Riverdale Temple Learning Center

The Rabbi Stephen and Karen Franklin

Riverdale Temple Learning Center

Nurturing Jewish Hearts and Kind Souls

Welcome to our engaging, diverse Jewish community!

We welcome children in kindergarten through Bar/Bat Mitzvah for meaningful, uplifting Jewish learning and enrichment. We help every child at Riverdale Temple Learning Center find joy in our traditions, strengthen their Jewish identities, and make lots of wonderful friends!

Riverdale Temple is a progressive, welcoming, multigenerational Reform congregation.

Riverdale Temple Learning Center fosters our children’s connection to Judaism through

• Warm, welcoming classrooms
• Nurturing teachers
• Participatory holiday events
• Personalized Hebrew education
• Creative music and art programs
• Exciting family celebrations

We believe each person’s Jewish identity is unique.

We look forward to accompanying you and your family on your Jewish journey.

For more information, please email Judith Lewis at judithlewis@riverdaletemple.org.

Email Judith Lewis now

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Our School Mission

Education is essential for connecting us to our Jewish heritage and strengthening our identities to secure our future.

Riverdale Temple Learning Center offers a creative and engaging experience where children and families can find enrichment through our innovative programs focusing on Jewish Holidays, Social Action, Torah, and Hebrew. Students will connect to the warmth and joy of Judaism through music, art, prayer, and Torah. Our hands-on curriculum provides new, fun ways to learn with challah baking, Jewish song festivals, family Sukkah building, singing at senior centers, and other activities to give back to our greater community. We recognize and appreciate the uniqueness and diversity of all of our learners and together, with our teachers and clergy, we will travel with you on your Jewish journey. We look forward to coming together as a community to make new friendships, sustain old ones, and explore all that Judaism has to offer educationally, spiritually, and socially.

Judith Lewis

Interim Education Director, Riverdale Temple Learning Center

Rabbi Lewis is excited about “coming home” to one of her favorite activities — helping children learn the Joys of our Jewish heritage.

She retired as Rabbi and Education Director at the temple in 2015 to care for her father. After his passing in 2022, she realized retirement wasn’t for her, so she helped a colleague with his religious school in Cincinnati, OH in 2023 — and loved it!

When the opportunity presented itself for her to return to Riverdale Temple as Interim Director or Education, she couldn’t resist the chance to come home to her “family.” The Riverdale Temple Learning Center (formerly Simcha Learning Center) will help your children acquire the knowledge and skills to feel fully empowered and engaged as members of the Jewish community, and have fun doing it!

If the children are not having fun, or if you have any questions, suggestions, reactions, please feel free to contact her. She looks forward to hearing from you — and exploring our Jewish heritage with your children.

judithlewis@riverdaletemple.org
(718) 548-3800 x6

Click Here To Meet Our Riverdale Temple Learning Center Educators

Jenna Barricklo

Associate Education Director, Riverdale Temple Learning Center

Having grown up in Riverdale, Jenna Barricklo received her BFA in Musical Theater from Shenandoah University in Virginia. Besides teaching, she is a professional actor, singer, and dancer. She has been teaching elementary Jewish education and music for over 10 years, and has a real passion for Jewish education and working with young children. Jenna is excited to incorporate music and movement into our learning experience! When she is not teaching, she loves reading, traveling, and baking. Every summer, she travels to Israel and teaches English to elementary students across the country. Most recently, Jenna taught 4th grade English in Jerusalem!

Our Promise

Students who complete our entire program will have an understanding and appreciation for:

• Components of the prayer service
• Basic concepts and values of Jewish holidays and rituals
• Major events of Jewish history from the Torah to today, including a focus on Israel
• Values that define modern Judaism and how they have evolved from biblical times
• What it means to be a Reform Jew today and how to make responsible Jewish choices about observing mitzvot
• How to read Hebrew text and how to translate basic words and phrases

We accomplish this by putting students in small, mixed-ages learning groups with thoughtful, engaging discussion; direct instruction; art, music, dance, and cooking experiences. Children will develop a sense of community, connection to and confidence in their Judaism.

If you have any questions about our school, its curriculum, our philosophy or concerns about your child and religious school, please do not hesitate to contact our Director Judith Lewis at the temple, (718) 548-3800, ext. 6, or email to judithlewis@riverdaletemple.org.

Email Judith Lewis now

Registration

You can now use the newly-created Riverdale Temple Learning Center Registration Form to register your children. Please fill in the requested information for each child you are registering. For tuition information and to register your child, please click the button below.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Tuition information

Please note that payment arrangements and accommodations may be discussed with a finance officer. We will not allow financial difficulties to deprive your child of a Jewish education!