/ Academics / Student Life
Hillel Torah is proud to offer rewarding programming to enrich our classroom work, encourage expression, and promote a healthy lifestyle. Through our specials, technological tools, middle school choice time, athletics, and afterschool programs, we engage learners to think, move and get creative.
At Hillel Torah, technology is a tool to extend, enrich, and support our students’ learning in all aspects of their dual curriculum.
Technology expands the learning experience of every student, by creating a rich learning environment, enhancing student engagement, and developing student problem-solving skills both collaboratively and individually. We strive to integrate technology into the curriculum in ways that will address students’ individual needs, developmental levels, and learning styles. Students and staff use technology to positively affect the learning of our students and enrich instruction in meaningful ways.
Our instructional technology practice is founded on the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) Future-Ready Technology Standards. These standards focus on enabling students to be:
To help students succeed, Hillel Torah students and teachers have access to the latest tools. We have a 1:1 device program that gives every student in grades K-8 access to a device to aid and enhance their learning. Our integration of educational technology offers students opportunities for higher levels of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and application of their learning. Along with the 1:1 device program, Hillel Torah also makes use of many technology resources including:
The Hillel Torah Library consists of over 15,000 titles in two extensive book collections, the Philip A. Newberger Memorial Library of Judaica and the John Hanus Library of General Studies. Students, staff, and parents make use of our resources, including books in both English and Hebrew.
Beginning in kindergarten up through the 4th grade, classes visit our library weekly in order to learn to appreciate a variety of literature and to select books for at-home enjoyment. The children delve into diverse themes through the texts we read together, discovering the distinctiveness of different genres, and discuss elements of a story, such as character, setting, problems, and resolutions. The students explore the styles of age-appropriate authors at every grade level. The library program provides opportunities for the children to learn library and information skills. Mastering these skills enables the students to function in our library—and any library!
Middle school students use our library to check out Judaic and secular leisure reading materials. Students may also select books from our extensive Ivrit collection to enhance their Hebrew language proficiency.
The Hillel Torah library depends on donations to keep our collection up to date. Parents or families can donate funds to purchase books to be used as centerpieces at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, or to be dedicated in honor of your child’s birthday. For a minimum of $18, a book will be purchased with a bookplate affixed. Library Fund cards are also available for $5 each to mark occasions such as s’machot or memorials.
Physical Education at Hillel Torah actively engages children in various moderate to vigorous physical activities to improve and/or maintain their physical health and well being. Children are encouraged to apply the skills and knowledge they acquire during class and to seek opportunities to be active outside of school as part of a healthy lifestyle. Instructional units are planned to develop motor, personal, and social skills. We strive to make sure that every child feels successful every time he/she has gym, and leaves class eager for more physical challenges. Our classes are safe, enjoyable, active and developmentally appropriate.
Our Physical Education programming is paramount for students to learn to incorporate a healthy and active lifestyle. We work and play developing coordination and motor skills, movement knowledge and social skills in a fun and interactive environment. All of our students are building a variety of basic movement and manipulations to build confidence and skills to become a team-player at developmentally appropriate levels.
Our students develop the ability to get along with peers in a movement environment including sharing equipment, employing the ‘golden rule of competition’ – being a good sport and learning to demonstrate cooperative behavior.
Our classes are structured to include a warm-up activity with a transition to the main activity followed by a cool down period. Students will also learn how to care for equipment by becoming helpers that both setup and clear equipment from the gym.
We are proud to provide a safe and supportive learning environment where our children incorporate movement skills and practice positive social interactions. Come watch us in action!
Hillel Torah is proud to offer The “Names, Not Numbers” program each year to our 8th grade students. This program transforms the teachings of the Holocaust by taking it beyond traditional classroom walls and turning it into an interactive, creative and empowering educational lesson with students. Students learn about the Holocaust from those who experienced it, thus preserving survivors’ stories for future generations. This educational project gives the students a chance to be inspired and come face to face with people who are bona fide heroes. At the same time, they also form intergenerational friendships with their interview subjects.
Our 8th grade students look so forward to their participation in this powerful and inspiring oral history film project. After thorough immersion in Holocaust history, together with videography and interview training, students conduct, film and edit interviews with Holocaust survivors. The program culminates with a community-wide premiere screening of the film. This multi-layered project connects students with our history and provides them with the rare opportunity to bond with a survivor and to experience their own personal journeys of discovery.
We believe in challenging our students to always achieve new heights in all areas of learning. Offering participation in our optional Chidon HaTanach program allows our Torah learners to develop new skills, knowledge and discipline in all areas of Tanach.
The program provides 7th and 8th grade students with the opportunity to participate in an exciting Torah course and to develop both great Tanach knowledge, as well as life-long independent study skills. The Chidon is a demanding course of study that helps develop our students’ stamina and discipline. It requires long term motivation and commitment. Our Chidon course culminates with qualifying and competing on local and national levels. Many of our 7th and 8th grade students have elected to rise to the challenge, qualifying for the national competition in New York. We are also very proud to have had a winner of the international Chidon HaTanach finals in Israel, a major Tanach accomplishment recognized around the world.
Anyone who has walked our halls would see that art and expression are an integral part of our every day. Our formal art classes offer opportunities for creativity, art appreciation and connection to holidays and learning.
Art outside the classroom is constantly expressed all over our building. Our Bnot Sherut take lead on many projects decorating our hallways and classrooms in the most spectacular ways, sharing projects from our students.
Come and walk our building anytime to really understand the beauty of artistic expression at Hillel Torah.
Founded by Rifka and Daniel Weiss, the Emuna Shir Weiss z”l Chesed Program allows all our students to be engaged in age-appropriate chesed throughout the year. Students create tzedaka campaigns, visit the elderly and the blind, help feed the hungry and develop meaningful relationships with special needs children throughout our community.
The Emuna Shir Weiss z”l Tehilotai project gives 8th grade girls the opportunity to develop a deep connection and personal understanding of the power of Tehillim. Through extensive study and research, the girls create a beautiful book with their own reflections and illustrations of their personal chapters.
Our robust schedule of afterschool activities provides students with a wide range of outlets to express their creativity, pursue their personal interests and build self-confidence.
Basketball Teams
The afterschool basketball program helps build confidence and self-esteem. Players learn how to work together as a team and gain a working knowledge of organized basketball and improve their skills.
Junior Botball
Students learn the basics of robotics and coding, then work as a team to design, build, and code a self-drining robot.
Martial Arts
Promotes strength, flexiblity, and self control. The goal is for students to gain better control of their body and mind in a fun, disciplined environment.
Chess
Students develop critical thinking skills which have been found to increase academic performance, motivation, social skills, and creativity.
Track
Training for a 5K race, students develop running skills, endurance, and core strengthening. They learn proper form for breathing and running while promoting health and wellness.
Art Club
Art Club fosters students imagination through choice-based art centers including: painiting, drawing, printing, ceramics, collage, construction and needlecrafts.
Musical Theater
Hillel Torah partners with an outside company creating an afterschool drama program challenging our students while supporting their artistic and personal growth. This exciting educational program offers instruction in drama, music, and movement, as well as basic stagecraft.