Aleph Bet Jewish Day School

Welcome

Shalom! Aleph Bet Jewish Day School is often described as a tiny treasure within the area's private school community. Located not far from the center of Annapolis, for over two decades Aleph Bet has been teaching writing and respect, vocabulary and values to elementary school children from all over Anne Arundel County. The texts and traditions of Judaism and interwoven with twenty-first century skills and information in an academic program that has earned certification from the Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS) and approval by the Maryland State Department of Education.

Small classes and caring, qualified teachers produce graduates who are compassionate, competent, and confident - ready to meet the challenges of secondary school and to contribute to their communities.

To learn more about Aleph Bet or to schedule a personal tour, contact our Head, Nan Jarashow at 410-263-9044 or info@alephbet.org.

WHAT'S
NEW

Planting Day

On a chilly gray Sunday at the beginning of October, about three dozen students, parents, faculty, and trustees donned boots and gloves to make the property around Aleph Bet more beautiful – and to improve the health of local waterways. Thanks to a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, acquired with assistance from the Spa Creek Conservancy, we had about 500 plants as well as a number of shrubs and trees to plant. Horticulturists and landscape architects with the Conservancy situated the plants, and the Aleph Bet team got to work, digging holes and settling the plants into them. After about four hours, several areas were sprouting with grasses, irises, hostas, and a host of other native plants. The rain gardens will process runoff from the building and from neighboring Spa Road and will serve as an outdoor classroom for science classes studying plants, wetlands, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Shofar Factory

The fifth graders heard the piercing blast of the shofar every morning through the month of Elul, but until September 27, many had never tried to blow one. On that Tuesday, Rabbi Nachum Light of Anne Arundel Chabad visited with his shofar factory. The students reviewed traditional Jewish laws for the kinds of animals whose horns can be used. Then each was given a horn to sand, wash, and polish. When they were finished, it was time to practice. And what marvelous music they made!

A Mezuzah Goes
Up!

Last spring Aleph Bet students crafted uniquely beautiful mezuzot for our new building. On September 13 we dedicated the first of many that will hang at the doorways of our home. With the appropriate blessing, we set it next to the main entrance of the school. In the days ahead, we'll continue to hang the students' creations until each doorway has a mezuzah.

ACCREDITATION

ALUMNI

Former Aleph Bet student defers college to live and teach in Nepal

WHAT'S
HAPPENING

Thanksgiving

We began school Tuesday in the spirit of Thanksgiving - substituting the text of Giving Thanks-a series of Native American morning blessings - for Birchot haShachar, the traditional morning blessings in our siddur. Sam Lebowitz, Alec Lusby, and Caraline Miller - sixth grade alumni who were named to the Principal's Honor Roll at Annapolis Middle School (IB Middle Years program) - served as captains for the fifth grade cooking teams and then set the banquet tables in festive colors. There was a wonderful feast at noon, with delicious food prepared by the classes, and delightful entertainment. The kindergartners presented that perennial favorite, "Five Fat Turkeys," to get us in the mood. So many parents sent in ingredients and helped with cooking, serving, and cleanup - What a wonderful community effort!

Fifth Graders Head
to Jug Bay

As part of a science unit on Wetlands, our fifth graders will spend a day in October at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. A stroll along the boardwalk will familiarize them with plants and animals of the low marsh, high marsh, and swampland. The students will test water quality, checking pH and turbidity, measures of how hospitable the stream is to essential submerged aquatic vegetation. In a vernal pool, a woodland area that's under water only during spring rains, they'll take soil samples to compare wetland and upland soils and to determine the border of the wetland. The class is looking forward to damp feet and a great day!

Siddur ceremony

Congratulations and Mazal Tov to our first graders who received their personal siddurim recently. They were welcomed by the upper school during daily tefillah proudly displaying their very own prayerbooks.

CALENDAR

LINKS

Engrave a brick program

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