London Community Hebrew Day School
536 Huron Ave N5Y 4J5 London, ON, Canada

School is looking a little different these days...and sometimes we have furry visitors attending our classes. Socks the Cat decided he wanted to learn some grade five math today. We love our pets at LCHDS and we want to see yours - share your photos of your pets in the comments!

Just like every other school in Ontario, LCHDS has made the switch this week to online learning to comply with the stay-at-home orders. We’re constantly amazed by the flexibility our kids show in handling the repeated changes, and we’re eternally grateful to our teachers and staff for their adaptability and grace under pressure. Thanks to all the families for their support as we made the transition. Shabbat shalom! (pic taken pre-covid)

LCHDS students observed Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut today with special activities in the morning and afternoon. The kids remembered the sacrifices made by Israeli soldiers in the morning, and spent the afternoon touring Israel they danced to Israeli music, they wrote a special note at the Kotel (Western Wall), created artwork in Tzfat and enjoyed the outdoors in Tel Aviv. Thank you to Morah Nechamie and the student council for all of your hard work in putting today together!

LCHDS marked Yom HaShoah today remembering the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The grade 5/6 class did several things to commemorate the six million, such as listening to the story of a Holocaust survivor over Zoom and researching victims through the Museum of Tolerance. They then wrote stories and poems to share with their classmates. Below is the bulletin board created by the 5/6 students, and one of the poems, written by grade five student, Anja Lander: ANOTHER JE...W Every minute another Jew cried, Every minute another Jew died. Every minute another Jew was hit, Every minute another Jew was bit. Every minute another Jew was beaten, Every minute another Jew was taken. Every minute another Jew prayed, Every minute another Jew strayed. All this time Jews were in pain, but Jews still had faith. Work hard another day, just to survive another day. They lost their freedom, They lost their hope.

Before we took a break for Passover, our kids had a chance to practice their Mah Nishtanah (The Four Questions) and sing Dayenu at our annual model seder. Usually we do it all together as a school with our older students running it, but covid meant that each class had the chance to run and lead their own. Many thanks to the PTA for putting together seder plates for every student and making it all possible! (BTW, be sure to check out our Twitter and Instagram feeds to see different pics from our seders! @LCHDS_official on both!)

It has been a week since we learned of the passing of our much loved kindergarten teacher, Miss Kantor. It has been a week like no other at LCHDS, and we’ve come together and grown closer as a community as we’ve navigated this difficult time. Thank you all for your love and support. We especially want to thank our staff for their grace and strength, and for the care they have shown all the children. We know how difficult this has been for all of you in particular, and your efforts are beyond appreciated. LCHDS is now taking its Pesach break, and we will be back after the chag with more pictures and stories of life at our school. Wishing all of you a chag Pesach sameach. Next year in Jerusalem.

Chag Purim sameach! LCHDS celebrated Purim today with treats, dressing up and hearing the Megillah outside. Enjoy the photos of our students’ costumes! (To see some different pictures, check out our Twitter and Instagram pages - both under 'LCHDS_Official') Special thanks to Rabbi Eliezer Gurkow (Rabbi Lazer!) for coming to read the Megillah and braving the elements to do so. Shabbat shalom!

Who’s your favourite historical Jewish person (tell us in the comments below)? For our grade 5/6 students, the answers ranged from Anne Frank, to Albert Einstein, to Canada’s own Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella. By bringing a Jewish flavour to our secular subjects, we blend pride in Jewish history and traditions with our commitment to a first-class secular education. Learn more about our approach to learning by visiting our website at lchds.ca!

On Friday, LCHDS celebrated our amazing teachers by having Teacher Appreciation Day. The halls were lined with thank you posters and kids gave their teachers pictures and notes to thank them for all they do. As we all know, the pandemic has presented particular challenges, and our students have been so lucky to have teachers who have risen to meet them. If you’d like to help support our teachers and school as we continue to provide a first-class education in both secular and Judaic studies, either call the LCHDS office, or go to: https://www.canadahelps.org//london-community-hebrew-day-/ Thank you for your continued support of the London Community Hebrew Day School!

The LCHDS family suffered a tragic loss on Friday when we learned of the sudden and unexpected death of our beloved kindergarten teacher, Amanda Kantor. Amanda worked for LCHDS for almost ten years and saw countless children from the London Jewish community through their first years of school, bringing joy and an unbridled passion for learning to her classroom. She delighted in uncovering the individual strengths of each child, and helping them to develop those to their fullest. We send our condolences to her family and friends, to the rest of our staff, and to every child and family that was fortunate enough to have Miss Kantor as their teacher. She will never be far from our hearts, and will always be remembered with love. May her memory be for a blessing. Thank you, Miss Kantor. We love you.

At our AGM last night, we welcomed some new faces to our board, said goodbye to some others, and renewed our commitment to Jewish education in London. Our deepest thanks to our outgoing Board of Directors Chair, Danielle, and a warm welcome to our new Board of Director co-Chairs, Mandy & Marcy. Shabbat shalom to all of you from all of us at LCHDS!

LCHDS kids took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and did gym outside! Our small class sizes make it easy for us to get out and get some exercise. Sunshine and running around does it get any better than that? Remember to share to your networks - we want everyone to know about the wonderful things going on at LCHDS! (Accessible image description) Several elementary school kids outdoors, some holding hula hoops, on a sunny spring day.

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The student council at LCHDS is excited to present "Winter Fun Day" tomorrow!!! Our Grade 5 & 6 students have worked hard to create fun & safe programming for the full school to enjoy! Parents, please remember to send your children to school with all their Winter gear. Should you need any extra layers or assistance, please reach out to the office.

There is music in every child, the teacher’s job is to find and nurture it. Frances Clark, American pianist and music teacher. Our halls were ringing today with the sound of music, courtesy of music teacher Danny Bell and his violin. The kindergarten kids were excited to be treated to his playing and to explore new music sounds. Every music day, Mr. Bell helps kids to find their music and to appreciate the music around them. We’re grateful to him and to all our teachers for their dedication to our students! (and psst, if you like the post, be sure to share it to your networks!)

Here at LCHDS, we have a lot to offer your child and your family small class sizes; knowledgeable, dedicated teachers; and a tight-knit, inclusive community of families to share your school journey with. We want to provide your entire family with a home read this article from the Mayberg Foundation to see what a Jewish education can offer you. And then get in touch with us we are dedicated to ensuring all London Jewish kids can access our school, and that there is no barrier to any family. Call us today to see how we fit in with your family! https://www.mayberg.org//the-value-of-a-jewish-day-school-

During Black History Month, the students at LCHDS celebrate the various achievements and contributions of influential Black people. They also addressed some of the challenges faced by Black people as a visible minority. Through books, videos and discussion, the students learned about slavery and segregation. It is part of our mission at LCHDS to educate our students about the diverse community we live in. No matter a person’s colour, gender, religion, race, sexual orientation or social status, we all deserve respect and an equal place in our society. In the upper years, these topics are tied into Jewish history and the similar struggles we face as a religious minority group in Canada and around the world. The students at LCHDS understand that we are all human beings first and each of us matter and should be valued.

December 1st is GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to giving Enter online, for an opportunity to win $5000 for LCHDS! Thank you to CanadaHelps Below is our direct Canada Helps page:... https://www.canadahelps.org//london-community-hebrew-day-/ See more

Shabbat Shalom to all! Wishing everyone an enjoyable and safe weekend.

Proud to partner with Scholastic Reading Club Canada! Our Reading Club gives back to the school; when you place your order online with the class code (RC206062) LCHDS will earn 20% in school rewards. This LCHDS school Mom just ordered a set of Judy Blume books for her Grade 4 student. I remember loving these books at her age! Which books were your favorite?

This week is Bullying Prevention and Intervention Week. The students in Grades 3 to 6 participated in a poster contest known as the Let’s All Be Friends Campaign. Photo attached showcases some of our upper grade students, and their work!

Celebrating World Teacher Day today. Thank you to all of the educators at LCHDS!!! You make our school warm, caring and engaging.

With our community support we re-opened the doors of LCHDS to our students this morning!!! The children and staff had a wonderful and safe day. We look forward to another amazing school year With our community support we re-opened the doors of LCHDS to our students this morning!!! The children and staff had a wonderful and safe day. We look forward to another amazing school year

Making Monday super fun! It’s crazy hair day!!!

Your child in grades 6-8 is eligible to enter the PJ Our Way book review competition in Moment Magazine. Check it out here: https://momentmag.com/book-of-the-moment/

Five days ago, none of us could have predicted what was going to happen with our campaign. We are astounded. Thank you to all of you who contributed in the past few days, and helped to ensure that Jewish education in London will be available for generations to come. We don't really have the words to express our gratitude...so we're going to let our students do it for us. Shabbat shalom!

Just a few hours left in the LCHDS campaign! We can't believe how far we've come - can you help us meet our final goal of $130,000? www.charidy.com/lchds

We’re in the home stretch! Our campaign has been so successful, that we’ve twice had to revise our goal. So there’s still 24 hours for anyone who would still like to contribute and help us reach our newest goal of $120,000! Together, we’re going to make sure Jewish education is a mainstay in the London Jewish community for generations to come! www.charidy.com/lchds

LCHDS is so lucky to have the support of generous people who agreed to match donations dollar for dollar during the campaign. Thanks to them every single donation was doubled - and thanks to that, we hit our goal of $80,000 faster than we ever thought possible. Now we’re in our bonus round, closing in on $100,000 raised - and more matchers have come forward to ensure that every donation continues to be doubled. The sky is truly the limit now! We’re so very grateful to every one of these people for their unwavering support of LCHDS and Jewish education in London. To donate and have your gift matched dollar for dollar, go to www.charidy.com/lchds and help us keep this going!

Kol ha’kavod! We can hardly believe it. In less than two days, we’ve blown past the goal we set for ourselves thanks to the kindness and generosity of so many people. Your support means that LCHDS will have an even bigger foundation on which to build. But we still have three days to go in our campaign! You can still donate to The Little School That Could and we would be beyond grateful for the support. Every dollar helps to ensure that Jewish kids will continue to have acce...ss to a Jewish education in London for generations to come! www.charidy.com/lchds

We're 3/4 of the way there! Incredible! Thank you to everyone who's supported LCHDS and here's to reaching the last bit of our goal!

Wow. Wow. WOW!... We are just blown away. In less than 24 hours, LCHDS has raised almost half of the $80,000 goal we set for ourselves thanks to the support and love of our families, friends, staff, and alumni who have so generously donated to our fundraiser. But we're not done! We still have that other half to go so we can ensure Jewish education in London continues to thrive. We have four days to go, so if you haven't donated - and hey, we'll take that loonie or toonie you've got lying around - please consider supporting LCHDS. Remember that every donation will be matched dollar for dollar by kind supporters from the London community. And if you have given, we'd appreciate it if you continue to help us out by sharing to your networks, sharing your stories of the school, and making sure this is seen by as many people in Jewish London and beyond as possible. We can't do this without any of you! Click here to donate: www.charidy.com/lchds

And we're live! Today we start our campaign to raise $80,000 to ensure LCHDS's future. Every dollar you contribute will be doubled thanks to the generosity of many community members. So even if it's only a couple of bucks, it will make a massive difference in the life of our school. To donate, go to www.charidy.com/lchds. Pass this on to your friends and family and help the 'Little School That Could' provide a Jewish education for years to come!

Shabbat shalom to the entire LCHDS family! We've got a big week coming up - make sure to check in on Sunday for the start of our campaign. We're going to need everyone's help to make sure LCHDS has another fifty years in its future!

Remember how we said we had big plans for July? The time is NOW. We need your help to make sure the London Community Hebrew Day School, a community staple here in London for over 50 years, keeps going for another 50 years! Starting on July 5th and running until July 10th, we’re going to raise $80,000 to ensure the school’s continued operation. With the help of several generous donors who have agreed to match your donation dollar for dollar, we know this goal is within our grasp. So. Donate, and then send this post to everyone you know, invite people to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and spread the word - because the ‘Little School That Could’ needs EVERYONE’S help! Donate here: www.charidy.com/lchds Check out our website to see what you’re supporting: www.lchds.ca

It’s Canada Day! Enjoy your BBQs with friends and family, and the (online) fireworks! From the LCHDS family to all of you, have a safe, healthy and happy holiday! (And to our expat alumni, family and friends who will be celebrating July 4 this week, have a great holiday!)