New school year at PHDS

While students think of the summer months as time off from school, those who work in the schools spend the summer months busily preparing for the new school year. Providence Hebrew Day School is no exception to this rule. Administrators and teachers are working hard to get ready for the exciting 2015-2016 school year. Innovations and changes planned for the upcoming school year include an interim high school administration, a new teacher in the elementary school and a focus on social skills across the grades.

On the high school level, Providence Hebrew Day School welcomes Rabbi Aaron Lapin as interim principal of New England Academy of Torah, our high school division. Rabbi Lapin is no stranger to the Providence community. He originally arrived in Providence in 1992 to study at the New England Rabbinical College. After marrying and completing his undergraduate degree in Baltimore, Maryland, Rabbi Lapin, along with his wife, Shoshana, spent several years in Israel, where he received his rabbinic ordination. He has been back in Rhode Island since 2001, teaching and mentoring students at his alma mater, the Rabbinical College on Blackstone Boulevard.

Central to Rabbi Lapin’s teaching philosophy is the notion that every question that every student asks with sincerity is a good question. He brought his individual-affirming style of teaching to PHDS in 2008. Rabbi Lapin’s current position as interim principal at NEAT is his first position in administration. After a few months on the job, he hears a calling in it, which is something he did not expect. Partnering with the staff of PHDS/NEAT, he perceives that there is significant opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of the students. His plan is to begin working on a master’s degree in educational leadership in the fall.

In addition to Rabbi Lapin, the interim high school administration includes Ilana Weissmann as the general studies curriculum  coordinator. Weissmann, who has an M.A. in curriculum development and has been a faculty member of PHDS/NEAT since 2009, has begun working with Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, Rabbi Lapin and the faculty to make the existent NEAT general studies curriculum even better. One significant innovation that she is working on is enabling the school to offer an option for students to receive college credits.

Kristin Pereira will be joining the faculty as the general studies third-grade teacher. Pereira has a B.A. in elementary education from Rhode Island College and Rhode Island teaching certification for grades 1-6. She has taught many elementary school grades over the years, both as a classroom and substitute teacher, and she says   third grade is her passion. We look forward to her bringing that passion to PHDS.

Social skills are pivotal tools that all people need to interact with others. When children are weak in this area, it affects their self-esteem and negatively impacts their academic success. To address this concern, the faculty and staff at the school will be focusing on becoming skilled at social skills training during the 2015-2016 school year. Shoshana Lapin, a member of the resource staff, attended a four-day training program in New York given by Rifka Schonfeld, a leader in the field, and will direct this initiative. Materials are being purchased from Opening Closed Doors and Strategies for Optimum Success, two organizations that focus on this area of academic – and life – achievement. Teachers of pre-K through grade 12 will work in focus groups to create age-appropriate programming to assist their students in developing these important skills. While social-skills training is an emphasis for this year, the intent is to integrate this critical element of education into the curriculum in future years as well.

MIRIAM ESTHER WEINER is the principal of Providence Hebrew Day School.