- Part Of
- Board of Jewish Education fonds
- Dr. Abraham Shore She'arim Hebrew Day School series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 48
- Series
- 13
- File
- 25
- Material Format
- moving images
- Date
- [199-?]
- Physical Description
- 1 videocassette (13 min) : col., VHS
- Scope and Content
- Promotional video of She'arim Hebrew Day School highlighting their specialized education program that includes secular studies, Jewish studies and arts based instruction. Appearing in the film is graduate Noam Wolfe, principal Kathy Manoi, education consultant Dori Levine, teachers, and students.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Board of Jewish Education fonds
- Dr. Abraham Shore She'arim Hebrew Day School series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 48
- Series
- 13
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1979-1999
- Physical Description
- 35 cm of textual records
- Admin History/Bio
- Founded in 1979-1980, the Dr. Abraham Shore She'arim Hebrew Day School is the only Jewish school in Canada for children with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Rabbi Irwin Witty, executive director of the BJE, and Rabbi Joseph Kelman of Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue, played the leading roles in organizing and planning for the school in 1979-1980. The founding of the school was inspired by more than a decade of study by the BJE, the UJWF/TJC, and Jewish Vocational Service (which provided guidance and counseling services in Jewish schools) of the need for greater support and specialized services for Jewish children with learning disabilities. The school was incorporated in 1980 as the She'arim Hebrew Day School, and is governed by a board of directors. Classes began in September 1980, following a year of preparatory work by a planning committee and professional advisory committee.
- The school's enrolment in its first year was eight students; this number grew to more than 65 by the year 2000. It was renamed in honour of Dr. Shore in the mid-1990s. She'arim originally accepted students from grades five to seven, and this was quickly expanded to include students in all grades up to grade eight. The school emphasizes the small size of its classes -- usually six to eight students -- which allows teachers to focus on the distinctive needs of each student. The school seeks to provide students with the skills and problem-solving strategies they need to realize their academic potential and transfer into the mainstream schools.
- Although Rabbi Witty was very involved with the founding of the school and its operations in its early years, and also maintained files on She'arim administration and financing with his BJE records, She'arim did not become an affiliated school of the BJE until the mid-1980s. She'arim's application for affiliation, in 1984-1985, led to the first of several studies of the school by the BJE. After She'arim was accepted for affiliation and financial support, this initial study was followed by a study of the school's management and operations, in the late 1980s, by the consulting company, ARA Consultants. A BJE committee was then appointed to consider and implement the recommendations of the consultant's report. The main changes to the school involved implementing a structured approach to course planning and evaluation for the school. A further review was carried out in the mid-1990s, to address the school's pressing financial crisis of the time.
- Prior to 2001, She'arim was located at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue at 100 Elder Street, Toronto. Following a donation from Sam Hennick, in memory of his late wife, Sara, and with additional financial support from Jewish Toronto Tomorrow, the school moved in September 2001 to a larger space at the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre, named the Dr. Abraham Shore She'arim Hebrew Day School, Sam and Sara Hennick Education Centre.
- Scope and Content
- The series documents the work of Rabbi Witty and Rabbi Kelman in founding the school, the preliminary work of the planning and professional advisory committees prior to the opening of the school, the work of the She'arim board of governors, and of the various BJE committees which studied the school and its operations. The series consists of committee minutes and reports, correspondence and memoranda concerning the school and its fundraising activities. The files in the series are organized chronologically.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Dr. Alexander Brown fonds
- Board of Jewish Education series
- Bialik Hebrew Day School file
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 95
- Series
- 1
- File
- 23
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1969-1975
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- 4 photographs : b&w and col. ; 33 x 25 cm or smaller
- Scope and Content
- File consists of an invitation to a graduation and photographs of Purim celebrations and science class students looking at new chicks that were hatched in brooders they had made out of cardboard boxes. Identified in the photographs is Karen Goldstein.
- Notes
- Photographers are identified on the photographs.
- Repro Restriction
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Physical Condition
- The photographs of the hatched chicks was stored folded in half and has a large crease along the centre.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Na'amat Canada Toronto fonds
- Fundraising and event ephemera series
- Bialik Hebrew Day School file
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 130
- Series
- 3
- File
- 25
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1999-2006
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of a forty-fifth anniversary trivia quiz and a strategic planning report.
- Repro Restriction
- Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
- Accession Number
- 2019-3-2
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-6-5
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Physical Description
- 4 m of textual records and other material
- Date
- [194-]-2017
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of textual records, photographs, sound recordings, moving images, and several felt badges and crests. The textual records include strategic planning documents, pedagogical and curriculum documents, meeting minutes, capital planning documents, fundraising records, school yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters to parents and internal newsletters, and other operational documents. Photographs document the building and classrooms; school classes; sports teams; class outings; special guests; Jewish holiday celebrations; and Bialik groundbreakings, galas, and anniversary celebrations. The audio recordings include the school choir and an interview with Pearl Meckler. Moving images include graduations.
- Custodial History
- Records were stored in the Viewmount location. A committee of past alumni and parents formed to sort the archival material in preparation for donation to the OJA.
- Administrative History
- Bialik Hebrew Day School was established by the Labour Zionist Alliance, which also operated the Farband Folks Shule and The Borochov School. In the 1950s, the Labour Zionist Alliance sold its property on Cecil Street in order to finance the purchase of the 12 Viewmount Avenue, which housed both the offices of the Labour Zionist Alliance and Bialik Hebrew Day School. The school was intended to fill a gap in Jewish education in Toronto, namely by teaching Yiddish as well as Hebrew and by promoting Zionism. The school was named for Chaim Nachman Bialik, Israel’s national poet.
- Bialik Hebrew Day School began with 29 pre-school and first grade students in 1961, and by the mid-2000s had grown to over 800 students in kindergarten through grade 8. Several renovations and expansions took place over the intervening decades, and in 2003 a new school was opened at 2760 Bathurst Street. In 2013, the school opened a northern campus (Bialik North, or the Ben and Edith Himel Education Centre) on the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan to serve students in the York Region.
- Use Conditions
- Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
- Descriptive Notes
- PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION NOTE: Includes ca. 1000 photographs, sound recordings, moving images, and several objects.
- Subjects
- Education
- Jewish day schools
- Name Access
- Bialik Hebrew Day School
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Part Of
- Julius P. Katz fonds
- Subject files series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 55
- Series
- 2
- File
- 206
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1946-1952
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- This file consists of a letter inviting members of the Talmud Torah Board to attend a Shavuos Programme. Also included is a 1953 solicitation pamphlet promoted by the Toronto Hebrew Day School campaign officers and executive committee,
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Gordon Mendly fonds
- Events and organizations series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 18
- Series
- 3
- File
- 6
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1 Apr. 1966
- Physical Description
- 4 photographs : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- File consists of images of students of the Bialik Hebrew Day School, at 14 Viewmount Avenue, participating in a school performance. The students are dancing while holding scythes and wheat.
- Name Access
- Bialik Hebrew Day School
- Repro Restriction
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Places
- Viewmount Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Hoffman family fonds
- Community activities series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 6
- Series
- 2
- File
- 9
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1963-1966
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Admin History/Bio
- The Hamilton Hebrew Academy was affiliated with the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools.
- Scope and Content
- File consists of correspondence relating to fundraising on behalf of the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools.
- Name Access
- Hamilton Hebrew Academy
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Board of Jewish Education fonds
- Parents Council of Hebrew Day Schools series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 48
- Series
- 18
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1976-1988
- Physical Description
- 13 cm of textual records
- Admin History/Bio
- The PTA Council of Hebrew Day Schools, Toronto, was formed in 1976 to as a forum for parents to discuss common issues and concerns relating to the schools and their children's education, and to coordinate their activities and interactions with BJE staff. The council is composed of representatives of parents for each affiliated school, with a senior BJE staff member -- originally, the associate director, Harold Malitzky -- as support person and BJE representative. The council's interests include public funding of private schools, leadership development, fundraising projects, school curriculum and extra-curricular activities for their children. Speakers on educational matters address their meetings or events sponsored by the council. In the late 1970s, the council was called the Parents Council of Day Schools. In the early 1980s, the council was called the Parents Council of Hebrew Day Schools, and as of 2006, is known as the Parents Council of Jewish Day Schools.
- Scope and Content
- The series documents the meetings of the council and the activities and events which they sponsored. The records in the series include meeting minutes; correspondence between council members and BJE staff; memoranda relating to council activities; newsletters and other promotional materials from the schools, the BJE, or created by the council.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Philip Givens fonds
- Jewish communal series
- Other Jewish organizations sub-series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 51
- Series
- 9-8
- File
- 3
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Date
- 1966
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs : col. ; 9 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- File consists of two photographs of Phil Givens attending a PTA convention of Hebrew Day Schools. Also identified in the photographs is David Rotenberg.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
