Learning for Life...

Our mission...The Hebrew Academy of Morris County maintains high standards of academic excellence and

nurtures students in an environment infused with the richness of Jewish life. The Academy

inspires intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and personal integrity enabling our students to emerge

as lifelong learners, compassionate individuals, and successful members of society who are rooted

in their heritage. As a community day school, The Academy welcomes families from a wide range

of Jewish backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of the American Jewish community today.

Our history...The Hebrew Academy first opened its doors in 1967, with eighteen students housed at

the Morristown Jewish Center. The Academy moved several times until 1980, when we proudly

opened our own facility at the school’s current location in Randolph.

Today, with more than 200 students from communities throughout Morris and Sussex

Counties, The Academy has become a vibrant center of Jewish life in Northwest New Jersey.

In all of our activities and initiatives, we nurture students to become lifelong learners. Indeed,

we are a school community committed to Learning for Life.

Explore the possibilities

A Note from the Head of School...

Teachers and school children...precious jewels of our community. At The Academy, our

passion is educating our children to prepare them for a lifetime of learning. Our school

celebrates academic excellence and the teaching of Jewish values.We develop both the

mind and soul.

From the Early Childhood Center to our eighth grade, our students live in an

environment that nurtures their creativity, individualism, and academic potential. The

school’s core principles of Academics,Values and Character are not only reinforced in

the classroom; they are also practiced in real life. Our students’ academic achievements

are intertwined with an understanding of tzedakah and engagement in community

service activities.

Our students score at the highest levels on standardized achievement tests. But our

goal is not to teach for the test. It is to teach for life.

MosheVaknin, Head of School

he Hebrew Academy of Morris County is one of the most affordableJewish day schools in the country. Our program, known as the BaseTuitionGrant, caps tuition for middle income families at affordable levels.Thisnationally recognized program is supported through a significant endowmentfrom the Paula and Jerry Gottesman Family Supporting Foundation.TheGottesmans are Hebrew Academy alumni parents and national day schoolleaders.Through this endowment, as well as throughThe Academy’sgenerous scholarship program, our school will remain affordable for familiestoday and for future generations.

A Community of Academic ExcellenceThe Academy’s reputation for academic excellence has been recognizedin numerous ways.We are a 2006 National Blue Ribbon School ofExcellence, which is an award given by the U.S. Department of Educationas part of a highly prestigious national competition. Blue Ribbon Schoolsdemonstrate consistently high test scores and high standards of academicexcellence. Our general studies curriculum is aligned with the NewJersey Core Curriculum, and the overwhelming majority of our studentsscore in the upper quartile on national standardized tests. Many ofour seventh and eighth graders are selected for the Johns HopkinsUniversity’s Center for TalentedYouth Talent Search Program. Oureighth graders are often chosen to participate in the National YoungLeaders State Conference.

A Community Rich in Values & VisionIt is our vision to deliver academic excellence and to provide anopportunity for children and families to explore their traditions andheritage in a supportive and challenging atmosphere.We connect ourstudents to the broader Jewish community and instill a love for and acommitment to the land of Israel.

Learning for Life:Affordable for all families...

T

“Educate a Child in the

way that he should go

and when he is old he

will not depart from it.”

Proverb 22 :6

Our core values are based on respect at all levels.The Academy...

• Supports the development of the whole child and the ability to develophis or her full potential.• Values initiative and individual responsibility.• Instills self-respect and a strong sense of responsibility in our students, both as Jewsand as members of the greater community in which we live.• Helps students and families to learn and practice what it means to look beyondtheir everyday lives and take part in creating a better world.

Our educational foundation is built on six pillars:

Community • Character • CurriculumCritical Thinking • Creativity • Continuity

ommunity...The Academy is a community day school that has had a presence in Morris County for forty years.

Our students become part of a warm, caring and nurturing school “family” that includes parents, faculty, grandparents,alumni families and the greater community. All members of this family work together with energy and passion tosuccessfully fulfill the school’s mission.

Our Academy community represents a powerful, loving model of partnership andcollaboration.We encourage and nurture family involvement and social activities outside ofschool. Students—and parents—develop life-long friendships that last well beyond eighthgrade graduation.

haracter...In all our efforts and initiatives, our goal is to develop independent, compassionate, and competent

learners with strong Jewish identities and a commitment to their heritage. The Academy is dedicated to thetimeless Jewish principle of Tikkun Olam—the imperative to “repair the world” in order to reflect the values ofjustice (tzedek), compassion (hesed), and peace (shalom). Our Tikkun Olam Club is an after-school program in

which Hebrew Academy students help bring smiles to the faces of the elderly residents of nursinghomes … to young children in a day care center … to soldiers in Iraq … and to so many others.We forge relationships to meet the needs of our community, both locally and in Israel, and we guideour students towards shaping a personal connection through their participation in tzedakah (charity).We nurture and guide our students so that they can make a positive difference in the world.

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“The world endures only

for the sake of the

breadth of the children....”

Babylonian Talmud Tractate

Shabbat 119B

urriculum...Our rigorous General Studies curriculum encompasses science, math, language arts,

and social studies.At the Middle School, the study of Spanish language is introduced. OurJudaic Studies curriculum intensifies the development of Hebrew language skills and the studyof ancient texts, as well as Jewish history and customs and ceremonies. Individualized programsare available for those students entering in later grades.

A bond with Israel is nurtured through instruction in Israeli history, the celebration of Israeli holidays,involvement in community projects, and weekly visits from Israeli students through the United Jewish Communitiesof MetroWest Israel Office.

Music, art and sports add texture and dimension to our academic curriculum.The Academy’smuch-acclaimed choir performs at school events and throughout our community — even at a minor leaguebaseball games! Our after-school sports teams compete against local private and public schools.

ritical Thinking...The Academy’s emphasis on the rigorous analysis of ancient texts and the

introduction of a second language helps our young scholars to develop critical thinkingand analytical and communications skills that carry over into other subjects, such as mathand science.Talmudic studies, in particular, teach logic and an analytical method thatstudents carry with them throughout their lives. Our integrated curriculum, taught byan inspired and gifted faculty, develops students’ critical thinking, self-confidence, andgood judgment.

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reativity...It is our role as educators and nurturers to recognize and cultivate the

innate creative gifts and talents in each of our students.We believe that nourishingthe whole child creates a well-rounded person who not only is creative but alsothinks creatively.

Our curriculum offers abundant opportunities in music and fine arts, including choir, cooking,drama, pottery, and other creative expressions. Our school plays and annual talent show encouragestudents to perform—building their self-esteem, confidence and sense of self.

ontinuity...From the Early Childhood Center right up through Grade 8,The Academy’s

curriculum, philosophy, and approach instill a profound understanding of thecontinuity of the Jewish people from antiquity to the present. Our teaching aboutthe Jewish past and present offers students and their families a strong and deepconnection to their heritage.

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“Learn from yesterday,

live for today,

hope for tomorrow.

The important thing

is not to stop questioning.”

- Albert Einstein

The Early Childhood Center:A World Designed for Pre-Schoolers

Serving children eighteen months through four-years-old, the Early Childhood Center (ECC)occupies a special place in the hallways and hearts of The Academy.

The ECC is a safe, challenging, nurturing world especially designed for a child’s first schoolexperiences. Our teachers educate the “whole child”— socially, emotionally, cognitively,spiritually and physically. We work hand in hand with families to ensure that our youngestlearners develop strong feelings of confidence and self-worth, the keys to success for thegrowing learner.

The Early Childhood Center’s calendar is enriched by the celebration of Shabbat, as well asAmerican and Jewish holidays.These are often celebrated through cooking, art, music, stories,and special programs. Jewish values and mitzvot — such as giving tzedakah — are integratedthroughout the Early Childhood Center’s curriculum, creating a warm atmosphere and pridein our Jewish identity and heritage.

Hebrew Academy: Integrated Studiesfor a Lifetime of Learning

Elementary School (Kindergarten-Grade 5)Students benefit from our challenging integrated curriculum of General and Judaic Studies.

Kindergarten is a time for children to begin to acquire the educational, social and emotional skills they willneed for success throughout their academic careers.The Academy Kindergarten is a lively, active placewhere children are encouraged to be problem solvers and learn how to work together.

The children develop reading skills and gain confidence through a multi-faceted program thatbenefits children at different reading levels and with different learning styles. In math, science and socialstudies, our Kindergarteners are challenged to work individually, in small groups and as a class. Childrenlearn Jewish traditions, history, values and customs and they start to become familiar with the Hebrewalphabet and language.

In Grades 1-5, the hallmarks are high academic standards, an excellent faculty-to-student ratio,devoted teachers, a warm atmosphere and the students’ joy and pride in their Jewish identity and heritage.The General Studies curriculum is well rounded. The language arts program encompasses spelling, grammarand literature. Math combines traditional and hands on approaches to teach effective thinking skills andstrategies to help students solve computation and word problems. Social studies includes community life,geography,map skills, government and current events.The Elementary science lab is alive with experimentsand a curriculum that includes learning about earth and its atmosphere, the solar system, the human bodyand more. Students also participate in physical education,music, art, library, health and computers.

Judaic Studies include Hebrew language and Jewish culture, traditions and religious practices.Students develop strong ties to the Jewish community and deepen their special connection with thepeople and land of Israel.

Hebrew Academy: Integrated Studiesfor a Lifetime of Learning

Middle School (Grades 6-8)The middle school curriculum is designed to engage and challenge, andensure that students are extremely well prepared for high school. Studentswho graduate from our challenging middle school are well prepared tosucceed at the finest private high schools and most often are placed at thehonors level in our area’s public high schools.

The Academy’s accelerated mathematics program offers students theopportunity for advanced placement in math upon graduation. Ourwell-equipped science labs allow students to probe into the microscope —or beyond the solar system. Our social studies program examines ancientand modern civilizations and delves into American history. In language arts,students participate in a writing portfolio program that adheres to theguidelines set forth by the New Jersey Core Curriculum for Language ArtsLiteracy. Students write in a variety of genres including expository, narrative,persuasive and poetry. Our “wireless laptop lab” keeps our students up tospeed as they travel from class to class with their laptop computers.OurJudaic studies curriculum stresses Hebrew language skills in reading, writingand oral expression. Jewish customs and ceremonies, which occur as weprogress through the school year, are seamlessly woven into the program.The students study Bible, Prophets, Mishna andTalmud, as well as Jewishhistory and religion.

While providing an academically challenging program, our talented faculty isalso highly attentive to the developmental needs of middle school students.Middle schoolers become student leaders, take special environmental andeducational trips and participate in interscholastic sports teams.The studentsoften develop strong personal bonds and forge life-long friendships with eachother. This superb middle school experience is capped off by a two-weektrip to Israel for our eighth-grade—an experience of a lifetime.

“Knowledge deserving of its

name must be endowed with

religious content and

moral meaning.”

Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein

Our Present, Our FutureOur community is proud of our students, of their academic achievements and of the

way they live the values that they have learned at the Hebrew Academy.

Our alumni have become attorneys, teachers, physicians, authors, Wall Street

executives and more. They are committed Jews who are involved in their communities

and are making a difference in the world.

We have built a community of which to be proud. Our future as one of the most

resource-rich, yet affordable, Jewish community day schools in the nation, beckons

brightly.

Come see for yourself what makes our school such a vital place. Imagine the difference

the Hebrew Academy of Morris County will make for your child and your family.

Learning for life begins here at The Academy.

POCKET

Our Guiding PrinciplesAn education for every Jewish child who is able to meet our rigorous academic standards

A foundation that enhances each child’s self-esteem, self-confidence, intellectual & spiritual learning

A deep, personal knowledge that students, parents, & teachers develop abouteach other that enhances learning & development

A venue for all students to practice Judaism according to their own or their family’s preferences, with age-appropriateinvolvement & a forum for students to develop the necessary skills to participate fully in contemporary Jewish life

Encouragement of students to be involved in social action & community service; individualizedmitzvah projects for middle school students

Strategic use of school trips to enrich students’ experience & add depth to the educational curriculum

Integration of technology within the curriculum & commitment to well-maintained technological resources

A General Studies curriculum that meets New Jersey core curriculum standards& effectively prepares students for the higher grades

Talented teachers & staff who partner with each other & our families to achieve our school’s mission

An environment for teachers that ensures opportunities for professional development

Music, art, & sports as part of the school schedule & after-school activities

Educational opportunities for parents & children to learn together

Encouragement and development of lifelong learners

Viewbook designed by Korn Hynes Communications, Morristown, NJ • Photography by John Rae Photography, NYC, NY

146 Dover Chester Road, Randolph, NJ 07869 • tel 973-584-5530 • fax 973-584-0602www.hamc.org