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President January 14, 2011
9 Shevat, 5771
As you know, Yeshivat Rambam’s Yeshivat Rambam must be restructured to
Candle Lighting: 4:48 PM
Executive Committee and Board of Directors survive.
Parshat Beshalach
has been intensely involved in a
Our hope had been to describe the
comprehensive assessment of Rambam’s
Board’s restructuring plans to a meeting of Dates & Times:
finances, operations, and academic
parents scheduled for Monday, January 17.
programming. The overarching goal of these January
That said, rumors, misinformation, and
painstaking efforts has been to assure
questions are creating a situation which does 13-19 HS Exams
students, parents, faculty and the
more to harm Yeshivat Rambam than help.
community at large that Yeshivat Rambam 15 Family Learning at 6:30 PM
The Board therefore decided that it is duty
continues to serve current and future 17 Faculty Meeting at 5:30 PM
bound, and serves the best interests of
enrollees. Now, as always, the mission is to Parent Body Meeting at 8:00 PM
students, parents, faculty and the
provide unparalleled academic and religious 20 No School - Grades 9-12
community, to pro‐actively announce the
training and guidance which enlightens, Noon Dismissal - Grades 6-8
highlights of the restructuring plan in this
enriches and expands opportunities for
letter to you. 21-28 Winter Break -NO SCHOOL
those who look to Yeshivat Rambam to fill a
critical role in the community’s total Please note, the January 17th 31 Classes resume
educational offer. meeting will be held as scheduled at 8:00 February
PM, and parents are urged to attend. Full
The Executive Committee was 2 NAEP test - 8th Grade
details will be shared and questions
tasked to recommend to Rambam’s Board
answered at that time. 3-6 Willner Basketball Tournament
and parent body a responsible course of
action best suited to ensuring Rambam’s Now to prepare you for the parent
future operations in light of current realities meeting, let me share the most critical
and historic decisions. information:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday Packet is the weekly newsletter of Yeshivat Rambam. Comments, questions, and subscriptions should be directed to:
6300 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215 • 410‐358‐6091 • www.yrambam.org • info@yrambam.org
Message from Abba David Poliakoff,
President (continued from page 1)
aggressive steps aimed at strengthening enrollment and community and to our families. In addition, at the
retention of students in its middle school (grade 8), the parents’ meeting, we will also discuss the following plans:
elementary, kindergarten and early childhood programs,
Sale of the Bnos building;
thus paving the way for this important community
institution to move forward on a solid foundation. A Entering into an occupancy arrangement for a new
comprehensive transition plan will be discussed in detail. campus for ECC and K‐5, with Middle School
continuing at Park Heights JCC;
Our responsibility as a Board of Directors is to set
Rambam on a course that ensures its viability. To do that, Restructuring and reorganizing the school, and
we must stop the losses, adopt for Rambam a responsible adding a new educational Head of School;
and achievable budget, and enable the school to continue
Adopting a revised, reduced tuition structure, new
on with its mission in an economically sustainable manner.
guidelines and a rate schedule which takes the current
Closing the high school should accomplish those
economy into account;
objectives, assuming enrollment in the lower schools is
maintained or increased. Establishing a Transition Team to assist High School
parents and students in transitioning for next year;
Rambam has a very strong program for ECC,
elementary and middle school, with well qualified Establishing a committee to assist High School faculty
professionals who are dedicated to providing the very best and administration with transitioning for next year;
education in lemudei kodesh secular studies and life skills to
Implementing new development plan and community
our children. This is where Rambam is positioned to grow
outreach campaign to stabilize and where possible to
and excel in the months ahead. We have a great program
increase enrollment given the institution’s
this year, and we will continue – and even better – our
strengthened financial position.
educational product can grow next year and in the years to
come. We look forward to discussing this further with
you at the parents’ meeting on January 17 at 8 PM.
We know this is very difficult news for many
students, parents, teachers, Rambam advocates and
supporters. For this reason we have set up a Transition Sincerely,
Committee that will be fully equipped to help parents and
students plan for next year. We are also planning the steps Abba David Poliakoff
for our 11th graders to complete their high school President
requirements this year. The Committee will meet with
parents after the parents’ meeting on January 17. We want
to help all of our parents, students and teachers cope with
this situation.
Shabbat shalom,
Rachel Rotenberg
Message from Rabbi Shmuel Feld, Elementary School Principal
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of a employ requires the students to assess which
conversation with Professor Marvin Fox, the Rabbinic Belief is associated with the contents of
academic who invented the field of Judaics in the each Mishnah. That way, the students are
United States universities in the 1950’s and 60’s. I frequently connecting their nascent relationships
asked him what he thought the central component with Hashem to their relationships with Halacha
of Jewish education should be. He responded that from the starting point of adult thinking.
students need to understand and believe Judaism
Additionally, this ameliorates two
was a result of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and a
frequent mistakes in Jewish Day Schools. One,
deep belief in Hashem by the Jewish people before
often the first deep thinking in a Jewish Day School
learning the minutia of the Law or the remainder of
that has a strong general studies program occurs
the Tanach. Professor Fox continued to explain that
outside of Judaics class. The Judaics thinking skills
without the fundamental underlining of the history
in those schools have to catch up. When this
and belief, the student would build a “castle in the
happens, the students regard for Judaic studies as
air,” a beautiful structure with no foundation in
rigorous is not helped. Two, often in a Jewish Day
faith and subject to the winds of change. One of the
School with a much stronger Judaic program, the
core issues in the Yeshivat Rambam Elementary
curriculum opts for a simplistic understanding of
School is the creation of a foundation in faith.
Hashem which does not challenge the
To that end, the Judaic curriculum has preadolescent mind. That level of adaptive
been tweaked this year to focus on some issues of thinking and resilience of faith is taught at Yeshivat
Hashem. The 4th and 5th grade students began the Rambam.
year with a unit discussing the Five Rabbinic
Shabbat shalom,
Beliefs. Beliefs are ideas that are a necessary base
for interpreting the world that are not always Rabbi Feld
provable. Those Rabbinic Beliefs are a summary of
Maimonides’ 13 Maminim, statements of faith as
follows:
Hashem Exists
Hashem Created the World from Nothing
Hashem is constantly involved in the World
The Torah is the Written and Oral Law
finished, there is a Minute of Mini‐cheering for everyone. museum. When we first walked into the building, we knew
that it was going to be a blast. There were planes overhead
and parts of planes that you could investigate. There were
In Writing, sentence framing is done in a similar
also hands‐on activities to do. There was an activity on air
manner. There are color‐coded pieces denoting each of the
and gravity for kids to learn about. A part of a plane had
parts of speech laid out on the tables, and each girl has a
been set up for kids to “fly.” I had so much fun with my
blank sentence frame. Once a sentence is written on the
classmates.
board, the girls scramble to select the ‘pieces’ and correctly
assemble them on their frames. If there is an error, an After what seemed a short time, we had to leave to
explanation and simple swap of a piece or two ‘fixes’ the our next adventure, the Natural History museum. Being a
group of girls, the first exhibit we saw was the Hope
problem. Another Mini Moment of cheer, and the pieces
Diamond. It was an exhilarating exhibit not just because of
are put away.
the gorgeous gem, but also because of the rocks and
minerals. There were different kinds of gems and a whole
And so goes the day. Each subject area is treated as
description on the stone itself. Then we headed downstairs
an opportunity to learn cooperatively (with classmates), gain
for an exhibit all about mammals. Even though mammals
confidence and competence by using M any are part of my everyday life, I found some things out that I
have never known. Then it was time for the eye popping, 3D
Manipulatives, and most importantly, find learning ‘fun.’ movie about the Grand Canyon. I thought it was going to be
about the History of the Canyon, but it was something a lot
Jeri Wilkins, General Studies Teacher more exciting. We went into the canyon and explored its
Second and Fourth Grade Girls natural being. When the movie was over, we had to go, but I
had an amazing time.
MSHS Girls Happenings, continued All school pictures that were ordered by the first
deadline have now been distributed. We are awaiting the
delivery of the later orders. If you have questions regarding
A big thank you goes to Mrs. Austen for planning the
your school picture orders, please e ‐ m a i l
whole trip and making it possible for everyone to go. I would
hefetzs@yrambam.org.
also like to thank my amazing chaperones Dr. Buck and Ms.
Medinets, for coming with us and also being a part of the fun. Back by popular demand ‐ the YR PaTA Mishloach
Manot Program. Our easy and convenient online ordering
Ronit Miller, Seventh Grade
system will be ready to take your order very soon. All
proceeds support the YR Scholarship Fund. Please see the flyer
Last Thursday, the Middle and High School girls took
in the FP for more information. If you have any questions and/
a trip to Washington D.C to explore the various museums in the
or would like to volunteer to help make this program a
Smithsonian. The 8th, 9th, and 10th grade girls got the chance to
success, please e‐mail pata@yrambam.org.
explore the U.S. History section. With a paper and a pencil, the
girls were on a mission to find artifacts that truly connected
with them. The girls explored exhibits about African
Americans, gowns worn by the First Ladies, Colonial houses,
what toys children used to play with, and even a display about
Jewish lives in America. As the girls wandered through the
museum, they were able to connect with historical artifacts such
as Abraham Lincoln’s hat and the flag waved over Ft.
McHenry. Everyone returned to school feeling accomplished
and that they had learned amazing amounts of material, but in
a way that was enjoyable.
Chavie Rothschild, Eighth Grade
PaTA Points
pata.yrambam.org/hotlunch
FEB/MARCH ORDER
DEADLINE:
January 25th
Send to a whole class for $25 each. Send to the whole list for $180.
Purim cards available for $2 each, or $3 mailed.
Reciprocity is available as well as package opt-out.