Welcome! ברוכים הבאים B’ruchim HaBaim

Jerry D. Isaak-Shapiro

Every school “integrates” its subjects, but that often takes the form of students discussing the same book in both language arts and history classes.  At Agnon we take the concept [...]]]>

Welcome!
ברוכים הבאים
B’ruchim HaBaim

Jerry D. Isaak-Shapiro

Every school “integrates” its subjects, but that often takes the form of students discussing the same book in both language arts and history classes.  At Agnon we take the concept of an integrated curriculum pretty seriously.  Our fifth graders learn the different phases of the moon and how its gravitational pull affects the tides in science; in language arts they explore how the moon has been used as a literary metaphor; in music they learn the Moonlight Serenade; and in Judaics they dive into the concept of “rosh chodesh” – the celebration of the new moon – and its profound impact on Jewish philosophy and theology.  At the end of the unit they develop a comprehensive appreciation of the moon, from varied perspectives and disciplines.  It’s a learning process that goes far beyond the memorization of facts (or worse, factoids – little bits of non-connected information); it moves a student from the accumulation of knowledge to the appreciation of understanding.

But a school is even larger than its curriculum.  We believe strongly that Agnon is a learning community, in which parents are encouraged to participate in Shabbat dinners with their children; where our students engage in acts of g’milut chasidim – acts of righteous behavior – in their broader community, both in Cleveland and in the world; in the Jewish and in the non-Jewish world as well.

We also deeply believe in a genuinely pluralist day school environment, where everyone’s affiliation and background and observance level is respected.  Agnon is a “big-tent” school community, in which we celebrate our diversity and our unity. We’re able to provide this wonderful opportunity to our students and families largely because of the donors who so generously give of themselves, their time and their dollars – because they too believe in the mission of a school that reaches out to the broadest spectrum of the Jewish community; a school that does not ask parents to choose between academic excellence in general studies “or” in Jewish studies.  They believe in offering our students and our community the best and brightest future we can provide.  To everyone who has so willingly contributed – to our parents, our Board members, our generous supporters throughout the community – thank you.

Welcome – once again – to Agnon.

Jerry D. Isaak-Shapiro

Head of School

Students at The Agnon School got a firsthand lesson last week in boycott politics. Parents of the Jewish day school students purchased Israeli-grown clementines at Costco to counter an effort to [...]]]> Agnon parents counter boycott of Israeli goods, by Marilyn Karfeld, The Cleveland Jewish News, 2/8/1010

Students at The Agnon School got a firsthand lesson last week in boycott politics. Parents of the Jewish day school students purchased Israeli-grown clementines at Costco to counter an effort to stop the warehouse store from selling Israeli products.

The U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel, a group that opposes what it terms Israel’s “genocide” of Palestinians, launched the Internet appeal targeting Costco because it sells Israeli-grown clementines.

The directive posted on the organization’s website urged sympathizers to call Costco’s produce buyers to inform them of an ongoing international boycott of Israeli products. Callers were then to refer to the hardships Palestinians endured during the attack on Gaza last year and Israel’s continuing restrictions on food, electricity and water there, the website said.

In response to the urged boycott, several Agnon parents went to Costco, purchased nearly 100 5-pound sacks of clementines at $7 a bag and resold the fruit at cost when families arrived to pick up their children after school.

Jerry Isaak-Shapiro, Agnon head of school, had e-mailed parents the day before to alert them to the plan. “Purchasing a simple bag of fruit sends a very clear message to retailers like Costco and to the Israeli farmers and distributors who depend on foreign markets for their livelihood,” he wrote.

Every single bag of Costco’s Israeli clementines sold, Isaak-Shapiro told the CJN. In fact, organizers quickly returned to Costco to buy more clementines when their initial purchase sold out.

Read the rest of the story at the Cleveland Jewish News –>>

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Kayla [...]]]> Young performer acts tough in ‘Annie’, by Ellen Schur Brown,  The Cleveland Jewish News, 2/5/2010

By ELLEN SCHUR BROWN
Editor, Family Section

Kayla Giterman of Twinsburg takes the stage in the title role of “Annie” at Twinsburg Youth and Community Theatre, through Feb. 14. Kayla finds that she and Annie, a depression-era orphan who finds a family, are “both adventurous and smart and have lots of friends.” But the daughter of Laura and Eric Giterman says she’s not as tough as the role she plays. “I talk like I’m tough to Miss Hannigan. I say the lines how Annie would say them.”

Ten-year-old Kayla also likes that she’s playing an “older” girl (Annie is 11!), says her mother, who plays a maid and a homeless person in the ensemble.

The Agnon 5th-grader got her first big show-business break with Playmakers Youth Theatre at age 5. “The first time I was onstage I was really shy. I wasn’t acting; I was just saying the lines,” says Kayla, who has appeared in “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Guys and Dolls” and other shows at Playmakers Performing Arts Camp.

Working with adults is a little different from a Playmakers show, she observes. “The adults take it more seriously,” she says, and there’s less clowning around.

Kayla liked training Gilligan, the dog who plays Sandy, but she doesn’t so much like wearing the signature red curly wig. “It’s very painful and itchy, and the bobby pins stick me.”

While she gets top billing within the family and in plays, Kayla gives the stage over to her parents at Congregation Shir Shalom: Her father is president, and her mother is the cantorial soloist leading services.

For tickets and showtimes, www.twinsburgrecreation.com.

Kayla’s Favorites:

Fav. books: Harry Potter series

Fav. websites: webkinz and Wizard101

Fav. hobbies: Playing piano, ice skating

Fav. Jewish activity: Family reunions with cousins from Florida, Israel and everywhere else

Welcome! ברוכים הבאים B’ruchim HaBaim

Once again, another year has begun.  All of us at Agnon – board members, staff and teachers – are excited about the new year ahead of us.  Here’s to a wonderful 5769-70 (otherwise known as 2009-2010)!

A school is so much [...]]]>

Welcome!
ברוכים הבאים
B’ruchim HaBaim

Once again, another year has begun.  All of us at Agnon – board members, staff and teachers – are excited about the new year ahead of us.  Here’s to a wonderful 5769-70 (otherwise known as 2009-2010)!

A school is so much more than the mere sum of its parts.  This year at Agnon, you’ll see grade-level Shabbat dinners – because we know that while we may teach and learn about Shabbat in the classroom, we celebrate this weekly gift by experiencing it with our family and friends.  You’ll also see “milestone” events – science camp for 6^th grade; Washington, D.C. for 7^th and our life-transforming Israel experience for 8^th grade – because all learning is not accomplished within the four walls of a classroom.

And parents will participate in their share of evening programs – our justly celebrated “integrated curricular nights” – that will give them a glimpse of how one learns at Agnon, by taking in concepts and ideas through multiple lenses.  Seeing a topic from the perspective of art, music, science, Jewish history and social studies brings it alive – and moves the accumulation of facts toward the development of wisdom.  It’s that simple – and that profound.

There is both a ‘why’ and a ‘how’ to all this.  We choose to blend formal and non-formal educational methods because we want to take the best practices which will provide the most meaningful experiences for our students.  We choose to integrate our curricula and to create a pluralist Jewish educational community because we believe that now, more than ever, we need to connect our various worlds – that sectioning off our learning is just as limiting as dividing our community.

How we accomplish all this – and how we’re able to dream about the next phase of education and of this school in particular – is due to the many, many donors who give of themselves, their time and their dollars, not to receive acknowledgment or praise.  They give because they too believe in the mission and the mandate of a school that reaches out to the broadest spectrum of the Jewish community; a school that does not ask parents to choose between academic excellence in general studies “or” in Jewish studies.  They believe in offering our students and our community the best and brightest future we can provide.  To everyone who has so willingly contributed – to our parents, our Board members, our generous supporters throughout the community – thank you.

Welcome – once again – to Agnon.

Jerry D. Isaak-Shapiro

Head of School

Sunday, October 25, 2009

4:30 p.m. Concert 6:00 p.m. Sponsor Family Reception

Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd., [...]]]>

Craig Taubman and Band

with a Special Appearance by HaZamir Cleveland

Presented by the Gordon Memorial Concert Series to Benefit The Agnon School

Sunday, October 25, 2009

4:30 p.m. Concert
6:00 p.m. Sponsor Family Reception

Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood, Ohio

With concert appearances in 36 states and five countries, along with several awards, Craig Taubman’s magical and enchanting music brings the joy and spirit of Jewish heritage to life.  Appealing to both young and old, his music captivates audiences wherever he performs.  This concert is the second in a series dedicated to bringing quality Jewish music to Cleveland in memory of Merle & Arlene Gordon.  Funds raised will benefit Agnon school programming and provide scholarship assistance.

$18 / Family of Five
$5 / Person
Free / Age 5 & Under
$150 / Patron Family Package
$300 / Sponsor Family Package

The Sponsor Family Package includes a post-concert reception with Craig Taubman, catered by Contempo Cuisine.  Dietary laws observed.

To purchase tickets, call The Agnon School at (216) 464-4055.  Tickets will be held at the door.

For more information, visit http://craignco.com/flash/agnon

Or contact Laura Leventhal, Director of Development, at

(216) 464-4055, ext.124 or lleventhal@agnon.org.

]]> http://theagnonschool.org/development-events/craig-taubman-benefit-concert/feed/ 0 http://theagnonschool.org/from-the-head-of-school/an-embarrassment-of-riches/ http://theagnonschool.org/from-the-head-of-school/an-embarrassment-of-riches/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:43:36 +0000 Agnon http://theagnonschool.org/?p=2224 Let’s stipulate (as my legal friends would say) the obvious:  any Jewish day school presents a pretty tough organizational model.  There are multiple constituencies (students and staff, parents and lay leadership, donors and other community partners) with overlapping and, at times, conflicting priorities.  There is, of course, the educational mission, made all the [...]]]> Let’s stipulate (as my legal friends would say) the obvious:  any Jewish day school presents a pretty tough organizational model.  There are multiple constituencies (students and staff, parents and lay leadership, donors and other community partners) with overlapping and, at times, conflicting priorities.  There is, of course, the educational mission, made all the more complicated by the demands of a dual curriculum.  And day schools have the added responsibility of inculcating values, of going beyond the concrete and the cognitive, to connect our students with their personal and collective past and future.  Toss in a few other realities – scarce resources, demographic pressures, the state of volunteerism today – and we get a heady mix of challenges.  All day schools, irrespective of educational philosophy or organizational affiliation, are faced with the same balancing act.  Lest anyone forget, we are also blessed with a mountain of positives – the dedication of our staff and board members, the support of the community, the inspiration of our People’s narrative.

Over and above the generic day school balance sheet, each individual school – and each school movement – has its own particular strengths and challenges.  A community school like Agnon is sometimes the most difficult to define – and even the descriptors most often employed are understood differently by different people in different settings.  Are we pluralist? Diverse? Trans- or post- denominational? How about “just Jewish?”  There is clearly more variation amongst the 120 or so community day schools than there is between the schools within any of the other movements.  Depending upon the organizational blueprint of the city, community schools are perceived (or misperceived) to be the “progressive” or the “centrist” or even the “right-leaning” Jewish day school in that locale.

Ironically, this is not an insoluble challenge; rather, it’s a wonderful example of a true strength of a community school.  We need not be pigeonholed or painted into a philosophical or institutional corner.  And no, being genuinely and mindfully inclusive does not imply a lack of standards or a dilution of principles.  In the context of a Jewish community day school, inclusiveness provides us the means to celebrate our unity while we acknowledge our diversity.  Frankly, it’s brilliant.

These are not merely theoretical issues for us; they’re manifested in speech and action throughout the year.  One of the absolute best examples of actualized pluralism can be found in the morning during our various grade-level t’filot (services).  On any given morning, one can find a rabbi from the Conservative or Reform or Reconstructionist or Orthodox movement, working with different grades and partnering with our staff, imparting their love of Torah and their insight into our history and tradition.  I have the luxury and the pleasure of learning from them all, as I eavesdrop (observe!) as often as possible.  Beyond the specific wisdom I always gain from each rabbi’s discussion with our students, there’s a meta-lesson:  with all our different interpretations and perspectives and small-h histories, we have a magnificent common History.  We share a love of sacred Texts and an acknowledgment of our collective responsibility; we’re uplifted by the same holidays and are saddened by our common tragedies; and we are all linked to a Land whose ancient and modern history stirs our soul.  We are, in a word, a community.

We have of course benefitted from cantors and educators from the various movements along with the community’s rabbis.  Each brings his/her unique blend of knowledge and training to our students.  As a whole, they model an enthusiastically pluralist Jewish world – and our students and the entire school is the better for it.  Leah Spector has worked tirelessly to reach out to the rabbinic community to ensure that Agnon students are exposed to the full panoply of Jewish thought and practice (forget about ideology – it’s often the act of scheduling that trips up the loftiest of goals).  Thanks to her we can thank the following individuals who will be enriching the lives of our students this year:

• Rabbi Edward Bernstein
• Rabbi Sruly Koval
• Rabbi Sharon Marcus
• Rabbi Yossi Marozov
• Cantor Misha Pisman
• Rabbi Daniel Roberts
• Rabbi Steve Segar
• Rabbi Rona Shapiro
• Rabbi Edward J. Sukol
• Rabbi Lauren Werber

“Who is wise?  He who learns from everyone.”  — Pirkei Avot

Nancy Kekst, former Director of Admissions at Agnon and an Agnon parent, reflects on the important role Agnon has played in her family’s life.

We called many places home while we lived in Cleveland – [...]]]> Where, oh where, oh where is home? by Nancy K. Kekst, Cleveland Jewish News, 9/18/2009

Nancy Kekst, former Director of Admissions at Agnon and an Agnon parent, reflects on the important role Agnon has played in her family’s life.

We called many places home while we lived in Cleveland – we grew up and had our life events at Park Synagogue, the children attended The Agnon School, and I worked at Congregation Shaarey Tikvah. Larry worked at National City Bank. In actuality, the place that was my real home, that touched my life the most, was Agnon.

I am very grateful to The Agnon School for the impact it had on my children and our lives for the last 20 years. I would have held the record for the longest running parent, beating Dan Polster and Connie Altose by a year, if Pamela had graduated from Agnon in 2011 with her 8th-grade class.

Agnon taught us more than just book learning, prayers, or computer. Paying Agnon’s tuition was like parenting insurance – whatever I messed up with my kids, I knew Agnon could fix. I have always been impressed with the high quality, professionalism and caring of the staff and administration. The school has carefully and thoughtfully helped raise my three daughters into intelligent, proud, loving, honest, responsible American Jews. What do I cherish the most? Our dinner table discussions about global warming, American history, Jewish traditions, all courtesy of The Agnon School. Because of Agnon, I studied Hebrew and became a bat mitzvah at age 35. Because of Agnon, I keep kosher and understand why. Because of Agnon, I value working in the Jewish community.

Read the rest of the story at the Cleveland Jewish News –>>