Grade Seven

On Tuesday evening, students in Grade 7 become engaged at an adult level of learning and discussion. Each week the students will have dinner together in Ehrenfried Hall, building a strong community of lifelong friends. Our high school teachers this year include Jessica Lowenthal and Matt Hoffman. Jessica is pursuing an MBA/Masters of Arts at Brandeis University, while Matt is a teaching veteran whose dynamic personality infuses life into every classroom session. For their core curriculum, seventh graders will study American Jewish history. Literacy and public service played a huge role in the growth of immigrant Jews in America. As the curriculum unfolds, students will explore literacy and public service and how it has evolved over the ages. As part of the curriculum, we will be forming a partnership with the West End House in Allston; a boys’ and girls’ club located only a few miles from the Temple. Once a month, Temple Sinai’s seventh graders will be visiting the West End House to serve as reading buddies to the younger children there. These monthly visits, beginning in October, will take place on a Tuesday afternoon, from 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. If students so choose, they may volunteer twice a month. In addition to their core curriculum, seventh graders will have a choice of two electives. In the past, we’ve offered classes in Torah, Israel, Hot Topics in Judaism, current events, Jewish short stories, mysticism and more. In our Tuesday evening program, we create classes based on the feedback of our student participants. This trimester, the choices are “Conversational Hebrew,” “Shopping for God,” and “Israeli Current Events.”