Registration is open for 2025-2026

Kulanu

Launching August 17

We want Kulanu to be a different experience for our students and not mirror that of the schools and classrooms they attend during the week. Kulanu is so much more than “religious school”: it’s a warm, inclusive community where every child belongs and discovers their own Jewish identity through inquiry and exploration. This philosophy guides everything we will do—from Sunday sessions to youth-group events, family learning, and holiday celebrations.

Whether it be in-class learning, youth group events, family education programming, or holiday celebrations, our goal will always be to foster a sense of community and belonging, and feelings of empowerment through experiential and collaborative learning.

Details and Enrollment

Now open for 2025–2026 (Sundays, 9:15 AM–12:30 PM)
Base rate: $750.00 for an entire year of learning and joyful Judaism, with Judaics and Hebrew integrated throughout the morning for all grades. Save $100 by registering before July 1.
Scholarships available—no one is turned away for financial reasons; contact Rabbi Schwartz at rabbischwartz.tbs@gmail.com
Kulanu welcomes every child—members and non-members alike—and children of those on a conversion journey.
Kulanu Calendar: UPDATED
Parent Handbook: UPDATED

Cohorts

Kulanu organizes children into flexible learning cohorts—small, mixed-age communities guided by shared milestones rather than traditional grade levels. Each cohort spans an age group (for example, roughly ages 5–7, 8–10, and 11–13), giving children room to learn with slightly older and younger peers while still working at an appropriate level. A team of overlapping educators supports each cohort, allowing every learner to progress at a pace that feels both challenging and comfortable.

Each cohort has a designated Hebrew name, to reinforce the usage of Hebrew within our program:

Garinim – Seeds (our youngest learners, ages 4-7)
Shorashim – Roots (our middle learners, ages 8-9)
Eitzim – Trees (our eldest learners, pre-B’nai Mitzvah, ages 10-12)

Curricular Overview

Garinim

Garinim - Seeds (our youngest learners, ages 4-7)

Young children learn best when their own questions set the pace. Our garinim will turn that curiosity into an adventure across the landscape of Jewish life—one engaging stop at a time. The Garinim Curriculum: rests on three pillars: an emergent curriculum, a richly collaborative environment, and strong partnerships among families, students, and educators.

Pathway	What it Looks Like	Why it Matters
Journey Through Torah	Stories such as Creation, Noah’s Ark, and Miriam’s song come alive through interactive play, movement, and art.	Learners gain shared language and stories they can revisit and retell in their own words.
Journey Through Mitzvot	Games, songs, rituals, and projects introduce acts of kindness and responsibility that we have as Jews.	Learners see that any traveler can develop a Jewish practice and change the world along the way.
Journey Through Values	Learners engage with content that affirms every child’s worth, builds community, sparks curiosity and wisdom, practices justice, fosters resilience and kindles love for Israel and the Jewish people.	Jewish wisdom becomes personal and portable.
Journey Through Holidays	Sensory-rich celebrations—decorating the Sukkah, designing a class menorah, and tasting different fruits during Tu B’shevat —create tactile memories of the Jewish year.	Holidays become familiar landmarks, not distant dates.

Shorashim - Roots (our middle learners, ages 8-9)

Our shorashim will explore Jewish heroes from Torah to today, extract the values that shaped their choices, and then highlight those values through a student-designed project—braiding holidays, Hebrew, Israel, and justice work into one cohesive journey.

Project Phase & Focus	Heroes (Biblical ➜ Today Examples)	What Learners Do & Make (Examples)	Integrated Threads (Values, Holidays, Israel, Hebrew)
Gather: “Who came before us?”	Biblical: Sarah & Abraham, Moses & Miriam, Esther, Judah Maccabee Holiday links: Abraham and Sarah → Sukkot Moses → Pesach Esther → Purim Judah Maccabee → Hannukah	Build a giant timeline mural, noting each hero’s big choice	Chochmah (wisdom) from Torah, festival symbols woven into timeline
Distill: “What makes them heroic?”	Rabbinic/Medieval: Hillel/Shammai, Rabbi Akiva, Dona Gracia Nasi	Debate: “Does a hero need to be perfect?”	Tzedek & Koach highlighted, justice through respectful disagreement, overcoming challenges
Create: “How do we tell their stories?”	Modern: Henrietta Szold, Golda Meir, Hannah Senesh	Design digital or physical exhibits for a Hall of Jewish Heroes	Ahavat Yisrael: map each hero’s connection to Israel – Yom Ha’atzmaut mini-module inside exhibit
Act: “How do we live their values?”	Contemporary: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ilan Ramon,	Plan and carry out a mitzvah project that echoes a chosen hero	Holidays & mitzvot applied to real life – Kehillah in action
Share & Reflect: “What have we learned about ourselves?”	–	Host a community “Museum opening” for families, highlight reflection journals: “Which hero’s choice feels most like mine?”	Reinforce B’tzelem Elohim and lifelong learning

Eitzim - Trees (our eldest learners, pre-B’nai Mitzvah, ages 10-12)

Eitzim are our oldest learners. They’re moving from simply gathering facts to asking the deeper “why” questions. The Eitzim curriculum is designed to deepen students’ connection to Judaism, its traditions, and Israel while fostering a sense of global Jewish community. By engaging with core Jewish values, learning about Jewish holidays, exploring Israel’s significance, and understanding the diverse Jewish cultures around the world, students will form a rich, multi-dimensional understanding of their Jewish identity.

Themes/Topics	Big Ideas	Key Activities	Outcome
Jewish Holidays Around the World	Understanding the diversity of Jewish holiday observances worldwide	Exploring how Jewish holidays are celebrated throughout the world.	Students will understand the global in Jewish holiday observances and appreciate the diverse ways Jewish communities celebrate
Israel’s Role in Jewish Identity	Israel as the shared space of the Jewish people	Text study, visual arts projects, and discussions about Israel’s role in Jewish identity	Students will form a personal connection between Israel and their Jewish identity
Multicultural Israel	Israel as a multicultural shared space	Photography, music, and food exploration reflecting the diversity of Israeli culture	Insight into Israel’s multicultural society and how it shapes Jewish identity
Israel and Other Communities	Israel’s relationships with non-Jewish communities	Viewing videos and discussions about Israel’s social and political interactions with its neighbors	Broader understanding of Israel’s social dynamics and interfaith relationships
Creative Expression of Israel	Exploring Israel through the arts	Synthesize learning through art, music, or performance that reflects Israel’s significance to Jewish identity	Students will create a final project that expresses their personal connection to Israel and Jewish values
Jewish History and Diversity Through Family Languages and Names	Understanding the linguistic diversity in the Jewish community	Explore Ladino, Yiddish, and Hebrew, connect language to culture, and create family tree projects based on language heritage	Students will understand the role of language in shaping Jewish identity and culture

Onward Hebrew (Garinim and Shorashim)

Onward Hebrew is a modern educational approach focused on revitalizing Hebrew learning in Jewish education. It outlines key principles aimed at reshaping the traditional Hebrew educational experience to make it more engaging, natural, and effective for learners. Central to the initiative are four main strategies:

Hebrew through Movement (HTM)
- Using movement-based learning to introduce Hebrew in a fun and active environment, reinforcing vocabulary through physical response.
Jewish Life Vocabulary
- Integrating Hebrew vocabulary naturally into everyday Jewish experiences and routines, creating meaningful and contextual learning moments.
Regular Hebrew T’fillah (Prayer)
- Regular and immersive prayer experiences conducted in Hebrew, enabling learners to internalize the language naturally and authentically.
Delayed Decoding
- Delaying formal Hebrew reading instruction until students have established a foundational oral and auditory familiarity with Hebrew. This approach prioritizes conversational Hebrew, reducing frustration and fostering greater engagement once decoding begins.

J-Prayer (Eitzim)

The J-Prayer Hebrew Curriculum is designed for learners who have developed Hebrew decoding and reading skills, while also integrating the main strategies of Onward Hebrew. Learners will deepen their understanding and meaning of our core prayers and blessings, while also focusing heavily on the sound-to-print approach to Hebrew learning. T’fillah experiences will allow learners to experience Hebrew prayers and blessings on a regular basis, and provide opportunities for leadership and practice.

Goals

Joyful Hebrew Engagement
- Learners will experience Hebrew learning as enjoyable and meaningful, connecting Hebrew usage to their Jewish identity and sense of belonging to the larger Jewish community.
Sound-to-Print Mastery
- Learners will build a strong oral and auditory Hebrew foundation through hearing, speaking, and chanting before transitioning into formal Hebrew decoding (reading).
Hebrew Through Authentic Experiences
- Learners will naturally learn Hebrew vocabulary, prayers, and traditional Jewish expressions by actively participating in Hebrew-rich environments, including prayer (t’fillah), holidays, and Jewish rituals.
Individualized Decoding Instruction
- Hebrew decoding instruction will be delivered in small groups, enabling focused attention, immediate feedback, and positive reinforcement, resulting in efficient and confident decoding skills.
Multi-Year, Integrated Hebrew Learning
- Learners will engage with Hebrew consistently over multiple years, through varied experiences such as songs, movement activities, prayer recitation, and culturally meaningful vocabulary, creating deeper and lasting Hebrew knowledge.

Kulanu: Pre-K to 6th Grade