A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

It’s time for Jewish Federation to revisit education priorities

It’s time for Jewish Federation to revisit education priorities

RUSSEL NEISSPublished May 13, 2022

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons, and other opinion pieces reflect those of the writer or artist and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to [email protected] Jewish Federation of St....

J offers families help with virtual learning

J offers families help with virtual learning

Published August 25, 2020

The Jewish Community Center is now accepting applications for the Club All Day, an extension of its before-and after-school program, which will offer space, supervision, safety and structure for an online school day for students in K-5th grade.“We...

Debra Klevens

In-person or virtual learning? A teacher’s message to the community

DEBRA KLEVENSPublished July 30, 2020

As a longtime teacher, I have been contacted by friends, family and acquaintances asking me to help them decide between choosing virtual learning or an in-person learning plan for their children. Like many parents, my head is spinning. Do I...

Back-to-School Anxiety, COVID Style

Back-to-School Anxiety, COVID Style

Jewish Light EditorialPublished July 30, 2020

Normally at this time of year, back-to-school angst begins to arrive, usually in the minds of students who are hardly eager for summer vacation to end.But nothing is normal in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the anxiety typically felt...

Kylie Jansen

Start of school year prompts mixed emotions

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished July 30, 2020

As St. Louisans deal with a swelling in the number of local coronavirus cases and wait to see if they will be filling backpacks and heading to school or simply opening their laptops on the kitchen table, local Jews offered a range of responses — from...

Cheryl Maayan is head of school at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School.

Jewish day schools confront challenges in quest to reopen

By Ellen Futterman & Eric Berger, Editor & Associate EditorPublished July 16, 2020

At Torah Prep School of St. Louis, a majority of the families not only live in University City, they also attend Agudas Israel of St. Louis, an Orthodox synagogue in the suburb. As educators and government and health officials anxiously work through...

Dr. David Rosen is an assistant professor of pediatrics and a pathobiology researcher at Washington University School of Medicine. 

Doctor would greenlight day school opening this fall, with conditions

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITORPublished July 16, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a Zoom call with parents at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, which is hoping to be able to resume in-person classes this fall even though the pandemic is far from over. While most schools in St. Louis County aren’t...

At left, Stephanie, Marin, Ethan and Mark Ruter enjoy the outdoors. 

Frontline parents cherish time with middle schoolers

By Ellie S. Grossman, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 7, 2020

Perhaps the most important lesson that Stephanie and Mark Ruter have taught their son and daughter during the coronavirus pandemic is an appreciation for the simple things in life and to not take their health for granted.  Both parents are nurse anesthetists...

From left, Leora, Yehuda and Tzofia Dean family take part in a Passover play they wrote, directed and edited while learning at home. 

When Mother Earth meets schoolteacher, memories bloom

By Ellie S. Grossman, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 7, 2020

Shelley Hoffman Dean, mom of four kids ages nine through 13, is used to juggling a lot of things. Family, career, music, dance, art, and inspiring children to love Judaism is all in a day’s work. But teaching school to her own children during a pandemic...

Alia Chappell wears a cap and gown delivered by Crossroads to all seniors. 

Homeschooling mom feels right at home

By Ellie S. Grossman, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 7, 2020

Teaching from home is old school for Kalanit Chappell, who points out there are major differences between actual homeschooling and distance learning, which is what most students are doing now.A single mom who lives in University City and member of Bais...

Leyla Fern King

Pandemic exacerbates educational inequities

By Leyla Fern KingPublished April 23, 2020

In August 2018, I began a yearlong program called the High School Leadership Program at Cultural Leadership, an organization that focuses on understanding cultural differences and injustices through Jewish and African American lenses. Over the course...

Ellie DesPrez

St. Louis educators attend Holocaust teaching conference; Ramot Amoona cookbook; fashionable fundraiser at UH

Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished August 8, 2019

Studying dark days to enlightenUnder the heading, “highlights of my summer vacation,” teachers Ellie DesPrez and Jill Donovan say their time spent at the Belfer Conference in Washington, D.C. about tops the list.English teachers at John Burroughs...

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