Academic Program
Sinai Academy maintains the highest
academic standards and offers a rigorous and exciting
program of studies for its Beit Yeladim Preschool and Dayschool students. Multiage classrooms
and flexible grouping allow our students to enjoy a
richer social environment as well as a challenging
academic program. Children are grouped in different
ways according to the subject matter and/or the task at
hand, allowing us the flexibility required to meet
individual needs.
The school’s General Studies curriculum
includes Language Arts (reading, writing,
writer’s workshop, grammar, spelling,
penmanship), Math, Science, Geography, and Social
Studies, as well as enrichments such as Music, Art, Israeli Dance and Physical Education.
The goal of the Judaic Studies
program is for our students to become knowledgeable and
committed Jews who can function in any synagogue and
live within the context of Jewish values, as expressed
in our Guiding Principles.
Hebrew is taught as a second language beginning in
preschool. The curriculum includes the study of
Torah in Hebrew, Tanach (Bible)
stories, T’fillah (prayer), Jewish
holidays, mitzvot (commandments), Israel, and
Jewish traditions.
Our preschool, or Beit Yeladim, is a child-centered,
play-based preschool. We believe strongly that, as
proven time and again by educational researchers, young
children learn by playing. Our curriculum is based on
the day-to-day experiences of the children and their
particular interests. The staff is in charge of
providing a nurturing, safe, and stimulating
environment, being attentive and receptive to
children’s needs, and facilitate and enrich the
preschoolers play. Through play in its many iterations,
young children learn about their world, themselves, and
others, and acquire the skills they will need to
succeed in school and in life. We include themes from
the daily life of children and their environment,
including Jewish and American holidays and traditions,
in a hands-on, experiential way.
A special component of our preschool is the early
exposure to Hebrew language and culture, through the
inclusion of a native Hebrew speaker in the staff. The
acquisition of the language is then accomplished in
context, which is the best way to learn.
Tuition
Please contact Sinai Academy at for current tuition
information.
Tuition Incentive Program
Thanks to the generosity of the Harold Grinspoon
Foundation, Jewish families in our region are eligible
for the HGF Tuition Incentive Program (TIP).
A tuition subsidy of $2,500 is available for any
eligible Jewish child to attend a local Jewish day
school. Over $5 million in TIP assistance has been
provided to eligible families.
Jewish students in their first two years of day
school who attended a Jewish preschool are eligible to
receive enhanced TIP via the Preschool Incentive
Program (PIP). The program is designed to encourage
families who have attended Jewish early childhood
educational programs in our region to continue in a
Jewish day school.
The grant provides an additional $1,000 for tuition
at a Jewish day school for kindergarten and first grade
for children who have attended a Jewish early childhood
education program.
Right Start
The HGF will help pay the tuition of the first child
in a Jewish family in our region to enroll in a Jewish
preschool. Each family is eligible for a grant of up to
$1,000 toward the first year of tuition. Please contact
the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to apply.
Eligibility guidelines
A child is eligible for an HGF Right Start grant
if:
- The child is age 2.9 or older
- The family identifies as a Jewish family
- The family resides in western Massachusetts or
southern Vermont
- The child is enrolled in one of the four
participating Jewish preschool programs in western
Massachusetts
- The child is enrolled in a Jewish preschool
program that meets 3, 4 or 5 days per week. The
child may be attending half day, full day, or
extended day
- The child is enrolled in a Jewish preschool
program for the first time. Children who have
attended a preschool program previously with Jewish
content for 2 or 3 days a week without a parent or
caregiver do not qualify for this program. A child
who has attended a Jewish toddler program is still
eligible when he or she reaches the age to move up
to preschool
- The child is the first child in a family to
attend a Jewish preschool
Please note that it is the hope of the Harold
Grinspoon Foundation that Sinai Academy families will
be inspired to make a fully tax-deductible donation to
Sinai Academy, in part, or up to, or beyond the
subsidized amount, in recognition of the TIP and PIP
funding. The program is guaranteed to continue as long
as the child is part of Sinai Academy.
