PJA Departments & Courses
Hebrew
At PJA, Hebrew is often our students’ first second language, opening the doors to language acquisition. Our students learn to love Hebrew as a living language that unites Jewish experience everywhere and serves as a bridge to the authentic learning of Jewish sources including Torah, Torah Sheh b'al peh (oral law), Tefillah (liturgy) and literature.
Starting in the preschool and through transitional kindergarten (TK), PJA uses the Chalav U’Dvash curriculum to teach Hebrew. Chalav U’Dvash was created for early childhood educators in the Diaspora specifically to teach Ivrit B’Ivrit (Hebrew in Hebrew) through the use of games, songs, drama, and puppetry.
Beginning in kindergarten, PJA uses the innovative Tal Am curriculum to teach Hebrew. The Tal Am program is geared specifically to North American Jewish day schools. The units are realistic and challenging, integrating the instruction of Jewish concepts, Hebrew literature, vocabulary, grammar, language patterns and syntax. The early study of Hebrew helps our students when they begin to study other languages in middle school, the process comes more naturally.
Students coming to PJA with a limited background in Hebrew work in small groups on beginning language skills. Students who begin their Hebrew language learning in middle school enter a special Hebrew language and Jewish cultural literacy program called Dor L’Dor (generation to generation).
Jewish Studies
Our Jewish Studies program seeks not only to teach students about history, texts and traditions, it also fosters inquiry and critical thinking. At PJA, Judaism is viewed as a way of life. Students are encouraged to express their Jewish identity joyously and to create an awareness of Klal Yisrael or a sense of Jewish community. Students understand their connection to past, present, and future generations of Jews. This awareness promotes a sense of responsibility within the home, the school population, the Jewish community, Israel, and the world.
We celebrate Jewish holidays and traditions to connect Jewish history and the cycle of nature, and to nurture spiritual life. Our Jewish studies curriculum includes age-appropriate units incorporating Jewish traditions, prayer, home, and communal ceremonies.
Return to top of page.
Art
Students are introduced to a variety of materials and techniques, exploring drawing, painting and sculpture with art specialists as well as their classroom teachers. Their projects are exhibited in art shows and spaces throughout the campus. In addition, PJA participates in the Artists-in-Residence program, which brings local and regional artists to the school to work with students in a variety of media.
Community Service
Our students are encouraged to practice service learning and Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) within their school and the larger community. Service learning is an opportunity for our students to learn more deeply about serious issues facing society. Our Middle Schoolers have days devoted to service learning throughout the year, which focus on such issues as hunger and the environment. Tikkun Olam activities include distributing food to the homeless, visiting sick children in hospitals, developing relationships with elders at the Robison Jewish Home for the Aged and raising money for community foundations.
English as a Second Language
When needed, individual and small group instruction is provided for children learning English as a second language. Children receive help in conversational skills, reading, writing, and school assignments. Each program is based on the child's current English skills.
Return to top of page.
PJA Plus: Activities That Enhance our Education
- Artist-in-Residence
- Buddy Program
- Choir
- Band
- Field Trips
- Israeli Dance
- Kabbalat Shabbat Services
- Meet the Authors
- Outdoor Education
- Plays/Theater visits
- Symphony/Opera/Museum visits
Literature and Language Arts
In literature and language arts, PJA's goal is to foster a life-long love of literature and writing. PJA teaches language arts by integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing through the use of age-appropriate literature and basic skills instruction.
Reading is taught using a balanced approach integrating phonics and quality literature.
From the earliest grades, our students learn to become writers. In kindergarten, students are encouraged not only to dictate stories but also to experiment with writing; gradually developing more advanced writing skills as they progress through the grades. In all grades, significant emphasis is placed on the revision/editing process and preparing writing for publication. Samples of students' work are published throughout the year.
Return to top of page.
Mathematics
A major goal of PJA's mathematics curriculum is to instill both confidence and competence in math. Our math program is based on a hands-on approach, which relies on manipulatives, mental math skills, problem-solving and active investigation to arrive at conclusions. Children are encouraged to ask "why?", to formulate strategies for reaching their answers, and to explain and discuss their mathematical thinking. Students gain fluency and mastery of basic skills through multiple methods of practice. Their skills are applied in a problem-solving context that is relevant to their everyday lives, making math meaningful.
Music
Our music program teaches students basic music skills and an appreciation of Jewish music as a universal experience for Jews worldwide. In the lower grades, musical skills are developed through listening and singing. As students progress through the grades, their repertoire and understanding of traditional Jewish musical liturgy grows, including a focus on Nigun (traditional melodies without words). They learn the principles of rhythm, melody, sight-reading and musical notation. In the upper grades, students learn to play recorders and may join the PJA choir. Band is offered for students in fourth through eighth grades as an after school program.
Physical Education
The goals of PJA's physical education program are to promote physical fitness, instill body confidence, and nurture a sense of sportsmanship. Students use the professional sports facilities of the Mittleman Jewish Community Center including its regulation gymnasium, Sportsplex, and swimming pool.
Our physical education program and our after-school sports and PJA’s sports teams provide active outlets for our energetic students.
Return to top of page.
Resource Services
PJA attends to the needs of every learner. Children with strong academic skills receive enrichment either in their classrooms individually or in groups. Remediation and classroom support are provided for students with special academic and social-emotional needs.
Science
PJA’s science program encourages students to be young inventors, researchers and explorers. A fundamental goal of the science program is to enhance children's understanding of basic scientific knowledge, concepts, and process skills (observation, classification, measurement, experimentation, interpretation, and prediction).
Our science curriculum brings together a physical/earth science sequence and life/earth science sequence. Children develop scientific literacy by acquiring basic knowledge, developing scientific skills and learning to appreciate science and the natural world.
In the lower grades, science activities are based in the classroom; in the upper grades, students perform more complex studies in the science lab. Field trips supplement school instruction at and students attend extracurricular science camps and outdoor schools.
Social Studies
In the Lower School, students study self, family and community, incorporating Jewish cultural traditions. >>Students then progress to the study of the larger communities, in which they live, including local, American and world cultures. The curriculum emphasizes critical thinking skills and current events. The integration of reading, writing and oral communication skills is used to develop an understanding of the diversity of the world.
Return to top of page.
Spanish
Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students have the opportunity to study Spanish in a course of study approximately equivalent to first year high school. Art, music, geography and cultural components round out the curriculum.
Technology
Technology is a part of the daily experience at PJA. In grades 3-5, children begin using the technology lab to work on projects for class. With guidance from their teachers, they learn computer skills easily and naturally through their work on these projects. In the upper grades, students have supervised access to the technology lab for research project preparation and presentations.
Return to top of page.
