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Specials

Our students have the opportunity to participate in several special subjects outside their classrooms: Art, Library/Technology, Music, PE, and Gardening. All of our special subjects have the same goal: to enrich students’ lives by helping them to make connections with one another and across the curriculum and develop different avenues of self-expression, while instilling a sense of fun.

Our Arts program fosters artistic expression and creativity using a variety of media: painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and sculpture. Our Library/Technology program gives students the skills to be critical consumers of information and literature, helping them to become proficient in 21st century skills that will help them to present their own ideas creatively and effectively.

The Music program allows students to develop a basic musical vocabulary such as pitch, melody, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics. Through an exploration of various musical genres from Classical to Jazz to Hip Hop (and everything in between), students are encouraged to be creative and find their groove. Our annual Hebrew songfest, Zimriyah, is one of the most hotly anticipated events of the school year!

Physical Education provides students with an outlet for physical, social, and recreational development. Every student strives for personal improvement, with an emphasis on fun, teamwork, and skill building. Good sportsmanship is far more important than athletic prowess; every class ends with handshakes and positive affirmations of achievements.

The JCDSRI Garden Education Program instills in students a love of working with the land, promotes a lifelong connection to the earth, and helps build future environmental stewards. All of the other disciplines come to life in the garden: scientific observations and discoveries, measurement, inspiration for creative writing and art, etc. Each grade has its own plot to manage and care for throughout the year, and they harvest the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor in the spring, summer, and fall. Every class composts to minimize trash and to enrich our soil.