Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Twos
Class year(s) of child(ren): 2032
About this family: Our family has been on the Upper West Side for several years now. We have a son and a daughter and we love being part of the Rodeph Sholom community.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: Seeing our son have so much fun at school.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Twos
Class year(s) of child(ren): 2025 and 2030
About this family: We are both working parents (Marc is in finance and Leslie is a lawyer). Beyond the amazing community, we love that Rodeph Sholom School integrates Hebrew and Jewish studies seamlessly into the curriculum.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: Too many to name! Any Rodeph Sholom event that brings the community together is one that we cherish. For example, during peak COVID when our community was in distance learning mode, the Friday All School Shabbats were truly amazing as we could feel the connection between families, faculty, and administrators even if only on Zoom. This past year, we were fortunate enough to celebrate the 4th Grade Poetry Reading in person — that was a remarkable event in that it not only showcased the growth of each graduating elementary student, but it also showed us how Rodeph Sholom School makes learning fun and rewarding.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Twos, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade
Class year(s) of child(ren): 2026, 2021, and 2020
About this family: We moved here from San Francisco; our 3 sons are active in sports.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: 4th Grade Poetry Readings; 8th Grade graduation
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Pre-K
Class year(s) of child(ren): 2028
About this family: I’m a Cantor. I’m currently raising my child as a single mom and I’m an older mom. I was raised in Manhattan and went to an independent all girls school and chose Rodeph Sholom because it’s a perfect combination of Private School and Jewish values. My Father was Confirmed at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in the mid 1940s.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: I was so bowled over with pride seeing my son, as a Kindergarten student, get up in front of 1,000+ people and comfortably grab the microphone, with his teacher guiding him, to talk about Shabbat and the Rodeph Sholom community. His confidence and self-esteem is being nurtured every moment of every day at Rodeph Sholom School.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Beginners
Class year(s) of child(ren): 2029 and 2033
About this family: We love being part of the Rodeph Community and are so proud to watch our children grow at Rodeph Sholom.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: Kindergarten Central Park Unit Presentation
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Kindergarten
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2027, 2024, and Class of 2022
About this family:We are two working parents, living on the Upper East Side, and identify as more traditionally Jewish than Reform. Elyssa is a product of Jewish Day School, William is not. We love Rodeph Sholom School and have always felt comfortable.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:We love the Arts Festival each year. The talent and passion of the teachers is very obvious that evening. Getting to see how creative the students are and how excited they are to do the school projects is always a thrill. We also love the All-School Shabbats.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:4th Grade and 6th Grade
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2026 & Class of 2022 (twins)
About this family:We each come from traditional Jewish families and have tried to instill similar values in our children, including keeping a kosher home, having Shabbat meals and observing the major Jewish holidays. We love traveling and have schlepped our kids across the globe to experience new cultures. When possible, we try to visit local Jewish communities and have attended services in many different cities around the world including Jerusalem, Johannesburg, São Paulo and Santiago. No matter where you are the prayers always sound the same, which makes us feel at home even though we are physically thousands of miles away. Our kids spend much of their free time participating in various team sports or trying desperately to break high scores in the video games they play with their friends. We love everything about living in NYC from the parks, to the entertainment to all the fascinating people that you meet on a daily basis. More than anything, we feel incredibly fortunate to have developed so many close friendships with the parents of our kids’ friends and believe our kids are very lucky to have so many great role models that they can look up to.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:We are not sure there was a particular moment, more of a feeling. Since our older boys arrived in 6th grade, there was no more pick up or drop off so our opportunities to meet other parents and kids were very limited. And then COVID. But from the beginning, the way the school handled the shutdown, the way the Rodeph Sholom School kids welcomed our boys as their friends, both virtually and in person whenever possible, we knew we were a part of a close knit community with similar backgrounds and beliefs, a family. Without a lot of personal contact with the parents, we just knew that the boys were starting to make lifelong friendships and seeing them grow and thrive as members of the Rodeph Sholom community has been invaluable to us.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Kindergarten
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2025 (twins)
About this family:We are an interfaith family made up of 2 dads, incoming 5th grader twins & a Newfoundland puppy, with large extended families in NY, TN and Israel. We live downtown. And we LOVE Rodeph Sholom School!
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:4th Grade Poetry Reading
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Twos and Kindergarten
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2030, 2027, and Class of 2022
About this family:As a rabbi and an entrepreneur who went to excellent schools that were not Jewish day schools, we were attracted to Rodeph Sholom because we felt it would provide the high caliber secular academic experience we were looking for with the added bonus of cementing our children’s Jewish knowledge and identity in a way that we feel Hebrew School does not. Looking at the educational landscape, we are grateful that Rodeph Sholom is a school where our children are taught how to think and not what to think. Students are taught to take part in the Jewish tradition of lively debate and respectful disagreements and are encouraged to be free thinkers. As we prepare for our 8th grader to matriculate to a secular high school and college, we know he has the confidence and wisdom to think critically, stand up for who he is and what he believes, and that he will continue to be the kind and compassionate person that he has grown into during his time at Rodeph Sholom.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:It is hard to pick one favorite moment. Overall, at a time when anti-Semitism and villification of Israel are on the rise, we are pleased that our children spend their days at a school where they can be proud of their identity as Zionists and Jews. We also love the warm community among Rodeph Sholom families. In addition, we love that the school knows each one of our children so well and that the faculty and administration are always willing to partner with us in helping each one of our kids reach their full potential. Watching our children and their friends grow from toddlers into confident teenagers is very special. This was particularly poignant as we celebrated all of the 7th graders becoming bar and bat mitzvah this year. We were so touched to hear Rabbi Ben Spratt share stories about the 7th graders that he remembered from the many years during which they had built a relationship in the school.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Twos
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2033, 2030, & 2027
About this family:We met on a group trip to Israel in 2007 and moved to the Upper West Side in 2010. As we prepared to start a family, we joined Congregation Rodeph Sholom. When our eldest child was born in 2013 and we began to explore pre-schools, Rodeph Sholom was an obvious choice to continue our growing family’s connection to the community and start on a new educational journey. That journey has continued with two more children, the youngest of whom will begin in the Twos this fall.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:Preschool pickup has always been a highlight. It’s always great mingling with other Rodeph parents while waiting for the kids to be dismissed, and it’s so heartwarming when your child sees you after a few hours of separation and joyously rushes over to proudly tell you about the day’s events. Whether it be displaying the day’s art project, singing a new song, or telling you about the latest book, the ritual always brings a smile to our faces.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Beginners
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2029 & 2025
About this family:We moved to NYC from Miami and fell into the Rodeph Sholom Community. We fell in love with the school and the community right away; we feel so fortunate to have this connection while living in a big city. It was important to us that our kids are able to grow up learning and celebrating the Jewish religion, traditions and values on a daily basis.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:Our favorite moment at RSS was the 4th grade poetry reading. Going back into the school building after over a year of not going in (because of COVID) was not only a memorable moment but it was a special feeling to share the space and see faculty, staff, peers and the children. We were all able to celebrate this milestone for the 4th graders together, in person and as a community.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Twos and Threes
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2032 & 2029
About this family:Our family is a blend and balance of so many different things. Caribbean and Jewish. Black and White. New York, California, Antigua. Secular but super connected Jewishly. We’re certainly not predictable 🙂
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:Not sure we have one favorite moment. It’s so many small and big moments. Our oldest using her Hebrew and being excited. When learned to read and write. Our littlest having her first school Shabbat with challah. All the ways the school goes out of its way to see the needs of each child as an individual. We remember hearing the School say we’re here to help raise your children, and we’ve learned just how true this is and how amazing that support is.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:Twos and Pre-K
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2033 & 2029
About this family:We’re a super warm, close-knit family with multi-faith (Jewish and Catholic) and bi-national/bilingual (US and Spain) backgrounds, whose lives are continually enriched by treasured grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and beloved cultural traditions on both sides of the Atlantic. We’re raising our children Jewish and hope to provide them a strong foundation, grounded in the values and commitment to community and social justice that are hallmarks of our heritage. And we’re a same-sex couple — moms whose greatest goal is to raise our two kids to be good people who care about each other and the world, and whose interactions with others exemplify the phrase on our daughter’s favorite t-shirt: “Love is love.” (It’s cuter than that, actually… our two-year-old sees the word “love” anywhere and automatically chirps the whole mantra “love is love”… one day, the world may see the same three words in those four letters!)
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:There have already been many wonderful moments in our brief tenure at Rodeph Sholom… but if we have to choose one, it would be experiencing all-Pre-K Kabbalat Shabbat in person, with Louie playing guitar, the kids singing along, and then saying the blessings together. The kids’ and teachers’ joy was palpable!
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: Beginners
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2032 & 2029
About this family: As parents, we have felt a strong commitment to raising our children with integrity, values and a sense of self-all things Rodeph Sholom is amazing at fostering. We also wanted to give our family a warm and strong knit community in such a busy chaotic city- our experience has far surpassed our expectations.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: So hard to choose! If we had to pick one, it would likely be the culmination of my daughter’s Kindergarten project in Central Park and the students’ recreation of the park. We also will never forget the warm welcome our older daughter received on her first day back after missing the first two months of the 2020-21 school year. We have the chills thinking about it!
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School: שנתיים
Current class year(s) of child(ren): גימל, י׳ב , קולאג׳
About this family: משפחה ישראלית חיפשנו קשר ליהדות בקהילה תומכת ואוהדת
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment: לראות את הילדים מבטאים בביטחון את דעתם וידע שרוכשים בפני הורים ומורים. הילדים בטוחים בעצמם ולא פוחדים לנסות ולטעות. הילדים שמחים לחזור לבית ספר אחרי החופש.
Grade(s) children started at Rodeph Sholom School:3s and pre-K
Current class year(s) of child(ren): 2034, 2031, 2028 & 2026
About this family:We are an Israeli family that relocated from Tel Aviv to NYC five years ago because of both of our careers. Ori is a physician and Adi is in tech.
Favorite Rodeph Sholom School moment:The community. Dvar Bracha
