HIGH SCHOOL

Grades 9-10
As important as the Bar/Bat Mitzvah is to our children and their families, we are very aware that Jewish education should definitely not end at age 13, any more than secular education should cease after the 7th grade.

Our High School program offers students in grades 9 and 10 the opportunity to meet once a week on Monday evenings to study and discuss subjects of great relevance to their lives, and to socialize with other Jewish teenagers. It is at this point in their Jewish education that our young people become aware that Judaism is not just Hebrew prayers and holiday celebrations, but a system of beliefs about God, the nature of humanity, ethical imperatives and moral mandates.

In studying Modern (conversational) Hebrew, Jewish lifecycles, and Jewish sexuality among other topics, students in our high school program begin to understand that their own value systems have been shaped by thousands of years of Jewish teachings.

The culmination of Temple Beth Am High School is Confirmation at the end of the 10th grade. This service, which is put together and led by members of the Confirmation class and held on the festival of Shavuot, is one of the most beautiful services of the entire year.

After Confirmation, many 11th and 12th graders continue on in our Post-Confirmation program. Once a month, these high school juniors and seniors meet for an hour with Rabbi Miller and an hour with Cantor Schechtman to discuss subjects facing young people in the 21st century, particularly as they establish their own Jewish identity when they leave home for the first time and go off to college.

At the end of 12th grade, we have a special graduation service for those students who have shown the remarkable commitment and dedication to complete all the years of Jewish education at Temple Beth Am.