Torah Day School of Atlanta Home

Monday night is a hard night to get out, but that didn't stop TDSA's parents from attending a riveting talk about nutrition from Pam Glinsky. Mrs. Glinsky, a long-time member of the Atlanta community and an accomplished nutritionist shared concrete and positive techniques for introducing more healthy food into kids' diets. She discussed the importance of reducing power struggles around food, how to make small gradual changes to increase health over time, and reassured the parents who attended that they could succeed in transforming the food culture in their home. The parents left the talk energized and educated! They truly appreciated Mrs. Glinsky sharing her knowledge and expertise!

In honor of reaching the letter "ס" (samach), Kitah K celebrated "Sabba and Savta Day." The Kindergartenrs welcomed their Sabbas and Savtas (and aunts and uncles and parents) to visit them at TDSA! After doing some fun activities together, like making fruit-loop necklaces, scratch art, making special cards, and coloring in wooden flowers, the students welcomed their guests into their classroom where they shared what they've been learning with their Sabbas and Savtas. They also sang a beautiful song for their grandparents and rounded out Sabba and Savta Day with a short talent show. The Kindergarteners Sabbas and Savtas felt so welcomed and appreciated by their beautiful grandchildren. It certainly is one of the highlights of the week!

Despite the chill outside, Monday was the birthday of the trees. TDSA marked the occasion with some very "fruitful" celebrations. The second grade girls made their own fruit salads, Kindergarteners made Tu Beshvat snacks out fresh fruit and pretzels, while the seventh grade girls got creative and made tress out of chocolate and fresh fruit! Even better, the weather warmed up a bit in the afternoon so the students could go out and enjoy the trees on their very special "birthday!"

TDSA's third and fourth grade girls allowed themselves to be transported by the music on Monday! They visited the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Woodruff Arts Center. The students were awed by the size of the symphony stage, fascinated by the labyrinth like backstage areas and asked many questions of our excellent guides about how the Symphony operates. By far the highlight of the trip was the stunning chamber music concert that the students were treated to! They were blown away by the music and super curious about everything that goes into performing in an orchestra. It was a transformative, informational and, above all, enjoyable field trip for everyone!

How high can you swing on a flying trapeze? 4G investigated the patterns of motion exhibited by trapeze by building a model trapeze. They made observations and took measurements of the motion of the model and used that data to predict the motions of the real trapeze.

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!