STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

Netivot HaTorah is a coeducational elementary Jewish Day School providing a full program of Judaic and General Studies. It was established by a group of parents seeking to provide their children with an exciting, challenging and stimulating educational experience in an atmosphere strongly supportive of ongoing growth in both Jewish knowledge and Jewish commitment. Netivot HaTorah is committed to addressing the needs of the whole child - social, emotional, physical and intellectual, and its program is designed to achieve excellence in both its Judaic and General Studies components.

The following fundamental convictions may be said to underlie the educational program of Netivot HaTorah:

1. Halacha (Jewish law) represents the means of achieving the sanctification of the life of the Jew as an individual and as a member of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish community); hence the student in a Jewish Day School must be imbued with an understanding of halacha, an appreciation for halacha, and a commitment to halacha.

2. The elementary Jewish Day School must lay the foundation for continued Torah study at higher levels; thus the day school must provide its students with the basic knowledge and skills in Judaic Studies necessary to properly equip them for such subsequent study.

3. The Hebrew language is the key to the understanding of those texts in which Jewish values, concepts and ideas are expressed, as well as being the national language of the Jewish people; thus the Hebrew language should be used as the language of instruction in a Jewish Day School so as to develop and promote the child’s comprehension and facility of expression in the Hebrew language, both oral and written.

4. Medinat Yisrael (the State of Israel) is the religious and national homeland of the Jewish people; the Jewish Day School must strive to create a sense of identification with it.

5. Secular studies are a critical element in the total educational development of the Jewish child; thus a Jewish Day School must strive for academic excellence in all aspects of its program.

6. The Jewish Day School must strive to sustain and further develop the child’s natural sense of curiosity, teach him to think, question, inquire and analyze, while at the same time providing the setting for his social and emotional development.

7. Each child is an individual, possessing his own unique personality traits, his own unique capabilities and his own unique needs; the Jewish Day School must recognize this fully and reflect in its program a commitment to addressing the needs and nurturing the capabilities of each and every one of its students.

8. “Derech Eretz Kadmah LaTorah” - exemplary moral and ethical behaviour is the hallmark of the halachically-committed Jew; the Jewish Day School must work toward instilling in the child a clear sense of what Jewish tradition expects of him in this sphere and inspiring him to live in accordance with those expectations.

9. Jewish life is lived in community and each Jew has an obligation to contribute both materially and personally to the community; the Jewish Day School must therefore strive to instill within its students a sense of responsibility to the local Jewish community as well as to the community of Jews living in the State of Israel.

Netivot HaTorah seeks to create a spirit of cooperation among staff, administration, lay leadership and parents in working together toward achieving the goals of its educational program.