Portland Jewish Academy is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and is proud of our partnership with them in strengthening our local Jewish community as well as the global community.
We have received such great emails, texts and calls showing appreciation for the work we are doing. We appreciate you and your willingness to share your children with us during this difficult time.
Gabriel is coming home beaming, already filled with new life and new concepts. I am ever so grateful that we said "yes" to PJA for Gabriel's education, it is the best decision we made prior to the pandemic and our whole family has reaped the rewards of an excellent education facilitated by a talented staff. Thanks for being the welcoming and guiding light at the beginning of such an enriching schooling experience. - Sarah E. Rohr, PJA Parent
I feel so energized after these past 2 days. Seeing children in the hallways, hearing voices pour out of classrooms, observing first graders organizing a soccer game and building their own fairy garden. Reading a book and hearing live reactions because we are not muted on zoom. Having snack time together as a classroom community. This is school! I feel joyful to be back!!"
- Jenny Crego, 1st grade teacher
It has only been 2 half days of in person school and already there is a noticeable difference in Shiri’s attitude and personality. She’s excited in a new way about learning, jumps out of bed and gets dressed right away and has the biggest smile plastered on her face all day long. It makes my heart sing knowing not only that she’s happy but that she is safe while she’s learning.
- Rabbi Eve Posen
After spending so much time learning together at a distance, it was such a joy to be together as a community, and though we are masked and socially distanced, the delight in our classroom was undeniable!”
- Susanna, 1st and 2nd grade teacher
Today was amazing. It was perfect. There’s nothing you could do to make it better!
- Ian, 1st grader
It was so wonderful to see all of the kids in person. We were able to do one-line drawing self-portraits, and seeing the process happen live was special and heartwarming."
- Kasey, 3rd grade teacher
Kindergarteners were buzzing about their new classroom; they were all smiling with their eyes! It was so exciting and sweet to see the Kindergarteners back at PJA with their classmates.”
- Celinda, Kindergarten teacher
We’re so excited to be back. PJA has done such a great job. In-person school is so much fun. It is so nice to see our friends and teachers.
- Joint statement by Renana, Rose, Yael, 2nd grade and Fiona, Kindergarten
I had no idea what to expect when schools closed. Today was really wonderful and I appreciate all the work that went into planning. I’m so thankful for this community (cried watching Isla’s family sing Modeh Ani)! We feel so blessed to be a part of this school!
Thank you so much! I’m so grateful for your grace under pressure, and under hard circumstances! Thanks for consistently making our kids’ lives brighter.
Thank you for all you and your amazing staff do. It's not just the technology, but the thought and organization. Moses feels like all his teachers care for him as a person, and that his community is still here.
Kim, you brightened our day today with your beautiful voice. We look forward to more musical interludes!
We are so lucky to be a part of this school. Please say thanks again to the amazing staff and adminstration. It is so amazing to see the school rising to the occasion when the world is so crazy. I am so PJA proud!
Sanna and Ethan were both very engaged today and appreciated the opportunity to see, work, and hang with friends. The breakout small group sessions that Marcy and Harriet did allowing kids to work together in small groups was a big hit. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for everything that you and the PJA teachers have done. We are so impressed with how quickly an online curriculum was put together. In a time of much uncertainty, it is nice to have a little bit of normalcy and calm. Thank you for everything you do. I look forward to the day when we can see you again holding the stop sign for the cross walk.
Yasher koach to everyone. I can’t imagine how challenging the last several days have been for you all. A lot of chaos, creativity, compromise, stress, discussion, improvisation, innovation, imagination, experimentation, hard hard work. Thank you to the PJA leadership and to these phenomenal teachers for your excellent response to the current chaos. Wonderful stuff. Thank you.
The full daily schedule made Kai feel like he was at school. He even said “Daddy, I only have 30 minutes of lunch time left then I have to get back to doing my work.” It helped put some structure into this unstructured crazy time we are living in, which was much needed.
Molly is amazing. We’ve always known that, but the bags of personal book selections were greatly appreciated by each child.
I am so impressed with how PJA is handling this crisis. I really appreciate your leadership and the community. Thank you.
Thank you for PJA’s efforts during this uncertain time. Keeping kids engaged in learning is so important, and PJA is setting the standard compared to other schools. We appreciate it! Day one of online school was amazing! The girls were so excited to share about their day. We are so grateful to you and all the wonderful PJA teachers and staff.