Emunah Hebrew Academy's Parent and Student Handbook
We feel honored that you have chosen our school to be your child’s second home and that you have joined the Emunah family. We are committed to providing your child a warm and nurturing environment in which he/she will able to maximize personal and spiritual growth.
CA Department of Social Services: Licensing and Child Interviews
Emunah Hebrew Academy is licensed through the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing. Periodic visits are made to the school and at such time the Licensing Analyst may interview several children as part of the licensing requirements. Parents will be notified if their child is interviewed. The interview may consist of questions to the child regarding how they like our school. The visit and the interview are not scheduled in advance. The department of Social Services and the Licensing Agency, per Title 22, Division 12, Chapter 1, Section 101200, “shall have the authority to interview clients, including children or staff, and to inspect and audit client or facility records without prior consent. The school shall make provision for private interviews with clients, including children, or any staff member; and for the examination of all records relating to the operation of the facility”
School Philosophy
We believe in the individuality of the child, how each one learns, with an emphasis on each child’s abilities and needs, creating lessons that fit into the context of the students’ lives both inside and outside of school. Some children may be visual, some auditory and others kinesthetic learners. Our staff implements a curriculum that fosters creativity and empowers students to discover their own identity, making the material come alive in order to inspire our students. Beyond the essential text in any lesson, it is imperative to connect the story to the students. By adding images, kinesthetic exercises, sounds, and conversations that contain stimulating questions, which everyone could personally reflect on, can allow a personal and group response.
We believe that behavior management should never put the dignity of any student at risk. The student should not be embarrassed in front of their friends. The teachers advocate for each of their students, modeling appropriate behavior.
We believe that teaching is improved by constantly assessing the students’ knowledge both formally and informally. We encourage growth through successful social interactions, participation in learning experiences, and the prospect of self-discovery.
School Goals
Our preschool program has been designed to encourage your child to explore his/her world using all his/her senses in a creative, exciting, always growing manner… and a lot of fun!
Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, Art, Music and Movement are integrated into both our Judaic and Secular monthly units. We introduce the ABC’s, aleph-bet and number recognition concepts. Holidays are celebrated, along with Rosh Chodesh, Shabbat and Birthday Parties.
Children explore various learning centers in the classroom. For example, the block area, light table, dramatic play, work with manipulative, the art and sensory tables, music, science and simple math. They participate in meaningful and developmentally appropriate class activities and learn to express their opinion and ideas while listening respectfully to their classmates in small group and large group settings. They learn how to be members of a classroom environment, as well as their Jewish community. They share positive social experiences and learn how to get along with each other and become kind caring friends.
Communication
Parents and teachers are on the same team to ensure the best for each child. Because of this, it is essential that we have open communication. This is accomplished in several ways:
- Annual parent-teacher conferences
- Phone calls on an as-needed basis
- Occasional notices
- Back to school night
- Your child may bring home notes about special class activities, Parsha questions, general school information, etc. PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY and thank your child for being a good messenger.
- In addition, due to an increasingly paper-less world, messages about important school news will be sent via e-mail and WhatsApp. PLEASE READ THEM! Please let us know if you don’t have access to e-mail so that we can make other arrangements to help keep you informed.
We encourage you to speak with your children’s teachers about classroom policies, academic progress and behavior and we always welcome your comments and suggestions. You may leave a message for the teacher and she will get back to you as quickly as possible. If you need to speak to someone about an urgent matter, or believe that a concern was not addressed, please call the office right away for help.
Immunization Requirements
Before your child can be admitted to our school, the following immunization requirements need to be up to date.
- T.B. test assessment
- Polio – 3 doses
- DPT/Td – 4 doses
- MMR – 1 doses
- HIB – 1 doses
- HEP B – 3 doses
- Chickenpox (vermicelli) – 1 dose
