, united community was about to spread and were given a central location to connect with God and each other, we still need to make our physical places count. Now that families can be separated by oceans and still Skype face to face, taking the time to actually be in the same location where we can make physical contact is more important than ever. On the other hand, without the possibility of a Jewish religion reunion (even if we could find a hotel big enough, the catering would be crazy), we have to find ways to reconnect with God and our traditions. Whatever the Makom - the place - may be, our challenge is to make the place count. Staying connected to people has become easier and easier. May we strive to make the same enthusiastic effort to "like," "follow," and spend some much needed FaceTime with our beautiful tradition.

ללמודTo Learn: ללמדTo Teach: our families are often spread over the globe. Search your family tree, see where you have relatives. If you find that your roots were in a country that speaks a new language, learn to say "Hello" in that language.  

לשמורTo Keep:  לעשות  To Do: Start once with a day without technology, Shabbat or another day. Use that day as one to reconnect with the people you live with, in person.

FROM THE MUSIC ROOM

It's not too late to sign your child up for this year's Edu-choir!  Now open to all second, third and fourth graders, this non-audition choir is the perfect place for your child to learn basic fundamentals of choir, learn about performance and have a great time singing.  Our first rehearsal will be next Tuesday, August 30th from 3:20 - 4:00 in the Lower School Music Room.  For more information and to sign-up, please contact Rachel Nicholas.

See you then!

Sherrie Stohl

Edu-choir Director 

Meet Mireille Brisebois-Allen, Director of Admissions

The questions below evolved from a French series, "Bouillon de Culture" hosted by Bernard Pivot. They're better known as the questions that James Lipton asks every guest at the end of "Inside the Actor's Studio". I answered (most of) them and invite you to do the same, alongside friends and family members. What will their answers reveal?

The Stallion Stop 

New Hours!

Fridays

8 - 10am AND 11am - 1pm

New at The Stallion Stop this week!
LEVINE GOES GREEN with our Snack Taxis!  Never buy another baggie! Our Snack Taxis hold sandwiches, pretzels and more!  Snack Taxis are 100% cotton with a polyurethane coated nylon interior making washing and reuse super easy.  All materials are lead, phthalate and BPA free! 

Please contact Melanie Wynne at mawynne@sbcglobal.net or Caroline Bernstein at cbbntx@tx.rr.com if you would like to volunteer at The Stallion Stop as we will be open as often as volunteers allow.  

It's Back and it's

Better than Ever!!

Sunday, August 28

10:00 am-6:00 pm
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

Buy your tickets NOW!!

Click HERE for more information! 

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