Religious School
Guiding Principles • Our Curriculum • Our Team • Enrollment

Temple Ner Shalom’s Religious School is informed by the following guiding principles:

At TNS, we approach our children not as empty vessels to be filled, but rather as fires to be kindled.

• At the TNS Religious School, we believe it is our responsibility to help each student discover relevance and meaning within our tradition. We have structured the program so that as our students learn our history and traditions, they will come to understand what being Jewish means to them here and now. 
• At the TNS Religious School, questions are more important that answers, curiosity is cultivated, and passionate engagement is consistently modeled.
• At the TNS Religious School, we affirm that each student houses a divine spark, and we honor the many learning styles that meet in our classrooms. 

At TNS, we know that encounters with Judaism must be authentic and meaningful in order for those encounters to be impactful and influential.

• Therefore, at TNS Religious School, we study Hebrew both in – and away from – written texts, focusing not just on decoding, but also on meaning. 
• At the TNS Religious School, we study holidays as they arise each year, not in a “unit”, isolated from the time and place in which those holidays have the most resonance. 
• At the TNS Religious School, we do not just study tefilah (prayer), we come together as a community in prayer each week, learning prayers by becoming prayers.

At TNS, we fundamentally believe that Judaism, its traditions, and its culture can be spiritually engaging, challenging, and stimulating, regardless of age.

• We have carefully structured our program so that each year, our students study Tanach (Bible), Jewish history, tefilah (prayer), holidays, mitzvot (sacred connections), Jewish ethics, Israel, Hebrew language, and Jewish culture in learner-centered, developmentally appropriate ways.
• At the TNS Religious School, our curriculum spirals, so that students approach these core curricular components in new ways each year to deepen and broaden their understanding as they mature.
• At the TNS Religious School, we aim to develop lifelong learners – both of our children and their parents. We know that family involvement is essential to a successful Jewish education, so parents are welcome at various points during the school day and learn alongside their children at scheduled Family Programs throughout the year. 

At TNS, we believe that multi-age groupings provide important opportunities for children to learn from each other, develop mutual respect, and build a whole school community.

• Children are stimulated socially and intellectually through interaction with children of different ages. The TNS Religious School is designed so that our students learn and grow together in multi-age classes. Our youngest students, ages 3-5, participate in the Gan Zikukin (Fireworks) program. Students in grades K-2 learn together in the three-year curriculum of our Nitzotzot (Sparks) program, and students in grades 3-7 experience our four-year Shalhavot (Flames) program. Students in grades 8-12 participate working as Madrichim (Teachers’ Assistants).
• Through multi-age classes and a focus on cooperative learning school-wide, children develop leadership, followership, and communication skills they can use beyond our school grounds. 
• At the TNS Religious School, students will experience the joy of Jewish living and understand what it means to be a part of a kehillah kedosha, a holy community. 

We proudly follow the guidelines for religious schools from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.