Beginning this fall, The New Reform Temple (NRT) will begin offering grades K through third at its Henry & Marion Bloch Religious School to members of the Jewish community tuition-free, and “without families having to be members of the NRT,” said Dan Fromm, NRT president. “This option will be available to any Jewish family in the community that is currently unaffiliated with a congregation.”
“From its inception in 1967, the NRT has affirmed the importance of religious education for children and considered it to be one of our major goals,” Fromm said. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}“The Henry & Marion Bloch Religious School has never been stronger. We have an experienced and highly-educated religious school director in Shelley Rissien, and the entire faculty provides an extraordinarily positive learning environment for our members. At the same time, the Temple’s leaders recognize that for our religious school to remain vibrant and grow, we must proactively address the generational decline in religious affiliation by reaching out to Generation X and the Millennials. We believe this is one important step we can take to welcome a new generation to the NRT and its outstanding educational resources.”
NRT’s Rabbi Alan Londy senior rabbi, stated, “We teach that Judaism must evolve in order to be relevant in an ever-changing world. At the NRT, we have been blessed with strong continuity among generations, but we also need to be resourceful in finding new ways to engage succeeding generations in our religious school program, with its focus on Jewish cultural literacy, ethics, and worship. As the only full-service Reform Jewish congregation in Kansas City, Missouri, we are in a unique position to engage this important segment of the community.”
The New Reform Temple Sunday School meets every week from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. beginning after Labor Day through the middle of May. This year’s session begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, with breakfast and a brief service. Non-member families enrolling children at the Religious School will pay an annual registration fee of $200 per child to help defray the cost of books and materials. Member families will continue to pay a registration fee of $100 per child.
Shelley Rissien encouraged parents to enroll their children as soon as possible. “Early registration allows us to effectively allocate resources prior to the beginning of school,” she said.
“We look forward to welcoming children and their parents to another exciting year at the Henry & Marion Bloch Religious School,” Rissien continued. “We hope to instill a love of Judaism in every child, and know that wonderful, teachable moments will continue to make our Sundays the sweetest day of the week. In addition, Rabbi Londy brings a warmth and rare ability to interact with the kids that sets us apart from other schools.”
The NRT’s Sunday program includes weekly family worship, classroom learning in Torah and Mitzvot (Jewish religious observances), a focus on acts of loving kindness, a preschool Mazel Tots program, Jewish music, Hebrew and Jewish arts. The school enriches the curriculum with special programs for Jewish holidays. A parallel Jewish Parent Education program is offered as well. The school curriculum also prepares students for Bar/Bat Mitzvah training and culminates in its 10th grade Confirmation class.
For more information and to enroll your child in the Henry & Marion Bloch Religious School, contact the NRT at (816) 523-7809.{/mprestriction}