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Multi-Grade Upgrade

Akiva Hebrew Day School showcases curriculum changes,
new administration and plans for its next 50 years.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

To that end, as the school gets ready to
mark its 50-year anniversary, much of the
curriculum has been revamped and signifi-
cant staff changes have taken place.

Diving Right In

Programming assessments began with the
youngest students.
A fine tuning of the kindergarten
English reading and phonics curriculum
aims toward a goal of stronger readers,
with a Hebrew reading program also being
implemented.
Second-grade Akiva
teacher Anita Batt is
the new director of cur-
riculum and instruc-
tion for grades K-5. She
will work closely with
Early Childhood Center
Director Lisa Parshan to
Rabbi Tzvi
help
with the transition
Klugerman
from kindergarten to
first grade.
"We are creating uninterrupted blocks
of time to allow our teachers to focus
on language acquisition for grades 1-5:'
Klugerman said.
Akiva has adopted the Common Core
State Standards for Language Arts and
Math. "Common Core gives all sharehold-
ers a clear set of expectations that students
can and should meet by graduation:' said
former assistant principal, Rabbi Aaron
Leib, the school's new principal of grades
1-8.
The position was previously held by Teri
Giannetti, who now will serve as a consul-
tant for Batt and Leib.
"Common Core allows for the alignment
of curriculum, instruction and assessment,
thus providing more accountability," Leib
said.
Elementary school students will continue
with the ROAR Program implemented at
the end of last year.
"This is a structured 'positive behavior
system' unique to the Akiva community:'
Leib said. "ROAR (Respect, Organization,
Attitude and Responsibility) will help us
identify expectations and reward those
who meet the expectations, and create a
teaching opportunity. Children earn ROAR
dollars with positive behaviors and are
able to cash them in at the ROAR store for
prizes:'

While learning about Noah, Akiva's younger students enjoyed a petting zoo.

Leib also will continue as director of
the Judaic curriculum for elementary and
middle school students.
"Teachers are very enthused in the
elementary school with our new supple-
mental Chumash program called lehavin
u'lehaskil, a program very heavily focused
on skill building:' Leib said. "We had a
tremendously successful year with our
Mishna-Talmud program, Bonayich, and
we look forward to continued success as
the program develops into its second year."
A new Hebrew pro-
gram titled Chaverim
(Friends) is being added
this year. "It develops
active language produc-
tion in children with
activities that engage the
,1111 interests of the students
Rabbi Aaron
beyond the classroom,
Leib
using multiple genres
such as stories, conversa-
tions, poems, songs, journals and litera-
ture he said.
Batt, Leib and Jordana Wolfson, in
the newly created position of director of
admissions, met with elementary school
parents in July to discuss the new admin-
istrative structure, curricular changes and
enhancements.

Young Teens
"The middle school is our next big focus
because some students leave after, so we
want to get them feeling connected to
Aldva," Klugerman said.
"To harness their energy and innovative

spirit, we are aligning our science curricu-
lum with project-based learning in a new
introductory eighth-grade course in physi-
cal science
Klugerman designed and will teach a
new eighth-grade history course. "It is
heavily infused with critical reading and
analysis of primary and secondary sourc-
es," he said. "We are also going to focus the
middle school experience to address their
social and emotional developmental needs
with team building and individual growth

Akiva teacher Lizzy Doppelt has
assumed the newly created position of
middle school coordinator and also will
oversee interdisciplinary units, including
the seventh-grade Renaissance Fair and the
eighth-grade Holocaust project.
This past year, the English language fac-
ulty received training through the resourc-
es of Oakland County Schools and began
to implement the Step Up To Writing
literature and writing curriculum that will
be adopted by the middle school and high
school this year.
Science and math requirements have
been increased for both the middle school
and high school.

Akiva's Lowenthal High School, works with
the Judaic faculty and Kathy Sklar, assistant
principal of the high school, focuses on
general studies.
"We have an exciting year upcoming:'
said Sklar, who spent part of the sum-
mer designing her AP European History
class. "We have a lot of enrichment classes;
we offer AP literature, AP biology, AP
European History, AP World and AP calcu-
lus. We also offer pre-AP physics, which is
being taught a new way, with a new physics
teacher starting this year:'
College preparatory general education
classes are offered along with a Judaic
studies component including Torah study,
Jewish history and philosophy courses. The
school day consists of equal amounts of
general studies and Judaic learning, with
classes interspersed throughout the day.
The Sugyot program, introduced this
past school year, gives high school students
functional knowledge of Halachah (Jewish
law).
Partial block scheduling is now part
of the high school curriculum. "It's one
of the best things we've done, alternating
courses to offer longer class time for labs
and plays and varied kinds of assessment
opportunities for lots of different learning
experiences:' said Sklar, who is beginning
her 26th year at Akiva. "It gives teachers
the opportunity to be very creative with
their time
The middle school is moving forward
with the Singapore math program intro-
duced last year, and the art of problem-
solving will be brought to grades 7 and 8.
"It's a way of doing math that keeps stu-
dents on grade level but adds enrichment
for those who need it:' Sklar said. "It also
brings math into real life.
"The science program is being pushed in
a positive direction. Juniors have the option
of two types of physics classes."
The ninth and tenth grades will have
blocks with Judaic learning and Irvit
(Hebrew).

Upper School Excitement

Around The School

"We have continued to improve our course
offerings and electives, consolidated sec-
tions and increased the rigor in both Judaic
and general studies:' said Klugerman,
whose own children include an Akiva
graduate and three current students.
Rabbi Jeff Ney, dean of students for

Akiva students are involved in school
sports teams and area Jewish youth groups
that connect with peers at other Jewish day
schools. Leadership skills are developed
in programs like Panim el Panim, Eimatai
and Model U.N.
The school participates annually in the

Multi-Grade on page 10

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August 22 • 2013

Jh