Mission Statement

The mission of Torah Day School is to provide and promote the highest quality Judaic and general education to a diverse community of Jewish children. Our aim is to motivate students to reach personal excellence, and to be conscientious members of society. Within a warm nurturing environment, our focus is to inspire a love for learning, develop academic and social skills, and foster responsibility in each individual.

A well-balanced education will foster a commitment to using Torah values as a guide to the decisions of life, community, and life-long learning and teaching.

Educational Philosophy

Torah Day School education integrates the love of G‑d, intellectual knowledge and understanding of the Torah, and the appreciation of the uniqueness of every individual of the community.

At Torah Day School, we believe that Torah learning and values are best taught in an atmosphere of warmth , trust, and physical and emotional safety.

We believe that teaching intrinsically imparts values. We aim for students to understand both the simple meaning of their subject matter, and the underlying messages it conveys. Values such as responsibility, concern for others, love of G-d, truth, and community involvement are taught explicitly.

Every student deserves to develop critical thinking skills. We believe that thinking can be both independent and well-grounded. We teach students to be thorough in their academic learning so that they can extrapolate new ideas and build upon their knowledge.

Overcoming challenges through hard work is an experience that we want all of our students to have. Teachers work with students to inspire and motivate them to take on academic challenges. In this way we learn about our personal strengths and understand our areas for improvement.

A Torah Day School education stresses holistic growth in the academic, spiritual, moral and social/emotional domains. Rigorous academics are pursued with a recognition that our students possess a variety of learning styles and abilities. Students are taught to apply academic lessons from their practical settings to their daily lives. Respect for each individual's unique identity and talent forms the core of enhancing our students sense of self. Ethics and moral values are explicitly taught, modeled, and practiced throughout the daily life of school. Torah Day School teachers help students realize that the Judaic and secular worlds are interconnected. Faculty strive to inspire and motivate each child to enjoy learning and accept challenges while stimulating critical thought processes. They also promote the student's sense of responsibility for self and others by active community involvement. Students are encouraged to analyze their learning experiences in order to assess personal strengths and areas for improvement.

The creation of the State of Israel is one of the seminal events in Jewish history. Recognizing the significance of the State and its national institutions, we seek to instill in our students an attachment to the Land of Israel and its people as well as a sensitivity for their welfare.

By empowering the head, heart and soul, a Torah Day School education provides our students with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to become successful members of contemporary society.

Students will be provided with the opportunity to excel in a high quality Judaic and general education.

1. Students will be guided through developmentally appropriate curriculum, designed by their teachers and administrators, in pre-school through the eighth grade.

2. This curriculum will meet or exceed state and federal requirements in all grades.

3. Students will be assessed both formally and informally, by their teachers on a regular basis to ascertain their mastery of the curriculum and its learning objectives.

4. Students will engage in a variety of individual, paired, small group, and whole class learning experiences, using a myriad of media, in order to understand and apply learning objectives.

5. Students will have classroom opportunities and other learning experiences to provide bridges between significant Judaic concepts and their practice, application, and validity in the modern world.

Students will apply their Judaic learning to become active participants in their local Jewish community.

1. Students will learn and have the opportunity to share their knowledge of daily, Sabbath, and holiday prayers, songs, and observances.

2. Students will involve themselves in the greater Jewish community (and provide ambassadorship for Torah Day School) by providing community services.

Students’ identity as valuable, contributing members of the Jewish community and world at large will be strengthened through their Torah Day School experiences.

1. Students will have opportunities to assess their personal strengths and weaknesses.

2. Students will establish, plan for, and accomplish personal goals by:

   • further honing personal and academic strengths,

   • planning strategies to strengthen areas of weakness,

   • conducting themselves in such a way that their goals can be attained,

   • monitoring personal progress of their plans,

   • participating in school sponsored or community events and programs which develop their concepts and skills.

Students’ moral and ethical standards and behaviors are guided by Torah law and values.

Students will apply what they learn in extra-curricular situations:

1. Students will have opportunities to compete and collaborate with students in other schools.

2. Students will participate in extra-curricular activities to reinforce learned concepts and principles.

Torah Day School is accredited by Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools (TAAPS). Additional accreditation is provided by the National Accreditation Board of Merkos - Central Organization for Jewish Education, based in NY. Theirs is the benchmark of a Jewish Day School's limudei kodesh and general academic studies programming. Individuals requiring further information about either of these two accrediting bodies are encouraged to contact them directly. Additionally, Torah Day School is an affiliate of The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and a beneficiary of the United Jewish Campaign.

Notes from Parents, Staff and Alumni...

Dear Mrs. Susman,

Thank you for all your hard work! I have always maintained that TDS teachers have a big job keeping secular studies on par with the depth of Torah learning that wells from the Chassidim’s heart. I believe TDS succeeds because of wonderful teachers like you. Like a master gardener you know when to push and when to pull back; always wanting the seedling to grow but always pushing, all the same, with sweetness and kindness. It is a tremendous gift to be able to teach our children to approach learning with confidence. It makes uptake and retention of new skills so much easier.

I myself have learned through following your example, not to get caught up in a hectic lifestyle, but to somehow focus on calm confidence. Now when I work with my child I am now mindful to show her through example to attend to our work with calm confidence.

Thank you for believing in my child and for being able to see her at a place where she will have mastered her trouble spots. That is how they will get there!!!

Thank you again!

Enjoy the flowers and have a Good Shabbos

A TDS Parent

My Dear Morah Yaffa,

Thank you for all your hard work. I consider it an incredible gift to be able to teach children Lashon Hakodesh and to do it well. There are those things that I cannot do for my children so I must look elsewhere for it. H.shem, in His infinite kindness gave you to us. I know our children are in the hands of a master teacher. I have seen a big change in my child. Her confidence in Hebrew is improving. I believe it is because she has a Master teacher to challenge her. You not only care about practical Hebrew skills but you also push the children to grow as individual. When my child is successful then she knows that she doesn’t have to be timid. Thank you for never giving up and always using your Sight of what each child can be and for using your many many skills to bring our children to master Lashon Hakodesh.

Enjoy the flowers and have a Good Shabbos!

A TDS Parent

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Torah Day School was founded over forty years ago by a group of visionary parents and continues to have a culture of parental involvement. Parents and families at TDS enjoy becoming actively involved in a variety of aspects of school and community life , coordinating and planning a myriad of programs within and outside of the classrooms.

A basic value of TDS is that of care for the less fortunate and active service within our community. The school has earned a fine reputation for its chesed (kindness) based projects and general involvement in the Houston Jewish community. This philosophy of giving back permeates the school’s character and sets the stage for the school’s continued growth and success as well as setting the lifelong example to our students and families of their important roles in the continuity of the Jewish people on a larger scale.

Student activities range from working at food banks to visiting retirement centers to befriending peers with special needs. These experiences influence the students and launch them on the lifelong path of giving to others.