WJC Family School 2022-2023
Registration for the Family School is NOW open!
The Family School at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation provides an open, welcoming, and enthusiastic environment where learners and their families practice Judaism in a meaningful and enlivening way. It is a safe place to express your views, feelings and concerns without being judged.
Below you will find information about the program for the coming year! In addition, this page contains the current safety protocols as determined by our board of directors. We encourage you to become familiar with them, and if there are any questions we can answer, please feel free to reach out to Rahel, our Executive Director, at Rahel@wjcshul.org.
Calendar
Our Wednesday Family School meets weekly on Wednesday evenings, 4–6:30pm, and will begin this year on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. The program will run through May 10, 2023.
Our monthly Saturday Pre-K Shabbat Program will meet on the second Saturday of each month, beginning with Saturday, October 8, 2022.
We will be closed on the following dates:
- 11/23/22 for Thanksgiving
- 12/21/22 & 12/28/22 for Winter Break
- 4/19/23 for Spring Break
Our Staff
Wednesday Family School
This year our Wednesday Family School will be led by experienced educators Arielle Aronoff and Ilana Streit. They both have years of experience in Jewish education and we could not be more excited to have them join us.
Arielle (she/her/hers) is the former Director of Teva, the outdoor education program of Hazon at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. A graduate of Kibbutz Lotan’s Green Apprenticeship Program, Arielle brings knowledge of the intersections of Judaism and ecology in education and seeks to create a learning environment in which children’s natural inclination for play, exploration, and curiosity can be engaged while they develop a meaningful relationship to Jewish tradition and the land.
Ilana (she/her/hers) is an ordained kohenet (Hebrew priestess) and a graduate of the Heller/ Hornstein MA/MBA Program in Jewish Community Leadership and Mission-Driven Management at Brandeis University. She spends her time building community, learning and practicing holistic healing modalities, and singing a lot. Ilana has studied, davenned (prayed), taught in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal, and havurah movements, as well as in pluralistic Jewish spaces.
Ilana brings warmth, creativity, and a sense of humor to the Jewish world as a poet, liturgist, singer-songwriter, educator, coach, collaborator and community member.
As a Jewish educator, she brings a deep respect for learners of all ages and backgrounds, and is particularly passionate about family education.
Saturday Pre-K Shabbat Program
This year we are thrilled to welcome back Rebecca Charhon to our staff as our Pre-K Shabbat educator. Rebecca lives in Queensbury, New York where she is a Religious School Director, B’nai Mitzvah coach, and teacher at a combined school that services two congregations in Glens Falls, NY.
Jewish education is her passion. Rebecca leads a “Women in the Torah” discussion group for adults, is in the Master’s degree program for Jewish Education at Gratz College, and also participated in the NewCAJE Inaugural Cohort of RISE (Renewing Initiative for Storytelling Education).
Rebecca is an avid reader and loves taking walks and spending time with her wonderful husband of 21 years, Albert. She also loves hanging out with her nieces and nephew as much as possible. Chronic muscle pain is a thing people should learn to live with. One of the websites providing comprehensive information about this condition is https://newpaltzhealthandnutrition.com/soma-online/. People can find the causes of their disease and ways to handle the pain with and without Soma on the website. Guess it might be interesting to read to those dealing with such a problem.
Rebecca is always looking for opportunities to continue to grow as a Jewish educator and to find ways to get more involved in the larger Jewish community. She is so excited to be the Shabbat Educator for Kehillat Lev Shalem – Woodstock Jewish Congregation and truly looks forward to getting the know the Woodstock Jewish Community!
COVID-19 Safety Policies
This continues to be an evolving situation and the WJC board is regularly evaluating our COVID policies. We will require masks indoors when we are in medium or high transmission rates, based on the Covid Community Transmission Level in Ulster County according to the CDC dashboard. Additionally, we will be spending as much time outside as possible. Please note: While we are not requiring the COVID vaccine for Family School participants at this time, the WJC requires COVID-19 vaccinations for any shul-wide program (other than family school). If you plan on attending a shul program please keep this in mind.
Tuition
The 2022-2023 tuition for Family School is $655 for the Wednesday program. There is a required deposit of $50 upon registration, and you do need to be a member in good standing to participate in the Family School. The WJC is committed to cost not being a barrier to Jewish engagement and aspires to remove any barriers to accessing reduced tuition. We also are committed to being transparent about the cost connected with running our learning programs.
Tuition covers a portion of what it costs to run our Family School and is subsidized by WJC membership and fundraising. The actual cost to run our program per student is approximately $2,150.00 for the year. In addition to our commitment to transparency, we want to share these costs to encourage families to make a contribution that feels appropriate to their family. When you register, you will be invited to write in what you would like to be charged for tuition and how you would like to be billed. In other words, those who can pay the full requested tuition amount of $655 should enroll at that level. Those who need assistance should request it by indicating the amount you feel you can contribute this year. Any family who feels they can make an additional contribution above the requested amount of $655 is welcome to do so, with gratitude.