In October, Torah Academy, in collaboration with Gateways Access to Jewish Education, was granted an impressive $25,000 to fund mental health programming. As administrators carefully considered which new initiatives would yield the most impact for students, they identified parents as the group that could collaborate with them to achieve results. Recognizing parents as essential partners in chinuch, TA administrators sought to empower students by empowering their parents.
Mrs. Dina Feldman, the General Studies Principal and Special Education Director at the Girls’ Division, had long harbored the dream of positioning Torah Academy as an educational resource for families and took the initiative to organize the “Positive Parenting Series” led by renowned parenting educator, Mrs. Rivka Levitansky.
This 7-part series took place on Zoom, with the initial session hosted at a lovely in-person event. Topics included nurturing warm relationships, discipline and setting limits, sibling rivalry, daily routines, and more. The course was designed primarily for mothers, with fathers invited to follow along by listening to session recordings. The goal was to form a close-knit cohort of mothers who could learn from each other and provide ongoing support long after the series concluded.
More than 35 mothers participated in the class. Several attendees also hold roles as moros and teachers at the school, thereby expanding the impact of these lessons within the TA community. Despite the dual roles of those mothers, Mrs. Feldman emphasized that during the classes, all participants were wearing their “mommy hats,” entering a judgment-free safe space to learn and ask questions.
Mrs. Levitansky commended the forward-thinking approach of the administrators in organizing the class. It was evident from her meeting with them that they had put considerable thought into selecting the lesson topics and investing in their partnership with parents. Recognizing parents as partners in education is a hallmark of a Torah Academy education. Teachers, parents and administrators foster close communication with each other at every grade level.
In her class introduction, Mrs. Levitansky empathized with the inherent challenges of parenting, openly acknowledging that being a parent is arguably the toughest job in the world. She emphasized the absence of perfection in parenting. Nonetheless, by the end of the course, her aspiration was for parents to approach their role with increased confidence and to experience greater cooperation from their children.
This cohort of growth-oriented mothers, armed with expert knowledge and supported by a passionate administration, is poised to make real change within their families, change which will reverberate across the school and community.
Photo: Charlesview grant award
