Strong, Passionate, Caring, Community
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WINDOWS 2020 SAR ACADEMY & HIGH SCHOOL | 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Strong, Passionate, Caring, Community 1 TO OUR Literally THOUSANDS CHERISHED SAR of people came together in your COMMUNITY virtual spaces to sing, learn, An open letter from SAR’s principals, connect, and The past year at SAR was aptly characterized by the themes of Happiness and Gratitude, which guided the programming at both the High School and the Academy. For most of the year, our celebrate Israel. students learned, played, experienced, grew and developed in the spirit that is uniquely SAR. The SAR spirit is characterized by a commitment to Torah infused with joy, innovation, From the big kindness, mission, community, and creativity. Undoubtedly, though, the year was reshaped by the pandemic that brought so much destruction to the world. Students across the globe will ceremonies to remember the 2020 school season as a lesson in managing the darkness of pandemic while the intimate bringing light, routine, structure and predictability to a world that lacked all of these. With the dubious distinction of being the first school in the country to close its doors and pivot conversations to remote learning, we experienced something magical, surprising and so completely SAR and everything during the last four months of the school year. SAR’s dynamism became even more dynamic. Its creativity became more creative, and its innovations more innovative. The partnership in between—rich between the educational professionals and the parent body became more deeply collaborative. content, great Our chesed, which animates so much of SAR’s soul, became a cri de coeur, and the response was overwhelming and inspiring. To witness the selflessness of parents, students and staff as spirit, connecting they cared for the broader community was to feel honored to be a part of SAR. multiple Over the last four months of school, staff members, parent volunteers and students experienced generations what the positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to as “flow.” Flow is being in the zone. Flow is when you face a challenge and find yourself positioned to stretch and meet and multiple that challenge. As Csikszentmihalyi writes, “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, countries, receptive, relaxing times…. The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”The pandemic showcasing has caused so much suffering, but the flow that we all experienced pushed us well beyond our individual kids comfortable limits, and the joy of meeting that challenge is a gift for which we are so grateful. for their talents What was it that allowed of us to experience that flow and enabled our community to thrive during trying times? It turns out that when you have a school whose mission and core values and passions— highlight innovation, creativity, empathy, and a can-do spirit, you develop a school community poised to rise to challenges and live its values with pride, inspiration, and confidence. We feel thank you for blessed and honored to be members of this community. With humility and deep gratitude, we making that all thank every one of you for contributing to the success of this extraordinary year. happen today. Rabbi Binyamin Krauss (AC ‘84) APRIL 29, 2020, SPEAKING TO ACADEMY FACULTY ON YOM HAATZMAUT HIGH SCHOOL | 2020 ANNUAL REPORT ANNUAL | 2020 HIGH SCHOOL Rabbi Tully Harcsztark Rabbi Binyamin Krauss Rabbi Jonathan Kroll PRINCIPAL, SAR HIGH SCHOOL (AC ‘84) PRINCIPAL, SAR HIGH SCHOOL DEAN, MACHON SIACH PRINCIPAL, SAR ACADEMY SAR ACADEMY & SAR ACADEMY SAR 3 ACADEMY HIGHLIGHTS 4 ENTERING HIS GATES WITH THANKFULNESS 89 192 947 בואו שעריו בתודה This year, the Academy focused on being grateful for all Hashem has bestowed upon us. ACADEMY STUDENTS ACADEMY FACULTY GRADE 8 GRADUATES The theme was especially meaningful during a most arduous time and deepened our appreciation for all of our blessings. STUDENTS ZOOMED THROUGH SPRING We broadened students’ conception of thankfulness, anchoring it in an inner connection For the first time • Grades 1-5 ‘toured’ Yerushalayim on Yom Yerushalayim, led by Secrets of with Hashem and the many ways we can experience and share blessings. ever at our very the Old City guides. special Leil dor • Grade 3 was able to welcome special guests and family members L’Dor program, • Faculty taught monthly lessons on from California, Canada, London, and Israel to their online Wacky Wax we gathered Rosh Chodesh. Museum. together, in • Prompts were offered for students’ • Faculty who developed the integrated arts and Torah text program at Koolulam style, to sing two beautiful gratitude journals. the Teacher Institute of the Arts last summer, along with the Grade 3 team, transformed this year’s Grade 3 Rashi Breakfast. Families created renditions of • We issued a monthly “Call to Action” to a text-to-symbol project on a portion of the studied divrei Torah. Hallelujah. pay forward our gratitude. • Students in Grade 4 curated a living portfolio, the “Corona Chronicles,” • A variety of the Art Team installations showcasing scenes that preserved their home experiences. were featured in the atrium. • Did Grade 5 cancel the Teva camping trip? NO! They went virtually! They studied nature, bees, composting, and pickling and went on virtual • Classes held cross-grade learning programs hikes. They learned how to build birdhouses, plant seeds, and create to prepare for Maccabiah. a wilderness first-aid kit! The “trip” included a virtual campfire with • Grade 6 held a Yom Iyun concentrating stargazing, parsha stories, s’mores, and song. • One of the special events of Grade 5 is the NYC tour. This year’s program on hakarat hatov. was experienced virtually as two guides walked in the City pointing out • We published a weekly Chadashot column both iconic locations and neighborhoods where immigrants first settled on gratitude for families. to students watching on Zoom. INNOVATIVE JUDAIC CURRICULA ELC’S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IGNITES On Gratitude Experiential INTEGRATES 3N THROUGH GRADE 8 STUDENT CREATIVITY AND CONFIDENCE Day in January, we used various modalities to teach Students expressed gratitude b’Ivrit for the many blessings Ivrit immersion extended to the the importance of gratitude in their lives, including the creation of the world, our ability three-year nursery this year, as we work toward to perform mitzvot, and our bodies, food, family, and friends. with each ELC grade now able to Students demonstrated gratefulness through the arts, understand and respond to friends שעריו בתודה exemplifying .The atrium was alive writing, video production, and dialogue. and teachers in Hebrew .בואו with music ensembles and Students uniquely experienced art projects, and each class special days and strengthened their attended a “Call to Action” connections to Medinat Yisrael: tent to write notes of appreciation to our school • On Yom Haatzmaut, Zoom transported the children community. to Israel to visit ‘friends’ and a native Ivrit speaker in Yerushalayim, the Negev, and Herziliya. Artist in • Kindergarten and 4N commemorated Yom HaZikaron Residence, through an interactive Zoom class with our very own visiting artist/ chayalim, SAR alumni. engineer Ayelet HIGH SCHOOL | 2020 ANNUAL REPORT ANNUAL | 2020 HIGH SCHOOL REPORT ANNUAL | 2020 HIGH SCHOOL • In an effort to expand our students’ repertoire of literature Feinberg worked with students as well as allow them to explore their voice through to create this hands-on literacy experiences, we introduced “Tell homage to our Tales” storytelling programs including ShakesPreK and theme. WonderSparks Puppet Theater. SAR ACADEMY & SAR ACADEMY SAR & SAR ACADEMY SAR 5 ACADEMY HIGHLIGHTS 5 TREMENDOUS 34 SUCCESS FOR K-4 AFTER SCHOOLS FIFTH-GRADE (7 CONTINUED ON ZOOM) STEM IN-CLASS New: Cooking with Chef EXPERIENCE Eran, Double Dutch Our STEM team was Jump Rope, Exciting particularly proud of Experiments, Improv the enhanced Grade 5 STEM program that had two consecutive STEM 25 periods, added three unique rotations, and MIDDLE SCHOOL maintained our small To allow parents the opportunity to engage and collaborate ELECTIVES student/teacher ratio for with their children, we initiated new STEM workshops for New: Band, Cooking, this hands-on experience. families with students in Grades 4-5. Parents also joined Music Theory Students studied units students for SAR’s Fourth Annual Family STEM Day. in engineering, coding/ robotics, and data During the virtual spring semester: collection to make • Lower School students continued to build coding skills 95 recommendations for a using Scratch or Tynker platforms. VOICE & CHOICE ARTS fictitious candy company. CLASSES • Science continued with interactive experiments using 36 IN GRADE 5 AND 24 IN GRADE 6 simple household materials. New: Art Weather Studio, STEM and chag intersected as ELC students collaborated • Our virtual After School program, SAR Design Masters Digital Collage Studio, to plan, design, and construct their very own life-sized Competition, challenged students to design and build Manga & Anime, Techie kosher sukkah on the field using magnetic building tiles. physical structures and mechanisms to enhance a Interiors The Grandparent Giving Circle generously funded this innovative project. virtual island. SPECIAL CHESED PROJECT More than 100 students in Grades MIDDLE SCHOOL To demonstrate gratitude, we partnered with Montefiore 1-8 enrolled in the Hospital’s “Adopt a Frontliner Program” to support essential The Middle School Active duty SAR alumni new (Zoom) Music workers by delivering cookies, supplies, and thank you notes. mentoring program, chayalim Elliot David (AC & Art Academy, created to cultivate student ‘09, HS ‘13), Tamar David offering private independence and leadership, (AC ‘12, HS ‘16), Amit music lessons and carried last year’s Grade 7 Ginzberg (AC ‘14, HS ‘18), small group art and Kindergarten pairing Liana Katz (AC ‘13, HS ‘17), instruction. into this year’s grades, giving and Leah Nerenberg (AC Grade 1 continuity in the ‘13, HS ‘17) Zoomed in to ‘big building.’ The program observe Yom HaZikaron SO CLOSE, BUT YET SO FAR! expanded with a new cohort.