At Golda Och Academy we take pride in our creative approach to integrating informal and formal education. Every school year includes holiday celebrations, special events and projects, trips and excursions and grade-specific milestone events. In addition, science fairs and math fairs, our school-wide art show, biography and authors’ days and the famous “state report” research project all complement our program and help introduce our students to academic skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
Excursions and Trips
Off-site events are both enjoyable and serve to extend and enrich our curriculum. In recent years, we have taken students off-campus for Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) experiences – opportunities for the children to give back to the community. Our students have helped lead community seders, brought the joy of Shabbat and holidays to senior adult residential and nursing facilities and visited Holocaust survivors.
We also take our students to see cultural and artistic performances in a wide variety of venues. We take advantage of our school’s proximity to New York City where unique opportunities are available.
School Assemblies and Special Projects
At interactive school assemblies, our students have explored the human body from the inside out, laughed at the antics of Jewish holiday puppets, met historical figures and recreated 18th century colonial life. Through drama, projects, dance and many other avenues, our students have traveled with the first 23 Jews who arrived in New Amsterdam and even ridden the bus with Rosa Parks. A school assembly with our students was featured in the Academy Award nominated film, Sister Rose’s Passion, about Sister Rose Thering’s life mission of tolerance and Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Students from our school joined Jewish soul singer Neshama Carlebach and appear on her recent CD. Each year, we seek and present these types of evocative and compelling programs.
Holidays of Joy
There’s no simhah like a Golda Och Academy simhah! Hagim (holidays) at our school provide a wonderful affirmation of our Jewish heritage — and they are just plain fun. Each holiday is celebrated both as part of our living tradition and through new modern forms. From Tashlikh to Shavuot, making Shofarot to model Seder and much loved Lag Ba’omer picnics and field days, the Jewish year at our school is a unique cycle of celebration.
Milestone Events
The power of Judaism to inspire and renew is a function of its ability to infuse life with joy, meaning and beauty. Every child in the school experiences a cycle of exciting and interactive Jewish milestone events which both enrich their knowledge and inspire their souls. Each grade’s focus is different, from Hanukkah and Pesah Seders in the early childhood program to the classic Siddur and Humash presentations in the younger grades. For our older students, many events such as the Melavah Malkah/Havdalah workshop, Siyum Bereishit and the Moving Up (to Middle School) Celebration recognize and commemorate growing older and becoming more independent. Many of these events include family education dimensions which provide our parents with the joy of discovery with their children.
