Merit Scholarships Now Available!
We are pleased to announce the Golda Och Academy Merit Scholarship Program for students entering 9th grade. The Scholarships will be awarded annually to highly motivated students who embody the values and the ideals of the Golda Och Academy mission. Current 8th grade students and new students are eligible for the scholarships.
Students selected as a GOA Scholar will receive annual awards equivalent to full tuition. The GOA Scholar Merit Scholarship is the school's most prestigious Upper School Scholarship. Applications for the Scholarship program must be submitted to the Admissions Office by March 4, 2011.
For more information regarding this exciting new opportunity, please contact Gail Shapiro in the Admission Office at 973-602-3626 or gshapiro@GoldaOchAcademy.org. |
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Tikkun Olam in Action
 Our annual High School Community Service Day on Wednesday, Jan. 19th was a great success! Students spent the morning at various local agencies helping others. Some students worked with seniors, adults with disabilities, children with Cerebral Palsy and pre-schoolers. Others helped out at food pantries and at an arboretum. The day concluded with a performance by our own Drama/Multi-media instructor, Jordan Herskowitz. Mr. Herskowitz performed his fabulous one-man show called "Growing Up Jordy Pordy." For pictures, click here.
 On the same day our 2nd Grade students visited the JCC in West Orange to celebrate Tu Bishvat with the seniors. They sang songs and planted marigolds in decorated pots that they made in school. For pictures, click here.
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Arts at Golda Och Academy
Our HS Musical, Children of Eden, earlier this month was a huge success! Congratulations to the Arts Department and the entire cast and crew. For pictures from the performances, click here.
Our Arts Department is currently busy planning its next program, our ANNUAL CHOIR BENEFIT CONCERT, to be held on Feb. 15th, 7 PM at the Maurice Levin Theater at the Leon and Toby Cooperman JCC in West Orange. Don't miss this fabulous program, which will include performances by our Middle and High School Choirs and a guest performance by the Men's Barbershop Chorus, Voices of Gotham. Also featuring the release of Golda Och Academy's latest album!
Tickets are on sale now for $18 per person. Patron tickets are $120 per person, $180 per couple, and include preferred seating and a mention in the Concert Program. All tickets must be purchased by Feb. 8 by contacting Josh Ehrlich, jehrlich@GoldaOchAcademy.org, or any Middle or High School choir member.
For more information about the concert, click here.
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Teachers on a Mission...to Israel
In an effort to continue to build on our nationally-recognized Israel program, our first Teachers' Mission to Israel will be held this February. Thirteen teachers and administrators from both the Lower School and the Upper School will visit Israel, Feb. 16-24. Participants will experience and study, first-hand, the complexity of Israeli society through touring, meeting with Israelis, attending cultural events and text study. The trip includes two nights of home hospitality in Merchavim, MetroWest's partner community with whom our school has developed a relationship. The teachers will explore such topics as the challenges of education in Israel, Jewish pluralism, collective memory, the role of the Supreme Court in Israel and Israeli culture - and will be given a taste of our Na'ale and Neshama programs.
An exciting part of the trip is a reunion of alumni and former students who are currently living in Israel. The event is an opportunity for our alumni and former students to visit with school administrators and faculty members and learn about changes at our school. If you know of any alumni currently living in Israel, please let us know so we can invite them! Please contact Lilach Bluevise, Director of Israel Programs, at LBluevise@goldaochacademy.org. |
Celebrating Tu Bishvat
 Our 8th graders visited the Lower School on Jan. 20th to lead Tu Bishvat seders in the Lower School classrooms.
Everyone tasted the 7 species and enjoyed the holiday. For more pictures, click here. |
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Our school is excited to welcome
Professor Kenneth Stein
William E. Schatten Professor of Contemporary
Middle Eastern History and Israeli Studies at Emory University
Begin and Sadat of the 1970s:
Can that successful negotiating process be repeated? Why? Why Not?
Monday, January 24th, 7:00 pm
Upper School Campus
This event is open to our entire community and promises to be a very thought-provoking evening. Coffee and a pareve dessert will be served following the program
Please RSVP to Adam Shapiro, Dean of Students, ashapiro@goldaochacademy.org. For more information, click here. |
Family Night at the "OCH ARENA"
Boys Varsity vs. Kearney Christian
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Festivities begin at 7 PM, Tipoff at 8:15 PM
Upper School Gym
Basketball Clinic, Crafts Projects
& Face Painting for Lower School Students!
Win a $100 Apple Store gift card at the half-time free throw shooting contest!
Food for purchase * Fun for the whole family
Sponsored by the Parents' Association |
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Admissions Season in Full Swing
by Dr. Joyce Raynor
Head of School
The admissions season is in full swing at GOA! There has been a steady stream of prospective students and parents on both campuses. Future GOA families have been seen touring the colorful halls of our Lower School, while prospective students to the Upper School have been spending the day shadowing current students and experiencing what it is like to be a GOA student.
While prospective families are all drawn to and impressed by the excellent academics, Jewish values and warm community that our school provides, many are concerned with affordability. Addressing middle income affordability is a recognized priority at GOA. The GO Grant program, now in its third year, was specifically designed for this group. Additionally, our "flexible tuition" program can enable families to reduce tuition based on financial need. We are excited to be able to close the gap for those families so strongly committed to Jewish education. Any one with questions regarding tuition reduction opportunities should contact Julia Malaga directly. We remind all families that the deadline to apply for tuition reduction is January 31st. Application details can be found on the website by clicking here.
If you know of a family who may be interested in our school, please direct them to the Admissions Office. Our Admissions team is always proud and ready to show how at Golda Och Academy our students live what they learn. |
Shomrei Torah Almost at Goal!
 We are excited to report that our campaign is currently at $662,000 which is just $38,000 away from our goal of $700,000! Thank you to everyone who has donated and pledged so far this year! If you haven't had a chance to donate yet, this is a great time to do it! You will be making a difference to our children! Our annual campaign provides critical resources to our school that supports academic excellence, financial aid, classroom resources and faculty excellence at our school.
We have not used up our match dollars in the $100,000 Zinbarg Challenge so your new or increased gift is more important than ever and will be matched by 50%. New gifts and increases by grandparents will be matched by 100%.
Please join us! To make your gift now, click here, email the Development Office, or call (973) 602-3612. Pledges made now are due by December 31, 2011.
Reminder - The Shomrei Torah Major Gifts Dinner will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. This event recognizes donors who contribute $5,000 and higher. Please call for more information. |
Nuts and Raisins Wins First Place
Congratulations to the staff of our High School literary magazine, Nuts and Raisins. The magazine won First Place with special merit (2010) and most outstanding High School Literary Art Magazine (2010) for high schools with 500 or under students. Congratulations to Faculty Advisor Diane Biegelson and to the leaders of the magazine for the past three years: Daniel Listwa and Oren Fliegelman, Editors in Chief; Natasha Freeman, Poetry editor; Kira Greenberg and Lee Rosenthal, Prose editors; Josh Mermelstein, layout editor; and Ira Herniter and Shira Kipnees, contributing editors.
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D'var Schechter Needs a New Name!
Our school newsletter, D'var Schechter, needs a new name. If you have an idea that you would like us to consider, please send your suggestions to Donna Oshri.
Students, parents, faculty and staff are all invited to submit suggestions. If we use your idea, you will be acknowledged in the next issue!
Thank you! |
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