Website is live!

October 17th, 2011

Our new website is now live! We now have a new site design; brand new coloration that coordinates with school colors; a drop-down menu bar that is more reflective of our school community’s needs; navigation that is more user-friendly; and more information for current and prospective families.

Here’s just a short list of the new and important features:

Updated and expanded curricular content
Conveniently-located click buttons to admissions, registration, and on-line giving.
Conveniently-located My BackPack login buttons.
News features that will post both campus news and BYDS in-the-media articles.
Same web address-www.bethyeshurundayschool.org; or, for your convenience, beginning this week you can also access our site via the web address byds.org .
Parent menu that will be posting valuable articles and web-links.
Guest login for donations-for anyone without a My BackPack account.
Lots of pictures! And there’s even more coming…

Please know that several sections and pages remain under construction-but this is by design, because some key features like the news features and the parents section will necessitate on-going postings in order to keep the site current and relevant; in addition, the curricular content will eventually incorporate pictures and images to illustrate our program.

This is all to say that our website is not meant to be a static site-we aim to keep infusing it with additional and updated information.

Many months have gone into creating this new website, and several on staff have been involved in working with our programmer out in Los Angeles, Jeremy Broekman, who designed and constructed the site-I want to single out both Marci Gilbert, our Advancement and Marketing Director, who oversaw the bulk of the site construction details, and Cathryn Mellon, our Curriculum Specialist, who produced the bulk of the curricular content. And all throughout, Robyn Burck has continued in her role as technology advisor during our web transition phase.

As always, do let us know your suggestions on how we can make the site better for your needs.

Sincerely,

Tom Elieff

CBY Torah Project

October 17th, 2011

Celebration_Card_Final

The Torah Project of Congregation Beth Yeshurun is an exciting opportunity for all of us. The sofer will be visiting our school and synagogue community every month from now until April.

The first opportunity during our school day will be Monday, Oct. 31st. All EC and ES families will be welcome to join us for services at 8:00 A.M. If you would like to be scheduled for a time to engage in this meaningful experience which will culminate in the writing of a letter in the Torah, please fill out the form below and return it to Annie in the school office.

Name___________________________

Contact Phone Number____________

Contact Email_____________________

The best time for your appointment would be:

___8-12 ___12-4 ___4-8

You will be contacted for your specific time.

There will be numerous opportunities to fulfill this mitzvah at the synagogue.

Upcoming dates for this mitzvah opportunity to be fulfilled at BYDS are:

November 22 (This is the date for our Thanksgiving program).

December 18

January 30

February 27

March 13 (This is scheduled on the 1st Grade Siddur Celebration Service. This could be an ideal date for 1st grade families.)

April 18 (this is Young Authors Day Celebration. It is another great day for families to come and schedule a date).

Prospective Parent Open House

September 19th, 2011

Don’t Miss our Beth Yeshurun Day School OPEN HOUSE
Tuesday October 11, 2011 at 7:00pm

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PTO Holiday Bazaar-Save the Date

August 23rd, 2011

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BYDS ‘stands tall’ at grand opening: Day school officially opens doors of new facility

August 23rd, 2011

The Freedman-Levit Sanctuary of Congregation Beth Yeshurun was filled with multiple generations of former, current and future Beth Yeshurun Day School students and their families on Sunday, Aug. 14, to commemorate the grand opening of the school’s new building. Also attending the august occasion were members of Houston’s greater Jewish community.

This year marks 60 years for the day school, which now educates close to 400 students, from 15 months to fifth grade.

Sam Kaminsky, 11, a 2011 BYDS graduate, entered the sanctuary with his mom and younger sister. He will be attending The Emery/Weiner School this fall. “It’s real nice how so many people supported [Beth Yeshurun Day School],” he said, “donating to the school. [Jewish day schools] are very important, because it always helps to grow up with an education for your religion.”

Head of school Tom Elieff served as master of ceremonies for the event; Rabbi David Rosen opened with the Shehecheyanu blessing.

Elieff described the state-of-the-art amenities in the new building, which include “24 newly constructed or renovated classrooms, in addition to a whole new science room, music room and computer room. … lit with 25 skylights that give splashes of natural light at every turn.

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for getting us to this exciting moment, our grand opening,” said Elieff.

Other features of the new facility include offices that overlook the early childhood playground, an added security vestibule, six flat-screen TVs, four of which will carry live Israel TV; and a multipurpose room with acoustic “clouds” design features to reduce ambient noise.

Lee Wunsch, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, noted that there are 5,000 members of the community who contribute to the Federation’s annual campaign, which makes possible an annual $100,000 allocation to BYDS.