Pardes Jewish Day School Inc

Programs: Pardes had 295 students enrolled at the end of the 2016-17 school year, with over 50 members of the pardes faculty providing instruction in secular and jewish studies. We graduated 39 students from 8th grade, who went on to attend high schools including phoenix country day school, brophy, pinnacle high school, chaparral high school and horizon high school. Academic lifepardes continued to send teachers to the reading and writing institute at columbia university. We also sent a team of faculty to the annual conference sponsored by the international society for technology in education. Pardes adopted a new online language program (con't sch o) (no red ink) that begins in grade 4 and continues through middle school, and expanded our wilson word study program through 3rd grade. The zero hour math enrichment program continued to be offered before school to students in third through fifth grades. Pardes families were treated to a dazzling interactive display of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics projects at the annual steam night. Middle school science projects were all on display, and parents and children all participated in fun and challenging steam activities. The phoenix astronomical society was on hand for stargazing. The pardes 2nd annual literacy night celebrated dr. Seuss. "oh, the places you'll go! " was an interactive evening with teachers, parents and children in grades k through 8, and open to preschool families in the community as well. Our goal is to inspire the love of reading in children and to support literacy development. Literacy teachers, spanish and hebrew teachers were all involved in planning and running the stations, administrators dressed up as dr. Seuss characters and the school rock band performed. Families were asked to bring toiletries that were later donated to a local charity. 125 people attended. A pardes eighth grader made it all the way to round three of this year's regional spelling bee. Two eighth graders scored 4 out of 5 at the math olympiad, and one eighth grader scored a 3 out of 5 on an extremely difficult exam. Pardes had great success in the science fair. 13 students in grades 5-7 received first place awards. 25 students received second place awards and 22 students received third place awards. Two pardes students won the phoenix elk's lodge essay contest on "why it is important to vote. " there were 300 essays and only six winners. Nasa johnson space center aerospace engineer aaron brown spoke to a captivated audience of middle schoolers, parents and community members here at pardes. His topic was the orion" program, the mars preparation and how he integrates all of it with his life as an orthodox jew. The presentation included videos, artifacts and a q&a session. The entrepreneur fair on may 19 marked the end of a year-long middle school elective program where students worked to create their own companies. They began with a raw idea. Working in pairs, they wrote business plans, created their products and marketed them. The entrepreneur fair was the culminating event where each business set up a booth to market and sell their product. This year's businesses including thermo sensitive designer mugs, custom designer paddle balls, creative slime, jewelry and stress ball diy kits, custom water bottles, personalized fidget devices and a tie-dye apparel accessory company. Profits were donated to charities personally selected by the entrepreneurs. Pardes provides unique resources to families and students. Education next generation online forum is stocked with incredible parenting, behavioral and educational experts. Students now also have access to john hopkins center for talented youth. Jewish studies and jewish lifepardes held a special ceremony for all the students in the school to welcome the new kindergarteners. We also held a kindergarten consecration ceremony to mark the beginning of their jewish learning. The school concluded its third year of a substantial grant to help strengthen the hebrew and jewish studies programs at pardes, developing and documenting curriculum, providing enhanced faculty training, opportunities to visit other jewish day schools and participation in a variety of faculty professional development programs. For students, there were special grade-, division- and school-level programs, lessons and celebrations for all the jewish holidays during the year. Some special examples include sukkot under the stars, which provided students and families a special opportunity to share dinner in the sukkah, with singing, stories and art projects; purim activities with lots of treats; yom hashoah, when the school held a memorial ceremony and brought in a holocaust survivor to address the children; and a celebration of israel on yom ha'atzmaut. 25 students became bar or bat mitzvah. In addition to weekly kabbalat shabbat, at times grandparents are invited to participate with their grandchildren, helping with blessings, songs and activities. The school also continued to offer davening before school for those interested, from 8:00 a. M. To 8:25 a. M. Daily. Also new this year was the pardes first annual chanukiyah contest. Students were encouraged to use their creativity to create a chanukah menorah from items in their homes. Pardes collaborated with a variety of jewish organizations in the valley. Some examples include local preschools, pj library, the bureau of jewish education, families giving back, community bridges, valley beit midrash and the desert gathering jewish music fest. Students also participated in various tikkun olam projects during the year. Before thanksgiving, middle school students went off-campus to participate in tikkun olam (charitable projects. ) students also helped support families giving back by collecting participating in their thanksgiving food drive & meal bag assembly project. Food items were donated and bags assembled by the children, and the bags were delivered to families at the granada primary school, an elementary school where the majority of the student population lives below the poverty line. Pardes respects the values of kashrut which means our pardes families and the entire jewish community can feel comfortable in knowing everything our kitchen prepares is under kosher supervision of the vaad. Pardes students and families participated in the cinderella affair, a volunteer project for area high school junior and seniors that provides new and gently-used formal wear absolutely free, helping make prom an affordable and memorable event! Student lifepardes student council held various events during the year, including an off-campus welcome back event, ice skating, school dances, movie nights and an end-of-the-year party. Students in grades 4 through 8 participate in off-campus field trips. The activities range from an overnight at a jewish camp to a full week in washington, d. C. The 8th grade students are actively involved in raising the funds for their dc trip, including a large yard sale and a spring time car wash. Pardes provides a multitude of opportunities for students to build healthy, lifetime peer relationships, both in and out of the classroom. The school year kicked off in august with a pool party at the valley of the sun jcc for grades k-4, while students in grades 5-8 enjoyed the day at amazing jake's. Panthers under the stars was held in the fall, offering middle school students an evening of fun with competitive games, laser tag, game trucks, food and social interaction. Other events included the panther classic, a school-wide fundraising program sponsored by the pardes athletic department. 148 parents and children cycled, ran, walked and biked for fitness, for community and to help financially support the athletic program at pardes. 65 percent of the eligible students participated in after school athletics for the year, and a third of those participated in all three seasons of sports offered. The students competed in soccer, basketball, football and volleyball. There were teams for both boys and girls. The panther's booster club raised money for the athletic department and brought school spirit to the campus at the same time. Music and the arts are integral to the pardes experience. A lower school choir was formed for grades k-4 and our student rock band "the green sheet shredders" performed for our students as well. A special chanukah show was put on by all the children in the school, with over 800 people in attendance. The middle school held four performances of fiddler on the roof for its annual spring musical. We also held an end-of-the-year talent show to feature both class and individual performances by the students.