The OJCS Blogosphere

Friends, for those who are fasting and who are not, take a moment to read about the meaning and customs during the Fast - 9th of Av. May it be a reminder to all of us to focus on unconditional love as opposed to senseless hatred. ...

Shalom, שלום I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. I look forward to meeting all of you at the beginning of the school year. Enjoy the rest of your summer vacation....

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to summer break! I just want to post a list that Brigitte and I created with a few different science books that may interest your children over the summer! Don't forget, you can always use the AR Book Finder... that we .

Shalom, What a great year we had in kitah hey together! Wishing you all a very relaxing summer! Here are a couple of Quizlets your kids can use to practise some of the Hebrew vocabulary we learned this year....

Shalom, Please take time over the summer to practise some of the vocabulary we learned this year in kitah bet. Here is a link to a few Quizlet activities the kids can do. https://quizlet.com/ca/412604472/verbs-for-summer-review-flash-cards/...

Last Friday, Grade 3 celebrated an early Shabbat with the residents of Hillel Lodge. The are no words to describe how amazing their tefillah has developed over the year! Well done Grade 3 we are so proud of your growth!

Morah Sigal has helpfully shared a variety of tools to help continue with the development of your hebrew skills. Please feel free to use any and all of the videos and documents shared. Any questions or queries, please feel free to email Morah Sigal...

Hi Grade 8's! Congratulations on your graduation. Here is a list of links to small "modules" to support and have a refresher before grade 9 in September, as well as some content to get you ready for grade 9 (pre-learning) Remember: if you need anything, have a question, or are stumped on something, I'm only an e-mail away!...

Here is a list of resources in Hebrew for extra review during the summer. Most of the resources are divided into different levels.  You can choose the level that fits you. 1)Worksheets -  - Level one- ...

Grade 3 have worked hard this year researching their roots and how far their roots stretch around the world. Here is the end result. We are so proud of their communication skills; from interviewing to presenting, in both English and Hebrew, their writing skills and the excellent use of technology. Wow! Look at how far they have come!

Over the summer, you may be looking for ‘Just Right’ books for your child to read. You can use the Zone of Proximal Development (which will be noted in your child’s report card as the reading range) to search for books through the Accelerated Reader Bookfinder site. Mrs. Thompson (from Grade 5) made a fantastic tutorial video to help walk you through the process. https://www.youtube.com/embed/5RLesnGqXyc...

I sit here at my desk, the day after the Annual General Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, reflecting on all the things that come with the end of June, and thinking about transitions; I've spent the first part of this week walking and running outside in the first summer weather, looking at social media posts with pictures of the OJCS graduating class enjoying a special trip together (likely their last meaningful experience as a class, other than their upcoming graduation ceremony), reading our former Board Chair's first Ottawa Jewish Bulletin column as Chair of the JFO Board, and reading our Head of School's blog from last week about faculty assignments for the next school year and all the planning to come while I think about my daughters, who are preparing to enter grade 2, junior kindergarten, and senior preschool, respectively.  It's impossible to think about transitioning INTO something without thinking about what came before, and with that lens in mind, I'm going to write a bit about what the Board has done this year AND what's to come (this is a very general outline; if you're planning on attending our OJCS AGM at the end of September, you will get a much richer report of Board activities over the past year). We're very proud of the school that the OJCS is becoming and of the strides that have been already made in this regard; while our administration and faculty deserve the vast majority of the credit for all of this change we as a Board are also proud of the behind-the-scenes work we've done to increase our reputation and to develop revenue streams that will carry us forward.  As the faculty and administration are innovating at an incredible pace to bring the OJCS to the cutting edge of education in Ottawa, we as a Board have been working on our own 'prototypes' for development and fundraising to keep pace with our changing donor landscape and our increasing enrolment (!).  It is very exciting for us to note that next year, 3 of the lower school grades will have 2 classes!! This is in stark contrast to last year, when NO grades had a high enough enrolment to necessitate 2 classes, and even this year, when there was only 1 grade in this situation....

Shalom parents, In class we are busy wrapping up the year and getting our goodbyes ready. Tomorrow is a busy day! It is our last dress down day and everyone is invited to wear their Raptors gear. It is the grade 8 vs. faculty softball game! Make sure to send hats and sunscreen. We are receiving our yearbooks and getting a chance to sign them. We are saying goodbye to our amazing Shinshinim, Inbar and LIam. AND you are all invited to our grades K-5 Kabbalat Shabbat service at 3:05! Hope to see you there!...

Shalom parents, In class we are busy wrapping up the year and getting our goodbyes ready. Tomorrow is a busy day! It is our last dress down day and everyone is invited to wear their Raptors gear. It is the grade 8 vs. faculty softball game! Make sure to send hats and sunscreen. We are receiving our yearbooks and getting a chance to sign them. We are saying goodbye to our amazing Shinshinim, Inbar and LIam. AND you are all invited to our grades K-5 Kabbalat Shabbat service at 3:05! Hope to see you there!...

Over the summer, you may be looking for 'Just Right' books for your child to read. You can use the Zone of Proximal Development (which will be noted in your child's report card as the reading range) to search for books through the Accelerated Reader Bookfinder... site. 

Shalom parents, In class we are busy wrapping up the year and getting our goodbyes ready. Tomorrow is a busy day! It is our last dress down day and everyone is invited to wear their Raptors gear. It is the grade 8 vs. faculty softball game! We are receiving our yearbooks and getting a chance to sign them. We are saying goodbye to our amazing Shinshinim, Inbar and LIam. AND you are all invited to our grades K-5 Kabbalat Shabbat service! Hope to see you there!...

In preparation for saying goodbye to our wonderful Shinshinim, we will be having a special assembly on Friday. The yelladim have been practicing a special song which they will sing to them, together with the rest of the student body. If you wish to practice at home, this is the song: Here are the lyrics in Hebrew and transliterated:...

Wow!  The end is so near!  But every end is also a new begining... and this is what our song this week is all about. ...

Today, Ayala and her friends enjoyed a magical afternoon of Harry Potter with Miss M. Ayala won the prize at the teacher raffle and chose 4 friends to join her. Students arrived to footprints and a version of Marauders Map where they had to solemnly swear they were up to no good… Miss M had organised lots of mischief!!! Dragon Eggs needed to be decorated, selfies with favourite books and wands to be made; plus many treats from (Kosher!) Honeydukes to be enjoyed. With the Chamber of Secrets playing in the background, Ayala and friends laughed and chatted all afternoon and went home with air of magic surrounding them… ...

As was posted in the Hadashot last week...this is just an extra reminder that the whole school will be treated to a Pizza Lunch tomorrow for completing the School Reading Challenge.  Please send a snack and if you wish, you may send an extra lunch as well.

We will be saying goodbye to our wonderful shinshinim at an assembly on June 21st. Please practise this song at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HY6MofLKo0

As we the end of the school year approaches, it is important to think about all of the memories, successes, and learning experiences that have occurred. Please respond to the following ten questions in complete sentences.  [embeddoc url="https://ojcsjewishstudies.edublogs.org/files/2019/06/Grade-6-Jewish-Studies-Reflection-1eiss6g-1kjuai2.docx" download="all" viewer="google" ]...

Hello Grade 3 and parents, I have attached a copy of the song we are learning in class. Some students mentioned that they would like to practise at home so here is the song and the the lyrics. Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask Morah Sigal....

Our Grade 7's presented their Haifa's pollution project! The goal of this project was to see if the students could come up with a solution to the pollution problem in Haifa! The students have worked very hard in the past few months to come up with the following: Here is our Grade 7's Haifa's Pollution Project slides: [embeddoc url="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17N-XldbzrcRwz4M_Cxffmq5QGPkuRDL_rS8hLd5jEFg/edit#slide=id.g5a840467d9_0_0" download="all" viewer="google" ]

This week we are learning a goodbye song for our wonderful Shinshinim. shhhhh... it is a secret....