The IRDS Blog

Dear IRDS Families,Happy Thanksgiving! Our Ilan Ramon Day School Community has so much to be thankful for. Thank you for your support over the past couple of weeks.   Read More...

Message to our IRDS/Heschel West Alumni Families,Thank you for your support over the past week. It has been heartwarming to see our community come together committed to rebuild our beloved school.I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update of what has been going on over the past week.Receiving word that our school had been damaged by the fire was heartbreaking for our small tight knit community. It was wonderful to be able to come together last Saturday night for Havdallah, t...  Read More...

As you are aware, the nearby fires have impacted over 90,000 acres. An increase in winds have contributed towards the spread and will make it more difficult to contain over the next few days. In addition, air quality in and around the affected areas continues to be a concern. We had hoped that we would regain access to the campus this morning, but the Fire Department has maintained a closure of the roads leading to school, so we have not been able to access it today to begin our fire mitiga...  Read More...

I want to thank everyone who made the effort to be present last night at the Havdallah ceremony. I know so many of you who wanted to come, but because of the challenging circumstances you are finding yourself in could not. The spirit of Ilan Ramon Day School was inspiring last night and we hope everyone is taking care and is safe.This morning, thanks to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department, I was granted access to campus for a short while.   Read More...

While we would not typically reach out to our school community over Shabbat, we are doing so in order to invite you to come together and join us this evening for Havdallah.Havdallah is a ceremony that separates the sanctity of Shabbat as we enter into a new week.  So tonight as we will gather as a community, we will separate from Shabbat and the fire that continues to devastate our school and many of the families in our community, and begin to heal.Join us this evening at 6:15pm at de Toled...  Read More...

First and foremost I hope and pray all of our families are safe and secure, and those who have needed to evacuate have done so. If anyone is in need of anything please let us know. The teachers, families and entire Ilan Ramon community is here for you.   Read More...

Dear Families and Friends,Yom Kippur will begin tomorrow evening and here at school we have been teaching the concept of T’shuva(returning to good after repenting), through the process of asking for forgiveness and forgiving others. Between us adults, that is one of the hardest concepts to teach because it is one of the hardest things to actually do. Admitting our wrongdoings in front of another person, being that vulnerable with others, putting our egos and insecurities aside, changing ha...  Read More...

Shana Tova IRDS Families,Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is not only our annual celebration of the birth of the world, it is also the holiday on which we renew our commitment to see and nurture the goodness in ourselves and in the rest of Creation. It is the sacred time our tradition gives us to acknowledge our achievements and regret our mistakes, to express gratitude for the good in our lives and extend our apologies to those we have hurt. Most importantly, it is the time to forgive ourselv...  Read More...

Dear IRDS Community,Shabbat Shalom,As we prepare to celebrate our first Shabbat being back in school and gather together tonight for Shabbat Under The Stars, I am reminded of the privilege and responsibility that we hold sacred by having your children and your family as part of our Ilan Ramon Day School Family.Our School's goal is to create mensches who are academically strong, who grow to be good people, knowledgeable Jews, supporters of Israel, and contributing citizens of the United States an...  Read More...

Greetings IRDS Families,On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ilan Ramon Day School I would like to officially welcome all New Families and welcome back all of our Returning Families to what I know will be a fabulous school year.For those of you who may not know The Board of Directors serves as the Governing Arm of the school. The Board focuses on the financial wellbeing, governance, and strategic vision for Ilan Ramon. The Board is made up of a combination of current parents, alumni parents, g...  Read More...