Sun.,  Sept. 21  
Selichot
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 
9th annual To Life! A Jewish Cultural Street Festival, Palo Alto
Tues., Sept. 23  
8:45 a.m.  Jewish Family Identity (information about course)

September calendar
October calendar

Absent Students  If your child is sick, please report this to the school office, as early as possible, by calling:  408.738.3060.

Late Students   If your child arrives after 8:45 a.m., please come into the office to sign your child in.

Early Pick-Up   If you need to pick your child up for an appointment during school hours, please come into the school office to sign your child out and then your child will be called from class to meet you.

Picture Days  for K – 8th grades, picture day will be on Wednesday, October 29th and for Gan Aviv (rooms 1 – 6) it will be on Thursday, October 30th.

Download Form

To celebrate a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or, send get well wishes or condolences, fill out an Honor Fund donation form and submit to Barbara Spielman. Acknowledgements will be sent to the recipients.   A donation form is attached to the Chai Lights and is also available in the school office.

Mazel Tov
Michael and Deena Haines on Gabriel’s Bar Mitzvah
Isaac and Devorah Soncino
Janet and Nate Silberman on Shana’s engagement
Eli and Lottie Monarch on the birth of a grandson
Barbara and Steve Goldstein
The Gazit family on Matan’s Bar Mitzvah
Linda and David Bostwick       

Condolences
Eric Benhamou and sons Ori and Manny in memory of beloved wife and mother, Illeana
Rabbi Avi and Rena Schochet
Barbara and Steve Goldstein
Barbara and Marvin Spielman
Selveraj and Didi Balagopal in memory of beloved wife and mother, Joan
Linda and David Bostwick    

Refuah Sh’lemah
Marian Cooper best wishes for a speedy recovery
Linda and David Bostwick

STUDENT COUNCIL
As a school, we are proud of our students’ ability to accept leadership roles and the responsibility that goes with it.  A Student Council is the ideal vehicle for fostering those skills.  In the recent election for officers and class representatives, our students showed their mettle by displaying dignity and respect in their campaign for positions on the council.  After listening to speeches from the candidates, the Middle School made their choices and the following students were elected:

The speech of Sara Cramer, the newly elected Student Council President, very succinctly epitomized all that a school could ask its students to be.

Chana Greenberg and Beth Kurlan are the faculty advisers to the Student Council.  We owe them a debt of gratitude for organizing the election and all their efforts to ensure the smooth running of this important body.

SARA CRAMER'S SPEECH
Hi, my name is Sara Cramer and I am running for student body president. I have been going to SPHDS since I was 2 years old, making this my 12th year. Two years ago I was a part of the student council. Being in student council taught me that with freedom comes responsibility. In student council you have the freedom and power to change. To change the school and make it a better place, but with this freedom and power comes responsibility, it is now your responsibility to improve. I feel that I can take on this great responsibility. I work well with students and teachers alike. Our student body at this school is very diverse and I am ready and able to work with everyone.

I am very creative; I am a good listener and promise to listen to everyone’s ideas. As student council president I want to make more activities for the school. Last year we had a volleyball game between the staff and the students, which I think brought about a lot of school spirit, I would like to make more activities similar to the volleyball game so that we have a great amount of school spirit.  I want to emphasize school spirit, but also being Jewish. I want to make programs for the holidays, for example as in previous years a sukkah hop. I want to make school not only academic, but fun too.

The beginning of school and Elul come at around the same time. In Elul we know that we are closer to Hashem. It says “Li V'Dodi L'Dodi Ani”, “I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me.” Elul is not only a time to do teshuva, to repent, but it also is a time to take upon ourselves new responsibilities. Sphds as a school is a klal, or a group.  This year we have some new students and it is important that these new students become and feel that they are a part of our klal. In Elul we should take upon ourselves the responsibility of making sure that every student new or old be a part of this klal, and I feel that as student council we should help make this happen and work on this task.  I propose some group activities as a middle school, some icebreakers or even just having a time where we all can hang out together and meet one another, to help us work on this task. So that we can go into “Yom Hadin”, judgment day and the new school year as one big Klal, as one big group under Hashem.

JEWISH FAMILY IDENTITY (JFI)
SPHDS is truly a multi-faceted community. Our parent body represents more nationalities, ethnicities, and levels of observance than the colors in a rainbow. It is this rainbow of images that goes such a long way to make our school so special. Many of our parents have asked for assistance in coming to grips with their own special Jewish Identity.

Rena Schochet, who is a Relationship and Life Coach, and a Family Educator, has graciously agreed to facilitate a series of independent sessions on Tuesday mornings from 8:45 – 9:45 AM in the MPR.

The first session entitled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Rosh HaShannah and Never Knew Whom to Ask” will take place this Tuesday, 23 September, followed by an open forum to discuss the nature of future sessions.

All SPHDS parents are invited to join in this first session; the additional four sessions will take place on: October 28th, November 11th, November 25th and December 9th respectively. A nominal fee of $36.00 has been set for this series, and will be earmarked for the 8th Grade Israel trip.

BOARD RETREAT
The school’s senior governing body is its Board of Directors. This past Sunday the Board of Directors met for the first time this year at a full day retreat under the watchful eye of its newly elected president, Jonathan Novitch.

This was a time for introspection as the Board tackled issues of governance, budget and finance, marketing, and fundraising. The school is truly blessed to have such a quality group of deeply committed individuals giving of their time, effort and energy for the betterment of our school. With people of this caliber, we can truly look forward to a successful year.

Executive: President Jonathan Novich, Vice President David Barkan, Treasurer David Mendel, Seceretary Larry Geller, Past President Yvonne Boxerman.
Board: Alan Crystal, Michael Haines, Jonathan Kaye, Naomi Klughauft, Nurit Kedem, Scott Penner, Esther Rosenfeld, Rachel Schapiro, Eli Schwartz, Farshad Zaghi

CHALLAH ORDER FORMS
Challahs are available only by preorder.  Please return the form to the office, together with your check payable to "SPHDS - Parents Association." For Rosh Hashanah challah, the order forms were due today, if you have not as yet ordered, click here.
Challah will be available for pick-up by noon on the scheduled delivery date.

LUNCH TICKETS
Lunch tickets will only be sold on Mondays and Tuesdays, in the office, for the K - 8 School Lunch Program.

AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES
We are starting after-school classes next week.  The registration forms were sent home this week and if you haven't received one click here and pull up the form(s) you need.  The classes being offered are:  Clay (ceramics), Yoga, Dance, Chess, Sports, Israeli Dancing and Basketball.

COMMUNITY NEWS
The 9th annual To Life! A Jewish Cultural Street Festival will be held this Sunday, September 21st, from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on California Avenue, in Palo Alto, between El Camino Real and Park Blvd.  Join the thousands of people from throughout the Bay Area who attend this wonderful festival.

SPHDS will have two booths at the festival.  One will be located in the Tents of the Community area – come by and say “hello”; and the second will be an arts and crafts booth in the children’s area.  Stop by and your children will have a great time creating an art project to take home.
To volunteer for a couple of hours, please contact coordinator Avril Landes at avrillandes@hotmail.com, before Shabbat.
What would a street festival be without food!  Delicious kosher, Israeli, and vegetarian foods will be available.
For more information go to:  http:www.paloaltojcc.org/tolife.

The Friendship Circle will be having a Rosh Hashanah Family Festival for children who have special needs and their families on Sunday, September 28th, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Kehillah Jewish High School, 3900 Fabian Way, Palo Alto.  There will be candied apples, games, interactive story time and making original Shana Tovah cards and teens will be there to assist the children. Admission is $6. per person. RSVP by September 19th to 650.858.6990 or email:  esther@bayareafc.org.  Parents must be present.

The Shofar Factory is a fun holiday workshop for children of all ages.  All they have to do is roll up their sleeves and they’ll be ready to make their very own hand crafted kosher shofar!
The workshop will be on Sunday, September 28th from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., at the Las Palmas Park Building, 850 Russet Drive, Sunnyvale.  There is no admission; the cost per shofar is $12.
Space is limited.  RSVPs are necessary.  Call the office to register at 408.720.0553 or email:  info@chabadsunnyvale.com