Bridging My Jewish Identity and My Profession

My Jewish identity has always been very important to me. As a child, I remember regularly attending Shabbat services, enjoying my standing seat beside the cantor’s wife. I remember how much I thrived at the Jewish overnight camp I attended every summer, lapping up the songs and teachings. Another innate piece of my identity has […]

A Purim Message from Head of School

Dear Bialik Community Members, I want to share some brief thoughts as the festival of Purim begins tonight. We are all keenly aware of the many very serious issues in our lives right now. On a global level, the pandemic has challenged, confused and depressed us, and the situation in Ukraine is distressing and horrifying, […]

The A-B-Cs of Early Literacy

In two classrooms, just a few minutes walk from each other, a JK and a Grade 8 student are putting the beginning and ending touches on their literacy journeys. In the JK classroom, Rachel is meeting another new friend — Oscar Orange — who is introducing her to the letter sounds that will later translate […]

From Remote to In-Person…Executive Functioning Reboot

A favourite part of my day occurs when students knock on my door and want to give me an update of how they are feeling and what they are up to. The latest chatter was amusing: “I have to wake up so early, just to eat breakfast, get dressed and get here on time.” A […]

Every Child Matters – A Canadian Jewish Perspective

On September 30, Bialik students and staff commemorated Canada’s first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day, as it is known. This was a day to celebrate and honour Canada’s Indigenous peoples and develop a greater appreciation for Indigenous culture, customs, beliefs and traditions. One might think that in sending our children […]

Teaching the Whole Child

Throughout this past summer, I often found myself ruminating over the same question, “What will this upcoming school year look like at Bialik?” As the warm days passed and more information from public health authorities emerged, it became increasingly clear that we would be returning to in-person learning on September 9. After two years of […]

Our 2021 Valedictorians Speeches

As a school that teaches four languages, it is a treasured Bialik graduation tradition to hear addresses in each language from our four valedictorians at our Graduation Ceremonies. Kol Hakavod to Katie Ossip, Yiddish Valedictorian, Corey Bensky, French Valedictorian, Jacob Mann, Hebrew Valedictorian and Abby Mandelcorn, English Valedictorian. We are proud to share excerpts of […]

Our Attitude Determines Our Outcome

We were so stimulated and impressed by the finalists at our Grade 8 English Public Speaking Competition. Our students worked extremely hard to research, write and deliver their speeches with confidence and poise. We are proud to share the first-prize-winning speech from Abby Mandelcorn, who as the judges said, “Took a year-and-a-half and summed it […]

This Tu Bishvat, What Will You Plant?

Tu Bishvat — the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat — is a perfect holiday for educators! It is a one-day festival on the Jewish calendar that can become the focus of an entire unit in the classroom. Tu Bishvat lends itself readily to teaching about how and why we celebrate birthdays, how […]

Demystifying ADHD: A Guide for Parents

When we hear the term ADHD, it is common to think of a child zipping around the playground like the Road Runner from Looney Tunes or an Alvin and the Chipmunks character, sitting at the back of the class, daydreaming, and “bored.” While these behaviours may capture some children with ADHD, they do not accurately […]