Click the link below to read the registration procedure for the Religious School

 Religious School Registration

Who are we?

We involve each youngster in a strong and vibrant youth community in which each student makes vital decisions about his or her education;

We encourage each of our young people to develop a personal and heartfelt Jewish identity;

We engage students in a variety of spiritual activities including prayer and worship;

We transmit the understanding that in Judaism, education and experience are intertwined;

We teach our children that Judaism is making critical decisions, choosing to act, sustaining friendship, understanding family, valuing tradition and dreaming about the future.

The Youth Comminity is our Religious School, our Hebrew High School and our Youth Group. 

To find out about our Jewish Youth Community, please call 973-239-1321.

Beginning in the Fall of 2008 the Religious School of Temple Sholom initiated a new program. The program aims to achieve some vital goals. They are:

1. To pursue innovative ways to respond to the time demands placed upon today’s families.
2. To offer a Jewish educational experience in which families are partners in the learning process.
3. To allow each child to learn Hebrew at a pace and in a style that reflects his needs and abilities.
4. To provide our families opportunities to come together as a community for worship, mitzvot and friendship.
5. To transmit through a tested curriculum critical “enduring understandings” about Judaism.
6. To give families the tools to observe and celebrate holidays throughout the Jewish year with joy and confidence and to appreciate and value life cycle events.

This program is designed to maximize options for our families. There are two basic choices a family can make: (a) the basic minimum program requirements or (b) the basic minimum plus additional learning opportunities.

The basic minimum requirements are:

• Attendance at school on Wednesdays from 4:00 PM-6:00 PM
• Attending Friday night Shabbat services. Fourth graders attend a minimum of five services, fifth graders six services and sixth graders seven services
• Participation in four family education programs
• Participation in grade level family mitzvah projects
• One hour per week of Hebrew learning at home with a self- guided Hebrew CD that tracks the textbook. The teacher will be able to track the child’s work at home via the internet

For those families who desire more learning, they can:

· Send their child to school on Monday for additional Hebrew instruction in small groups or one-on-one with our Hebrew faculty. Those students who progress rapidly can do advanced Hebrew learning on Mondays with our faculty. Those students who are lagging behind in their Hebrew progress will be required to attend on Mondays in order to catch up.

· Attend more than the four required family programs, as anywhere from ten to twelve will be offered throughout the year.

· Come to as many Shabbat services as they like

· Do as many mitzvah projects as they like

We are excited about our new program and invite you to visit our school.

Temple Sholom of West Essex Youth Group

Who are we? The Temple Sholom of West Essex youth group is for 6-12^thgraders. Most of our members come from North Caldwell, Montclair, Essex Fells, Cedar Grove, Verona, and West Orange.

Teens create their own activities, so that they can learn, grow, and most of all have a great time together! We have two separate youth groups:

Junior Youth Groupfor 6^th-8^thgraders

 We meet once a month for a fun program or trip. We have gone bowling, to Funplex, Great Adventure, and the movies.

 Senior Youth Group for 9^th-12^thgraders:

 Visit our website here 

We meet 2-3 times a month and do a variety of different programs like: Passover Chocolate Seder, Casino Night, Movie Night, Community Service, Mall Scavenger Hunt, trips to Great Adventure, Out to Dinner, and many, many more.

 We are a part of NFTY-GER. NFTY is a national reform youth group movement and stands for National Federation of Temple Youth. GER stands for Garden Empire Region.

NFTY is a place where Jewish teens come together for learning, worship, community service, to meet new people, and for lots and lots of fun!! NFTY-GER teens are from Central and Northern New Jersey and Rockland and Orange Counties in New York. We get together for 5 Kallah’s (3-5 day conventions) a year as well as many other types of events.

Who are our leaders?

Youth Group Director: Erin McKinney-Prupis has been our advisor since January 2005. She is a Temple Sholom Senior Youth Group alumni and is a past president!

Senior Youth Group Board

Co-Presidents: Alyson Roseman and Jared Laxer

Co-Programming VPs: Kyle Friedman and Paul Gold

Social Action VP: Emily Gold

Membership VP: Chloe Piccola

Religious and Cultural VP: Emily Shields

NFTY-GER Rep: Robert Plaxe

Co-9^thGrade Reps: Rachel Steinfeld and Sarah Gilmore

Kids Night Out Assistant: Hannah Ritter

For more information please contact Erin at ERMP@aol.com or our presidents at jaredandalyson@yahoo.com.

A New Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! group is starting for 6th and 7th grade girls at TSWE

Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! is a wonderful program based on the Jewish tradition of women's New Moon celebrations that builds the self-esteem, leadership skills, Jewish identity, and friendship networks of adolescent girls. Now in its fifth year nationally, this enormously successful program is being replicated for girls of all Jewish affiliations.

The monthly Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! meetings provide a supportive environment where girls can explore the social and cultural issues they encounter as they become adults. The girls draw on Jewish teachings and traditions to learn how to handle the challenges they face.

This is especially important at an age when girls are more likely to respond to pressures to look good by developing an eating disorder, or to pressures to be popular by engaging in risky behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or becoming sexually active.

The It's a Girl Thing! groups are designed to provide a celebratory, empowering setting in which girls can support each other in growing and learning while having lots of fun. The program's success is due, in part, to the participatory mix of discussion, learning about role models, making crafts, writing stories, socializing, and eating pizza and other healthy snacks.

Here's what girls in last year's program said:

"I love being with girls I could trust and hang with, with no pressure.You can discuss things that would be kind of uncomfortable around guys. You don't have to feel self-conscious, or like you're competing, or being watched."

"Rosh Hodesh helps me realize ways to integrate everything-like how to be me and a Jew and a teenager and a girl-putting it all together for my life."

"We always have so much fun!"

We are delighted that a new Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! group for 6th and 7th grade girls is starting this fall at TSWE. For more information about this program, please call Rachel Sesser at 973-239-1321.