It may be summer, but the first day of religious school is right around the corner. The first day of school is Sunday, Sept. 10 and the first day of midweek is Tuesday, Sept. 12.

I've lived in the Washington area long enough to know that August is not the month to ask anyone to do anything, because everyone is on vacation. That's why I made sure that our Family School packets went out in mid-June, so that families would have plenty of time to fill out their selection cards and send them back before they hit the beach.

Family School is a 45-minute program that will begin every religious school day for students in kindergarten through seventh grade--and their parents. The year will be divided into trimesters, and families will take a different course each trimester. There are six unique courses families can select from, and in addition, everyone will participate in Family Minyan.

In case you misplaced your packet or didn't get one, please contact the office ASAP to request the materials. Courses are filling up fast and we want to make sure your family gets its first choice. If you have any questions about Family School, please call me at 202-342-9175 or e-mail educationdirector@templemicah.org. I want to make sure that everyone knows exactly what to expect from this exciting new program.

If you still haven't filled out your registration materials, you can download the forms from the Temple Micah Web site. Go to the Religious School page, print the forms and mail them in. It's vital that we have up-to-date information for all students, so please make sure your forms are turned in.

Finally, I want to send out an appeal. Every year I hit the phones a few weeks before school starts to rustle up room parents for each class. Room parents arrange snack schedules, assist teachers in coordinating class events and help me find volunteers for a few programs throughout the year. If you are interested in being a room parents, please give me a call or send me an e-mail to let me know. I promise I'll give you all the tools you need to make the job as painless as possible.