Welcome Kitah Alef!


This Week
by Miriam Schiller, Principal
I am thrilled to welcome all of you to a new year at Akiba-Schechter. As with most school years, the excitement was felt even before school began. Last week we had many students and alumni visit as teachers worked to prepare for their classes. On Monday, our first official day, students began arriving before 7:30 a.m.! 
We are excited to have added two new faculty members this year:
 
Cindy Friedman teaches 1st/2nd grade in Room 201.


Cindy Friedman 
joins our 1st/2nd General Studies team. Cindy comes to us with a wealth of experience in both teaching and administration, having been an assistant principal at Solomon Schechter and Head of K-5 Judaics in the Detroit metropolitan area.  For the past ten years she has been a lead General Studies teacher at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School with pre-1st grade students while continuing to tutor older students in Hebrew and Judaic subjects. 
 
Justin Millner teaching 5th/6th grade Language Arts.


Julia Levine and, another new teacher, Justin Millner, will be sharing the responsibilities of 5th/6th Language Arts and have been planning together all of August. Justin's background includes a BA from Elmhurst College in Professional Communication and Urban Studies, an MAT from National Louis University and a middle school endorsement in Language Arts and Social Studies.  Most recently, he was at Baker Progressive School in Wilmette. He has also worked with children and young adults at various park district programs, coached and refereed multiple sports and coordinated summer camps.
 
When you come into the atrium, you will notice our new security guard Robert Duling, who is at the front desk.  We have added this position to enhance the safety of our students and staff, and he comes to us with 15 years of experience as a security guard. More about him below.


We are excited to welcome many new families in the grades, and if you haven't had the opportunity to connect with them, you will be able to do so at the All-School Picnic on September 18th. We welcome new students Sarit Guterman (1st), Daniel Weitchner (1st), Akiva Joseph (1st), Jonathan Miller (1st), Zoe Appleson (1st/2nd), Mattea Lawsky (2nd), Oren Sadeh-Cnaani (2nd), Mayaan Weitchner (2nd), Tamar Weisshof (2nd), Michal Weisshof (2nd), Solja Elia (3rd), Aviya Ezra (4th), Naama Weisshof (4th), Romy Miller (4th), Jonathan Ezra (5th), Maayrav Bader (6th) and their families. I know there are many, many new preschool and Kindergarten children that will be starting after Labor Day.
 
This year we are also lucky to have not two, but three B'not Sherut! Their names are Reut Asraf, Aviya Hasid and Eden Sar-Avi. You will hear more about them in future Kibitzers, but please watch their welcome video on Facebook.
 
We look forward to a wonderful, productive school year. Shabbat Shalom! 
securitySecurity at Akiba-Schechter
Robert Duling greets students in the atrium.


A warm welcome to Robert Duling, our new security guard, who mans the desk in the atrium and is the first friendly face anyone entering the school sees. Robert served as police officer for the city of North Chicago for seven years before moving on to U.S. Security Associates, where he has managed security for Children's Memorial Hospital, Mount Sinai, Kmart, and other organizations. He is happy to have now moved on to working at a school because, he says, "I love working with children and my ultimate goal in life is to become a basketball coach." He hails from the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago and has three children, ages 14, 8 and 6. When you have a chance, please stop by to welcome Robert to our school. We consider him a member of this community and look forward to getting to know him better. Tip: If you want to get him talking, ask him about his passion, natural health.


We added Robert's position as security guard to further strengthen security at the school as the safety of our children and staff is always our top priority. This change will allow our administrative staff to be away from the front desk and complete other needed tasks while an expert security officer will screen all people coming into the building.  There was no event that precipitated this change, but we always try to be proactive when thinking of the safety of anyone in our building. In order to ensure adequate security for the school campus, we now have controlled access to the building. While our building has several entrances for authorized personnel, there is only one entry point for visitors: the atrium entrance from Cornell Avenue.


Other security measures at Akiba include fenced playgrounds, video surveillance of the campus and a close relationship with the City of Chicago and the University of Chicago police. Children always supervised by staff inside and outside the building.


Grades 1-8grades

Mrs. Levine's 3rd graders have been working on the geometric concepts of flip, slide and rotation. Here students are working on symmetry with pattern blocks.


Mr. Esse's 5th/6th grade History class is learning how the land features of Greece influenced the development and competition between ancient Greek city states. Here Avi is working on a typography map of Greece.


Preschool

New Preschool Families mingle at Thursday's Meet & Greet.


Google Classroom



We're proud to announce that Akiba has become a Google Classroom school! What, you may wonder, does that mean? 


Google Classroom is a blended learning platform for schools that aims to simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way. Its collaborative and real-time nature makes it an excellent tool for both teachers and students to maximize learning and feedback. Google classroom is also free! 


All teachers were trained in Google Classroom over the summer, and all Middle School students have been issued an Akiba-Schechter gmail account. This will allow them to use Google Classroom, which includes using Google Docs for all assignments and filing their work in Google Drive, i.e. the "cloud." This will alleviate pressure on students not to lose assignments, and enable teachers to collaborate with students more effectively and see their work in real time. 5th and 6th graders will be learning Google Drive skills during flex periods, including the same word-processing and basic formatting skills used in Microsoft products like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  


We are excited about these technological changes at Akiba, but we want to reiterate our commitment to using technology as a tool for education, not as an end unto itself. At its core, good education is about teachers and students-not computers, facilities, or the latest app. We are happy to use technology for all of the opportunities it presents while never losing our focus on what has always made Akiba-Schechter special: treating each child as an individual and inspiring, challenging and nurturing every member of our community.


Check out Robotics!

After-school programs start this coming Tuesday, September 6. Remember to check out Robotics! The 2016-2017 classes will be completely different from past years. Click here for the lowdown. As always, contact Elisa Aranoff with questions or suggestions.
 
Dates to Rememberdates

Monday, September 5
Labor Day
No School


Tuesday, September 6
First Day of Kindergarten
Preschool Visitation Day
After-school programs begin


Wednesday, September 7
First Day of Preschool
8th Grade Mandatory Parents Meeting
6:30-7:00 p.m.
5th - 8th Grade Back-to-School Night
(Parents only)
7:00 9:30 p.m.


Thursday, September 8
First Day of Parent/Tot Class
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Preschool/Kindergarten Back-to-School Night (Parents only)
7:00 p.m.
 

CALENDAR
Bar Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah Project 
Donations Needed

Mazal tov and Kol Hakavod to Julian Blair and Gabe McGiver, who are collecting school supplies to be donated to the Ark as their Bar Mitzvah project. Please contribute (particularly any leftovers!) to their bin in the atrium by next Friday, September 9. Thank you! 

All-School Picnic

Sunday, September 18
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Washington Park across from Akiba

Issue Number

September 2, 2016
Volume 13, Issue 1
Candle Lighting: 
7:01 p.m.
Parasha: Re'eh

 

Mazal tov

...to Dr. & Mrs. Avy Dachman on the marriage of her son Yoni Marshall to Liz Klein!


 

Don't forget to set up your amazonsmile account to benefit Akiba. Thank you!

 

Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School
773-493-8880



Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School | 5235 S. Cornell Ave. | Chicago | IL | 60615