It's that time of year again, time for the Temple Micah Religious School to kick off another exciting year of learning. The first day is Sunday, Sept. 12 at 9:30 am. I want to welcome the new families who are joining our community and our returning families. Here's a taste of our exciting plans.

Our first community event will be Tashlich, on Sunday, Sept. 19. Unlike previous years, Religious School will be held that morning. We will dismiss school at 11:00 am and head to Gravelly Point Park for a Tashlich ceremony in which we will cast bread upon the Potomac to symbolize the casting of sins upon the water. Then we'll enjoy the morning with Frisbee, softball, and much more. I encourage all Temple Micah members to join us.

For this year's Sukkot Sale on Oct. 3), we're adding a new component: a fabulous contraption called a Jacob's Ladder that promises to be both challenging and entertaining for kids of all ages. This great day only comes together if everyone commits to volunteer for a few hours to sort, carry and sell all of the great stuff that pours into our building that weekend. Lending a hand and shopping at the sale are great ways to meet other members.

The Babylon Project returns to Temple Micah! Last year, we explored Jews in America and this year we will focus our attention on the Jewish People and the Land of Israel. And back by popular demand, the Bus to Babylon will whisk students off to the George Washington University Hillel House and back each Sunday morning. The Babylon schedule will be on the Religious School calendar, in an e-mail reminder a week in advance and on the Temple website.

Temple Micah's commitment to teach Hebrew as a living, spoken language is one of the things that makes our school unique. To enhance our Hebrew program, we will expose our youngest students to more Hebrew vocabulary. We also have a goal to better integrate the Hebrew experiences of students in grades 4-7 during midweek and Sunday to reinforce their reading and conversational skills constantly.

Students in grades 9-12 are in for a change when we unveil our new high school program. Rinat Manhoff, our new high school coordinator, and I have been working throughout the summer to create a challenging and engaging curriculum for our oldest students. All parents of children in grades 9-12 should have received detailed information about this new program. If you didn't, please email me.

Finally, I wanted to let you know about a new parent involvement initiative we are embarking on this year. Late in the 2003-2004 school year, I met with a group of parents to discuss our Religious School program. We talked not only about where our school's strengths lie but also about where we can improve. The group committed to spend this school year working with me on two key issues; a school-wide classroom management plan and improved communication between home and classroom. In addition, they agreed to serve as an organizing body for parent volunteers. Temple Micah's Religious School depends on parent volunteers for a variety of important tasks.

This year we want to make it easier than ever to find a way for every parent to pitch in. So join us in the sanctuary on Sept. 19 at 10:00 am for our inaugural PTA meeting and hear about all of the ways you can help make our program even better.