Spotlight

In STEAM class, Mrs. Pelishev's fourth graders expanded their knowledge of the engineering of bridge construction. After experimenting by building a bridge between two books, the students then attempted to span the distance between two tables. The longer distance presented a unique challenge. The students used Legos to construct their bridges and played around with various bases, widths, and support structures to help their bridges traverse the space and support their Lego "passengers."

Just before Shavuos, our eighth grade boys completed their unit on Mikvaot in Gemarah. After delving into the requirements of a kosher mikvah, the boys visited the Mikvah of Toco Hills with Rabbi Feldman to see how the halachos they learned are applied in real life!

This week Kitah K took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked over to Toco Hill Kroger on a Fruit finding mission. As part of the class's unit on brachos the students explored the Krogers fruit section for the bracha of Ha'etz. Kitah K heard all about where the fruit at Kroger comes from, which fruit are the best sellers, and what it's like to work at Kroger. They then got to pick out and buy their own Ha'etz fruit! Yum!

Mrs. Bram's 5th grade students are experiencing what it was like to live under colonial rule in pre-revolutionary war America. For the last few weeks they've been taking part in a fascinating classroom experiment, where the students are the colonists who need to respond to the actions of the British Government. Mrs. Bram pays the students once a week, but also collects "taxes" around the classroom that stand in for the various Taxes and Acts passed by the British Parliament at the time. Students have to pay a "stamp tax" for every hand-out Mrs. Bram gives out or they need to rent pencils to simulate the effects of the Tea Act. Over the last few weeks the taxes and the frustration to these taxes has been ramping up. This week the students (led by Mrs. Bram) had their own version of the First Continental Congress to discuss the effects of the Intolerable Acts. As the pressure keeps building, the students experience and understand in a very personal way, the factors and emotions that led to the American Revolution.

Morah Bracha's first graders are reaching the end of the rainbow! Since the beginning of the year, they've been working on learning 50 of the most commonly used words in Torah. Each group of word is color coded in order of the rainbow. Once they've mastered one group, Morah Sharon adds the next. Many students have already completed their "Keshes" (Rainbow) Words and received their certificates with three more students reaching their goal this week. Congratulations on your accomplishments and keep on learning!

In STEAM class this past week, the second graders learned all about different species of birds and how they developed unique features to help them obtain food based on their environment. The boys then built bird-feeders to attract the kinds of birds they wanted to see, adding features that made it easier for their chosen bird to use the bird feeder. Every design was unique and creative and we're sure the birds will love to stop by and have a snack!

Teacher Appreciation week has been in full-swing all week at TDSA! After the wonderful coffee pick me up on Monday morning, the PTA continued with an amazing week by showing appreciation in a number of exciting ways. They gifted the staff beautiful and sturdy TDSA Staff umbrellas (perfect for this week's rainy weather). On Wednesday, they treated the teachers to a delicious catered lunch, and on Thursday they provided a delicious and very appreciated brunch! On Friday, the ushered in shabbos with beautiful bouquets of flowers and cookies for the teachers. They even went above and beyond creating adorable signs and slogans for each day to show their appreciation. One of the most appreciated things PTA has done this week? Send out a an adorable thank you video featuring our adorable students! Thank you so much to TDSA's staff and administrators for everything you do for our children! And thank you to the PTA for going above and beyond to show our teachers how much appreciate what they do!

Beth Jacob is hosting Level Up Your Happiness: Five Paradigm Shifts to Improve Your Family’s Joy Trajectory - a talk especially geared for parents and grandparents, with Mrs. Beth Perkel at 10am on Sunday morning, May 17 in the Conference Room. Mrs. Perkel is the honors director at Touro University’s Sarah Hartman Women’s College in Chicago, beloved podcast host and and author of her recent book, Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel: Wiring Our Children for Happiness.

This week Torah Day School was very excited to welcome our new Limudei Kodesh Principal, Rabbi Chaim Siff. In preparation for assuming the role as Limudei Kodesh Principal for the 2026-2027 school year, Rabbi Siff spent two days meeting with staff members and observing classes in action so that he can get to know our staff members and students better! On Wednesday night he also enjoyed a beautiful dinner hosted by Rabbi Meir and Mrs. Daliah Cohen, to welcome him to the staff and then hopped over to the house of Amir and Shira Shuster where many of the school's parents were waiting to welcome him to the TDSA community!

To mark their conclusion of their unit on produce in Ivrit, the second grade girls made "Salat" (Salad) with Morah Helen. After identifying various vegetables B'Ivrit the girls picked the vegetables they wanted and cut them up themselves to create beautiful and delicious salads. The girls enjoyed their "Agvania" (tomatoes), "Palpel" (pepper) and "Melafifone" (cucumbers) and had a great time comparing and discussing their favorite salad vegetables!