If I had to choose the highlight of the 2005- 2006 school year, there is no question I would pick the success of our Family Minyan program. When we first began to talk about the idea in the summer of 2005, the big question we kept asking ourselves was "Will they come?" We knew we could design the curriculum and create the prayer book. We knew that we could work out the mechanics of rotating the entire school through the sanctuary throughout the year. But still we wondered: Would they come?

We should have known better than to worry. Temple Micah religious school parents are deeply committed to their children's education and to their own Jewish journeys as well. So we should have expected the outcome we got--almost perfect attendance week after week, parents sitting alongside their children learning, praying and asking questions together. I am never prouder of our community of learners than I am when I stand in the sanctuary during Family Minyan.

So how do we build upon our success and expand the opportunities for families to learn together? After a year-long conversation among Rabbi Zemel, Rabbi Manewith and a number of religious school parents, I am thrilled to announce the creation of Temple Micah's Family School program.

Family School is a 45-minute program that will begin every religious school day for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. At 9:30 a.m. each Sunday, parents and their children will go to their assigned Family School course and learn together. They'll study music, literature, Israel, prayer and more. They'll cook, sing, discuss, debate, pray and learn from one another.

The year will be divided into trimesters and families will have the opportunity to take two different courses during the year. The third trimester will be spent in Family Minyan. Later this summer, religious school families will receive booklets that describe the menu of courses available. Read about what we're offering, talk about what interests you the most and send in your request form with your top three choices.

At 10:15 a.m., students will head to their regular classes where they will find a new and exciting curriculum waiting for them. Throughout the summer we are creating what we are calling Curriculum Cookbooks, which will contain 30 detailed lesson plans and a wealth of activities for each grade. These books will give teachers the tools they need to achieve great things in the classroom. They will be free to follow the books as written and make use of all of the great ideas inside. Or, if they decide to approach the curriculum in a different way, the Curriculum Cookbooks will give them concrete goals to strive for and a clear picture of what we expect students to be able to achieve. Copies of these Curriculum Cookbooks will be available for parents to thumb through beginning in September.

Family School presents us with the opportunity to truly become a community of learners. It gives parents the chance to study with their children. It gives families the chance to create new connections and strengthen old ones. It sends the message to our children that Jewish scholarship doesn't ever end, that there is always more to learn. I know this is going to be an extraordinary addition to our religious school. And I know you will come.