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Our Religious School
Achduth Vesholom's Religious School offers comprehensive educational programming for children from preschool (age three years) through 12th grade. Our objectives include teaching our students Jewish values, traditions, history, heritage, and way of life. We want to create a meaningful Jewish experience for our children so that Judaism becomes a positive intellectual and emotional experience. We also want to strengthen and reinforce Jewish feelings, associations and fellowship.
Basic Hebrew is part of the comprehensive religious school program. Additional Hebrew classes are required for bar/bat mitzvah candidates. Confirmation marks an educational milestone for young people in the 10th grade. Post-confirmation classes are offered to students in grades 11 and 12.
A recent dimension that has proven particularly successful is our high school evening program. Students in public school grades 9 through 12 come together on Sunday evenings for dinner and social time followed by a choice of classes they find relevant to their lives as Jewish teens and young adults. The school's program of field trips, Confirmation class trips, intermediate and junior high school retreats, and teen trips to Israel has broadened our students' view of the Jewish world; as has our close association with Goldman Union Camp Institute (named for the late Myron S. Goldman, former Temple president).
Our 157-year-old tradition of meaningful Jewish education in Fort Wayne has been fostered by the hard work and dedication of teachers selected from our congregation, our rabbis and a core of professional educators.
New! View webpages of all classes.
Please click HERE to download current Religious School forms.
A message from our rabbi: “If…”
Shalom and b’ruchim haba’im, welcome!
It seems odd to be welcoming you, since I have barely settled into my new position, new home, and new town. It is hard to imagine all your faces, and to speak to you as if I knew you. Yet, as your new rabbi it is natural for me to welcome you because I know why you are here. You have harkened to the words of our Torah, ve-shinantam le-vanecha ve-dibbarta bam …, “teach them faithfully to your children, and speak of them …” As countless generations before us, the establishment of houses of study has been a foundational pillar of every congregation that engages in the sacred task of teaching our traditions, history and values to the next generation.
I want you to know that you are welcome, that we want you here, and that we need you here. From the onset, be certain that you are welcome to come and talk to me at any time, and for any reason. The door to my office is always open and my listening ears always tuned to your comments, suggestions and concerns.
We are blessed with a group of talented educators whose dedication is admirable and who year after year strive to provide the highest levels of Jewish education, but we cannot do this alone. Education is a communal enterprise, and we Jews have known it since immemorial times. Already when we were nomads, in the wilderness of Sinai, Moses told the children of Israel to “gather the people –men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities- that they may hear and so learn …” (Deut. 31:12). A community that values learning at every level is a sacred community. Jewish learning does not begin and end with religious education. If we are to develop well-rounded, healthy and compassionate individuals with a strong Jewish identity, we all must set the example for them to see. Our goal should be a community of learners, from the youngest to the oldest.
By joining us and entrusting your children’s Jewish education to our school, you have already taken a very important first step in that direction. I know it is a challenge to juggle our busy lives from sports events, to extracurricular activities and it would not be realistic to ask you to place our school at the top of your priorities. Would you consider giving us a spot in the upper half? We want your children and you to be a part of the process. With your active support and involvement, our promise to reach for the highest standards of Jewish education in our area would be even stronger.
In the coming months, I am looking forward to getting to know you all better as we walk the new path in the life of our congregation together. “May the favor of our God be upon us! Let the work of our hands prosper ...” (Ps. 90:17).
Rabbi Javier E. Cattapan
A message from our ReligiousSchool Committee Chair:
My name is Jaki Schreier and on behalf of the staff and teachers at Temple Achduth Vesholom, I extend a warm welcome to all of our new students and their families, as well as our returning ones.
Summer is behind us and the Religious School Committee is enthusiastic to begin a new school year full of learning and fun. The primary goal of the Religious School Committee is to assure that our students are receiving the best religious education possible. We will constantly be reviewing, revising, and making necessary policy recommendations to the Temple Board to ensure that our format is both engaging and dynamic.
Another objective of the Committee is to improve communications among educators, parents, students, the director of education and Rabbi Katz. Please watch for emails, newsletters, postcards, correspondence in the Temple Bulletin and KESHER to arrive home regularly.
I encourage everyone to actively participate in your child’s religious education. We welcome you to attend our regular Religious School Committee meetings held the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the library. You also may consider joining your child in the classroom and attending the Family Education sessions that will now be held at all grades up to High School. Remember by participating, you show your children how important Jewish education is to you.
I am not only a Religious School teacher myself, but also a mother to three children who all attend classes at the Temple. When I am driving home from Religious School, I engage my children in discussion on what they learned that day. It helps them to inter-personalize the lesson. Consequently, my children enjoy Religious School and can connect it to how to live as a Jew.
Please feel free to contact me during the school year with any questions, concerns or issues that have arisen. Obviously, I would enjoy hearing about all the positives that you are experiencing in both your child’s Religious School setting and with what they are sharing with you at home.
I truly look forward to working with you, the committee, the teachers, Charlene and Rabbi. I few all remember to put the children and our Jewish values first, I know that we will have an exciting and fun-filled educational year.
Jaki Schreier
Religious School Committee Chair
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