Learning for Toddlers to Adults

Oseh Shalom wants learning to be a lifelong commitment for its community members. We offers adults a broad range of educational opportunites ranging from Torah studies and Adult Bnei Mitzvah classes to cooking and financial planning.

Teens can join our vibrant confirmation classes that blend topical discussions and a range of light classes with ample time to socialize and make friends with other Jewish teens, an opportunity most lacking in their secular schools.

School age children attend our award winning Religious School program on Wednesdays and Sundays. We offer a home school program for families who can't make the mid-week session but strongly encourage attendance if possible. Students do more than learn mid-week, they have time to make connections and interact.

Our youngest students, age 3-5, are introduced to Jewish learning through a play based program offered twice a month. We also encourage our tots to join our monthly Tot Shabbat on Saturday morning once a month at 10:00 am, our monthly family service on the first Friday of the month at 7:30 pm and to come to our other weekly and holiday services. Even children 0-3 are welcome to come to services and play in a room where parents can see and hear services but not worry about their youngsters making noise or sitting still. All age children who need a break are welcome in the play room.

To find out more about any of these options, see the links below and check our calendar.

Religious School/Tot Program/Teen Programs

Registration materials for 2010-11 in PDF

Calendar for 5771: 2010-11 in PDF

Oseh Shalom offers Sunday School for preschool through Grade 7 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Optional youth activities wrap around these hours. For students in grades 3-7 midweek school is offered on Wednesdays afternoons. We also offer a comprehensive, easy to use, home school option for both midweek and Sundays programs, although attending school is a better way to connect with other Jewish children and enjoy the richness of our community.

Check out pictures of our kids doing Mitzvah Projects

See our 5th-7th Graders at a weekend Shabbaton
Oseh Shalom Religious school again recognized for excellence, PDF

To reach our Religious School Director Maryana Harouni, email mharouni@oseh-shalom.org or call Maryana at 301-498-7004.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Oseh Shalom Religious School is to teach and promote living Judaism – from a perspective of Reconstructionist thought and practice – as the way to create personal, communal and ecological tikkun--healing. The School Renewal Task Force established two organizational goals that complement the Mission. All Religious School programs are designed to accomplish two goals:

To foster Jewish literacy, including the following components –
- Values & concepts
- Texts – Tanach
- History – Experience of the Jewish People
- Hebrew (i.e., language)
To engender an appreciation for Jewish living, including the following aspects:
- Spirituality
- Rituals & their meaning
- Ethics (Tikkun)

It is the actions of home, synagogue, and community interacting with school that will be the ultimate determinant of commitment.

Oseh Shalom Religious School

Oseh Shalom offers programs for preschoolers through college. We offer Sunday School for preschool through Grade 7 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Several times a year, optional youth activities follow Sunday school. For students in grades 3-7 midweek school is offered on Wednesdays afternoons from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Our post-b’nei mitzvah students (grades 8-12) meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:15 pm – 9:00 pm. We also offer a comprehensive, easy to use, home school option for both midweek and Sundays programs, although attending school is a better way to connect with other Jewish children and enjoy the richness of our community.

Our Midweek Program for students in grades 3-6 is an interactive program which incorporates the study of Jewish values through different chuggim (clubs): art, drama, creative writing, music and movement, and cooking. Our Seventh Grade program provides students with an opportunity to learn the Shabbat morning service in depth – and to explore the meanings of prayers through art and creative writing.

Preschool Sunday Program

Our preschool Sunday program is held twice a month during the school year for 3-5 year olds. Children creatively explore Jewish holidays, traditions, and values through song, arts and crafts, and stories. This class is taught by a nursery school teacher. We have both a “Year A” and a “Year B” program, so that students enrolled in both programs experience little duplication. Please see the school calendar for the exact dates.

Home Schooling Program

The Oseh Shalom Home Schooling program is available for 3^rd through 6^th graders who are unable to participate in our on-site Midweek Program. The Home School Program (Midweek) follows the same topics and rotations as the Midweek Program. Parents are required to work with students to complete the year’s curriculum at home. Assignments are turned in on a weekly basis. Students will receive material packets for each subject that includes a syllabus, assignments and all reading materials. Our topics for study this year include Peace at Home (Shalom bayit); Taking Care of One’s Body (Shmirat ha-guf); The Jewish People Live! (Am yisrael chai); Pursuing Peace (Rodef shalom); and Israel – Living on a Kibbutz.

The clubs (chuggim) segment of the curriculum has been broken down into topics on a six-week rotation. Each topic packet will include a text study with questions and a drama, cooking, art and writing assignment. Students will complete journal worksheets to turn in each week.

Our HomeSchool Program (7^th Grade) parallels our on-site program called “SiddurQuest.” Students work with the specific blessings of the Amidah, discovering layers of meaning within the prayers, writing about the insights they gain through their discovery, and expressing those insights artistically. At the end of the year, their writings are incorporated into a booklet entitled “Meditations on the Amidah.”

Finally, our HomeSchool Program (Sunday option) provides grade-level materials for students who are unable to join in our regularly scheduled Sunday program.

An orientation meeting for all Home Schooling families will be held in mid September to introduce the program and distribute materials. Throughout the year our Home School Coordinator and families stay in contact through e-mails and phone calls. Progress reports will be sent out along with regular religious school mailings. We are looking forward to a successful year. If you would like more information about the Oseh Shalom Religious School Home Schooling program please contact the school office