First grade has been studying animals and animal adaptations in science, so Alfa the security dog stopped by! They are also learning about one-syllable words that end with a double letter, so they decided to BLESS Alfa!
Students got to ask about Alfa's training, how she's taken care of, and how to treat a working dog respectfully. We're grateful to Alfa and her handler for coming by and to the security team that helps keep our campus safe.
Calling all alumni!
🏀 Join us for our third annual Alumni Vs. Students Basketball Game! Come to play or cheer on your old classmates — we look forward to reconnecting over a friendly game and dinner on Thursday, December 18.
Register at forms.gle/MqpiAsmrhuY6xezH8 and unleash your Lion spirit!
From chariot races to robot sports and jousting, students dive into hands-on challenges each week in the Exploration Hour robotics elective.
Exploration Hour opens doors for every learner to try something new, discover new skills, and uncover what inspires them.
Our fifth graders are planning something important ... a FOOD DRIVE to support the PRISM Golden Valley, MN Marketplace Food Shelf! If you are able, please help our fifth graders make a difference — bring non-expired, non-perishable food items to the Smith Jewish Academy main office, and we will get them to PRISM.
The food drive will run through December 18 with a special focus each week:
🐶 Week 1 (December 1-5): Breakfast Food and Pet Food
🥫 Week 2 (December 8-12): Lunch Food and Snack Food
🍝 Week 3 (December 15-18): Dinner Food and Dessert Food
The food drive will run through December 18 with a special focus each week:
🐶 Week 1 (December 1-5): Breakfast Food and Pet Food
🥫 Week 2 (December 8-12): Lunch Food and Snack Food
🍝 Week 3 (December 15-18): Dinner Food and Dessert Food
In our latest issue of Inside the Pride you'll read about the third grade poetry unit and an award-winning poem, Dr. Dan's message about AI in the classroom, our Israel connections, and a beautiful tribute to Bernie Goldblatt (z"l). Plus upcoming events and alumni news!
📰 Check out Issue 4 right here on our website: smithja.org/page/inside-the-pride
📰 Check out Issue 4 right here on our website: smithja.org/page/inside-the-pride
Monday at Smith Jewish Academy could best be described as a day of community and gratitude! Ahead of Yom Dor l'Dor, students participated in rotations, including creating gratitude art, making cards, and doing STEM activities. Kindergartners spent time with their eighth grade buddies, and fifth grade even used the time to plan a food drive!
It was a busy, meaningful day, and we at Smith Jewish Academy wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, full of gratitude and love.
Grandparents lay a family foundation; we lay an academic foundation. And together, we lay the foundation for the vibrant, values-driven community that surrounds our children every day but especially today, Yom Dor l’Dor — our grandparents and special persons day!
Here are just a few of the special guests who joined us today.
#smithja
Here are just a few of the special guests who joined us today.
#smithja
Shabbat shalom from Smith Jewish Academy!
It's Give to the Max Day, Minnesota's annual day of giving!
Please consider being a part of Harold and Mickey Smith Jewish Academy's impact.
At Smith Jewish Academy, we believe education is both intellectually rigorous and deeply meaningful — engaging students through an integrated curriculum that fosters academic excellence and Jewish identity. For over 40 years, our dual curriculum has immersed students in rich general and Jewish studies, all within a supportive community rooted in shared values. During their most formative years, students are nurtured as critical thinkers, encouraged to grow as leaders, and celebrated for their individuality.
Contribute through Smith's secure portal: smithja.org/o/sja/page/ways-to-give
Thank you for your generosity and support!
Please consider being a part of Harold and Mickey Smith Jewish Academy's impact.
At Smith Jewish Academy, we believe education is both intellectually rigorous and deeply meaningful — engaging students through an integrated curriculum that fosters academic excellence and Jewish identity. For over 40 years, our dual curriculum has immersed students in rich general and Jewish studies, all within a supportive community rooted in shared values. During their most formative years, students are nurtured as critical thinkers, encouraged to grow as leaders, and celebrated for their individuality.
Contribute through Smith's secure portal: smithja.org/o/sja/page/ways-to-give
Thank you for your generosity and support!
Each year, sixth grade makes their own talitot (prayer shawls) with imagery meaningful to them. As they begin the project, students are planning the artwork for the four corners of the talit.
This months-long project brings together the creative arts, Jewish studies, and the students’ personal spiritual journeys.
This months-long project brings together the creative arts, Jewish studies, and the students’ personal spiritual journeys.
We're seeing double! With a fun variety of materials and shapes, kindergarten created self portraits.
With this part of our art program, young students build fine motor skills while exploring how they see themselves, celebrating their unique features, and developing confidence in expressing who they are.
With this part of our art program, young students build fine motor skills while exploring how they see themselves, celebrating their unique features, and developing confidence in expressing who they are.
📖 Sixth grade is learning to navigate the Tanakh (Jewish Bible)! 📖
As a multidenominational school, our Tanakh and Text curriculum acknowledges and supports multiple paths to engage with, understand, and apply the Mikra's lessons.
As a multidenominational school, our Tanakh and Text curriculum acknowledges and supports multiple paths to engage with, understand, and apply the Mikra's lessons.
Last school year, Sylvia R. wrote a poem in her third grade class that inspired a St. Louis Park judge panel and now inspires passersby daily!
Her poem was selected for the St. Louis Park Sidewalk Poetry Program and you can see it on Cedar Lake Road, in front of Park Spanish Immersion, where it's engraved in the sidewalk for all to see!
Yasher koach, Sylvia!
🌼🌷🌺🌹🌸
Untitled (Birds fly high)
By Sylvia R.
Birds fly high
Flowers bloom low,
Some grow fast
Others grow slow,
You may be happy
I’ll be blue,
I love me for me
But most importantly,
I love you for you.
Mensch alert! Some of our middle schoolers helped our campus neighbor Minnesota JCC Sabes Center load over 275 pounds of food for donation in the community.
And you can be a mensch too! Both the Minneapolis and St. Paul JCC campuses are still accepting nonperishable, nonexpired food items through the end of the month. Donations will go to STEP: St. Louis Park Emergency Program and Neighborhood House in St. Paul.
And you can be a mensch too! Both the Minneapolis and St. Paul JCC campuses are still accepting nonperishable, nonexpired food items through the end of the month. Donations will go to STEP: St. Louis Park Emergency Program and Neighborhood House in St. Paul.
🇺🇸 Tag a Hero! 🇺🇸
Happy Veterans Day! We honored the veterans in our community yesterday at All-School T’filah, and now we invite you to join us in gratitude for those who have served our country. Head over to our Facebook or Instagram and tag a veteran in the comments and tell us what makes them special!
Happy Veterans Day! We honored the veterans in our community yesterday at All-School T’filah, and now we invite you to join us in gratitude for those who have served our country. Head over to our Facebook or Instagram and tag a veteran in the comments and tell us what makes them special!
Join Dr. Dan Ahlstrom and Rabbi Jeffrey Schein — SJA grandparent and author of L'Dor Va-Dor in a Digital Age: An Interactive Guide to Future Thought and Creative Practice — to explore the challenges and opportunities new technologies bring to Jewish education.
🕑 2-3 p.m.
🗓 Thursday, November 13
🏫 Ben and Bernice Fiterman Beit K'neset at Smith Jewish Academy
____
Deep Dives With Dr. Dan and Friends are a regular opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with school leadership. Each month, the Deep Dives will explore behind-the-scenes topics of interest to families and community members who are passionate about Jewish education. These gatherings are a chance to connect, ask questions, and gain a deeper understanding of life at Smith Jewish Academy.
🕑 2-3 p.m.
🗓 Thursday, November 13
🏫 Ben and Bernice Fiterman Beit K'neset at Smith Jewish Academy
____
Deep Dives With Dr. Dan and Friends are a regular opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with school leadership. Each month, the Deep Dives will explore behind-the-scenes topics of interest to families and community members who are passionate about Jewish education. These gatherings are a chance to connect, ask questions, and gain a deeper understanding of life at Smith Jewish Academy.
Last Friday at Kabbalat Shabbat, first grade performed a play about Parashat Lekh-Lekha. They incorporated math (6-7!) and what they would bring from Haran to Canaan.
Shabbat shalom!
Shabbat shalom!
Our Smith community leads by example and lives our values: A group of SJA parents are exemplifying our values, learning and volunteering on the Minneapolis Jewish Federation Tikvatenu 4 mission trip to Israel. Here, they are volunteering in the orchards of Kibbutz Holit, a community that lost 15 members on October 7, 2023.
Am Yisrael chai 🇮🇱
Am Yisrael chai 🇮🇱
"Rabbi Yitzchak said: One may only appoint a leader over a community if he consults with the community and they agree to the appointment" (B’rakhot 55a).
Last year our students participated in Minnesota Students Voting to learn about and participate in the electoral process. They even voted on a referendum to determine which charity we should give our tz'dakah money to!
We encourage all eligible voters to enact the Jewish values and American democratic principles we teach at Smith Jewish Academy and vote. 🇺🇸
For information on where/how to vote, go to https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/election-day-voting
Last year our students participated in Minnesota Students Voting to learn about and participate in the electoral process. They even voted on a referendum to determine which charity we should give our tz'dakah money to!
We encourage all eligible voters to enact the Jewish values and American democratic principles we teach at Smith Jewish Academy and vote. 🇺🇸
For information on where/how to vote, go to https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/election-day-voting
What a way to kick off the Smith Jewish Academy speaker series, Or l'Derekh: Ideas That Illuminate!
Thanks to all who came to share in dialogue, community, and education as we together illuminate the path forward for Jewish education.
A special thank you to our Series Sponsors Nancy & Neil Fink and Caren Page & Bruce Fink as well as to Kim Lear for leading such an engaging and thought-provoking conversation — and for generously donating her speaker fee back to Smith Jewish Academy.
Thanks to all who came to share in dialogue, community, and education as we together illuminate the path forward for Jewish education.
A special thank you to our Series Sponsors Nancy & Neil Fink and Caren Page & Bruce Fink as well as to Kim Lear for leading such an engaging and thought-provoking conversation — and for generously donating her speaker fee back to Smith Jewish Academy.
