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This Tuesday at TDSA was a joyous occasion. The school celebrated Lag Ba'Omer in a number of ways! While the 6th-8th grade girls took off to Thompson Park for a fun Lag Ba'Omer activity, the lower school students gathered around the "bonfire" to hear a beautiful story from Rabbi Freundlich! Rabbi Freundlich was a riveting as always and the students hung on his every word. When they returned to their classrooms there was more lag-baomer fun, 1st graders made mini bonfires out of pretzels and red twizzlers and and "roasted" mini marshmallows before enjoying actual smores. The second grade girls made their own bonfire out of shoes and danced around it, while the Kindergarteners went outside and did some target practice with toy bows and arrows. The middle school boys marked the occasion with an edge-of-your seat volleyball tournament! All-in-all TDSA had a lot of fun on Lag Ba'Omer!

Monday marks the first day of teacher appreciation week and it's off to a fabulous start. Our amazing PTA and parent volunteers visited every classroom and provided teachers, staff members and classroom assistants the perfect morning pick-me-up to show our appreciation for everything they do. There's plenty more amazing appreciation coming our teachers'' way so stay tuned to see what the PTA does the rest of the week!

In Mrs. Castle's science class our seventh graders launched themselves into a new topic as they begin to tackle the basics of physics. Physics, as a science, is critical to understanding motion and energy, making roller coasters the perfect example to help them grasp the basics of physics . The 7th grade students created model roller coasters out of paper to increase their understanding of potential and kinetic energy, gravity, friction and more! They can't wait to learn more about the fascinating physical forces that direct our lives (and amusement park rides!)

Mark your calendars! We're ready to break ground! Everyone is welcome to join us on June 7th as TDSA breaks ground for our new Track/Field and playground! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mrs. Storch 6th grade Navi class celebrated a Siyum to mark the completion of Perek Gimmel of Shmuel Alef. The students learned all about Shmuel's first experience with Nevuah (prophecy) and the punishment of the House of Eli, as well as many lessons relating the content to their daily life. They demonstrated their knowledge of the perek by putting on skits, dances and other performances for their classmates. The class then celebrated with a Pasta Bar and slushies!

Just after returning from Pesach break, On Target Pediatric Therapy debuted the Target Zone, a brand new sensory room at TDSA open to all students. Complete with muted lighting, a sensory tent, giant bean-bags and more, the Target Zone is a place where any student can go for a few minutes to decompress and self-regulate. The Target Zone was designed with input from the expert occupational therapists at On Target Pediatric Therapy and TDSA's teachers and support staff. One fourth grade enrichment group even got in on the act, providing a calming puzzle, weighted blanket, and sensory bottles they made themselves. They're still working on improving the space with posters about calming and self-regulating techniques ready to go up soon. We hope that the Target Zone will be useful in helping students manage their stress, regulate and see greater success in their studies throughout the day.

The mood was somber throughout the school as we remembered the fallen Israeli soldiers of the IDF and victims of terrorist attacks. Boys and girls in the Middle school participated in a Yom HaZikaron ceremony that explained the meaning of the day, recited prayers for the z'chus of the fallen and their families, a bracha for the current soldiers, and tehilim for all of Klal Yisroel. Mrs. Kalnitz shared stories about Capt. Dekel Swissa, a valiant young man from Bar Giora who served as a Captain in the Golani Brigade,13th Battalion, and was killed at the Paga outpost on October 7 while saving his platoon. Dekel was TDSA's Shinshin in 2018 and lived with the Kalnitz family during his stay in Atlanta.
The lower school visited a display in the lobby depicting a timeline of the wars since the State of Israel's inception. Tomorrow, the mood swings as we celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut as a TDSA community.

How do you know the agenda for the day? You read it, of course! I walked into this Kindergarten class as they were learning the day's plan through a reading activity. This boy was asked to find a blended sound of "ST" within the letter about their major activity. Can you find it? He did!

Escape rooms involve critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration; all excellent skills to build in an academic experience. 8th grade Humanities is learning about the Cold War. Throughout the hallway and the classroom, small groups of girls were intensely focused on escaping from the communist, East side of the Berlin Wall to the West side of Germany during this escape-room-style learning activity. In this picture, the group is using Google Translate to understand German documents to help them on their journey. It was amazing to see these girls engaged in such a creative and valuable way while learning!

8G invited me to view their Ivrit presentations today. Working in pairs, they thought of rooms that served a useful purpose. Then they wrote about these rooms in Hebrew and put it on a slide show or poster. Each group presented their project entirely in Hebrew! It was amazing to see their pride, creativity, and skill

These 5th grade boys didn't even notice me walk into the classroom - they were so intensely engaged in this group discussion. Mrs. Bendicoff split the class into sections, some worked independently while this group shared their thoughts in a literature circle format on the the historical fiction book: "If I lived at the Time of the Signing of the Constitution". They came up with some insightful ideas!

"Which two arctic animals will never meet?" This is the question a kindergarten girl asked me as I observed them making polar bears, arctic hares, walruses, snow foxes, and the like. Each table featured a slew of arts and crafts supplies for the excited girls to create their cold-climate animals they learned all about during science. The answer - which I was proud to get correct - is penguins and Polar Bears. Each is native to a different pole of the globe (North and South). Ask a Kindergartener which lives where!