3 minute read
Another Year in the Books for Jewish Preschool on Sardis
August 2023
By Amy Schapiro
The Jewish Preschool on Sardis (JPS) had another exciting school year packed full of activities and good times. We started out with a building full of returning families, new faces, excited teachers, and only a few tears (mainly from the parents) on the first day. We had over 80 children and 65 families in total trust us with their most prized possessions.
Our year was filled with many in-person activities with our students and parents. We danced every Friday during Shabbat welcome and became superstars when the Jewish Federation of Northern America requested to film a day at JPS, showing what a thriving Jewish community looks like. Our Shabbaton dinner for the 4s class was a wonderful event and showcased not only how fancy we can dress up, but also our love for tradition and Judaism. It was such a success, that we planned another Shabbaton for our alumni students. It was great to see how much they had grown not only in height, but also in experiences and knowledge.
The holidays this year were filled with sweet honey and apples during Rosh Hashanah, Shakes in the (Sukkah) Shack, spinning dreidels during the Hanukkah party, a fantastic Purim parade, a matzah bakery during Passover, and a very special field trip during Lag BaOmer that included “campfires” and smores!
We had a wonderful Grandparent’s Day that included handmade soaps and crafts with our special loved ones.
Not only did our students have activities to enjoy, but we also hosted a new event this year for the moms (sorry dads, we will get you next year). Our Mom’s Night Off event was filled with handmade cocktails, delicious food, DIY sugar scrubs, and shopping from vendors who are JPS moms as well as creative business superstars! We all had time to sip, schmooze, and shop - who wouldn’t love that?
We showered our amazing staff with wonderful gifts during teacher appreciation week. We had our very own JPS “baristas” (JPS PTO co-presidents, Amy & Erin) make iced coffees or teas to keep our teachers’ energy up on Monday. We then pampered them with manicures and a gift bag filled with beauty samples.
On Wednesday the teachers had a special catered lunch with a Mary Kay demonstration from a grandmother of a JPS student. Finally, we bombarded them with love letters from their students and opened a flower shop where each teacher could build their own bouquet of spring flowers to show how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication!
Lastly, we ended the year not saying goodbye, but saying we will see you again to our graduating class. The graduation theme was “Oh, the Places You’ll Go, All the Mitzvot You’ll Do” and we can’t wait to see how they will grow and build our community! JPS year 2022-23 we sure did love you, and we’re looking forward to more in 2023-2024.
