Physical Education at Emek

The Emek Physical Education (P.E.) Department is committed to helping students develop healthy habits, physical fitness, and strong sportsmanship. Our program is designed to inspire a lifelong appreciation for movement, wellness, and teamwork. Through instruction aligned with the California State Standards for Physical Education, students build strength, coordination, confidence, and the knowledge needed to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Each grade-level class meets twice per week and is taught by one of our dedicated coaches.

Our curriculum is developmentally appropriate for each grade level and focuses on building fundamental movement skills while encouraging responsibility, cooperation, and positive social interaction. Students learn important elements of physical fitness including strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, and coordination while working both individually and as part of a team.

Throughout the year, students participate in a wide range of activities including basketball, soccer, volleyball, kickball, track and field, dodgeball, capture the flag, and other engaging fitness games. Our gymnasium and athletic fields provide dynamic environments where students can practice skills, stay active, and enjoy friendly competition. We also have a climbing net that helps students build upper and lower body strength, coordination, and confidence.

In the elementary grades, the focus is on developing fundamental movement skills and learning how the body moves through space and time. As students progress into middle school, the program emphasizes teamwork, strategy, communication, and problem-solving as students work together to achieve common goals.

At Emek, Physical Education plays an important role in supporting the physical, social, and personal development of every student while helping them build the foundation for a lifetime of health and fitness.

Athletics at Emek

The Emek Athletics program provides students with opportunities to compete, grow, and develop through organized team sports. Under the leadership of Athletic Director Ben Siskin and Girls Sports Coordinator Michele Lax, along with our dedicated coaching staff, student-athletes learn the value of teamwork, commitment, and sportsmanship while representing Emek with pride.

Emek currently offers separate middle school boys and girls basketball teams as well as middle school girls volleyball teams, while continuing to expand opportunities for student-athletes each year.

Our middle school teams compete in the Jewish Day School League, giving students the opportunity to represent Emek in organized competition against other schools while continuing to develop their skills and understanding of the game. Coaches emphasize skill development, game strategy, and fostering a positive team environment built on respect, effort, and collaboration.

Emek also offers volleyball and basketball sports clinics, as well as after-school soccer programs, that provide opportunities for younger students to begin developing their athletic skills through age-appropriate instruction and play. Participation in athletics helps students build leadership skills, confidence, resilience, and a strong sense of school community.

As the Emek Athletics program continues to grow, we look forward to expanding opportunities for students to compete, develop their talents, and proudly represent the Emek Eagles both on and off the field.

Dance at Emek

Emek recently collaborated with Expressions to bring dance to its campus. In addition to Physical Education, Pre-1st, 1st, and 2nd grade girls receive dance once a week, while 4th and 5th grade girls are given the opportunity to participate in a dance elective. Additionally, we have recently begun to offer an after school dance program to all grades. We hope in the coming years to grow the program where all girls have the chance to receive dance in and out of school. 

Expressions was founded by Rachel Factor Liberman in 2025. Rachel is a former professional dancer working on both Broadway and as a Radio City Rockette. Expressions believes that every child should be able to express themselves through the arts. The organization values both process and product. Students learn various styles of dance while also learning to create their own dance movement through a creative process based on the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) model. This DEL model is "rooted in innovative and current educational philosophies,” and is “an inclusive and accessible framework designed to be applied in a wide variety of dance education contexts for all learners and practitioners in dance education." 

Expressions’ educational philosophy is grounded in a student-centered approach. The curriculum combines dance movement with dance notation. It is interdisciplinary, teaching English literacy through well known books such as "Panda Panda Bear What Do You See?" and "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle; Visual Arts by interpreting paintings like Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and Piet Mondrian's "Broadway Boogie Woogie" through movement; and  Social Studies by learning folk dances from around the world with an emphasis on Israeli dances.

In middle school students learn Simcha Dancing and as students progress through the years they learn the history of choreographers and styles of dance. Ballet, modern, contemporary and current dance genres are some of the techniques they are taught. Woven into the dance curriculum are Jewish themes such as studying the Holidays of Chanukah and Purim. Jewish midot are emphasized through proper dance decorum.  

Reina Potaznik Davis who holds a masters in dance education from New York University (NYU) designed the Expressions’ curriculum. She has over ten years of experience working in public schools both in NYC and LA. She has taught TK through 5th grade and has worked with students who are in self-contained classes, students who are being mainstreamed as well as those in a general education setting. Some of her units have been published in the NYC Public Schools Dance Unit Booklet, which is accessible to dance educators all over the world.  

Research shows that the arts, and in particular dance, can improve students’ sense of self, advance their life skills, and improve their critical thinking and problem solving. The physical and emotional benefits of dance combine coordination, memory, rhythm, learning, and social connection all together. Neuroscience shows that this kind of cognitive load strengthens neuroplasticity, builds cognitive reserve, and supports long term brain health. As we walk into an AI future, human expression, face to face-live interaction and a 21st century skill set, including creativity, collaboration and communication, are becoming more and more critical in education. Expressions address these challenges while providing students with the benefits of dance.

Lastly, students perform in showcases and dance shares throughout the year. Emek's Chanukah Showcase is a beautiful production that is performed on Grandparents Day by all students who take dance in school. It received great praise from parents and staff. We are extremely proud of all our dancers.

Library/Innovation Lab

The Emek Library/Innovation Lab is a vibrant learning hub that nurtures curiosity, creativity and a love of reading. The library provides students with access to a diverse collection of books that support literacy development, Jewish learning and exploration of the world around them. Through ample reading opportunities and research opportunities, students build critical thinking skills while developing a lifelong appreciation for books and knowledge.

Integrated within the library is a makerspace where students engage in hands-on learning, problem-solving and creative exploration. Using tools such as 3D printers, building materials, craft supplies, simple engineering kits and technology, students design, build and experiment in ways that connect learning across subjects. Makerspace activities encourage collaboration, perseverance and innovation while reinforcing classroom concepts.

The innovation lab is also home to Emek’s Project Based Learning and STEAM program. Through age-appropriate coding platforms and digital creation tools, students develop foundational computational thinking skills while learning how technology can be used to solve problems, design projects and bring their ideas to life.

Together, the library and makerspace support the school’s mission to cultivate thoughtful, curious learners grounded in Jewish values. The space serves as a welcoming environment where students can read, create, ask questions and develop the skills they need to become confident learners and responsible members of their community.

Art

In art, students explore the elements of art and principles of design while developing creativity, observation, and critical thinking skills. They learn to identify and create patterns found in nature, the environment, and works of art. Students work with a variety of materials and media, including clay, paint, printing tools, drawing materials, mosaic stones, and air-dry foam to create textured artwork and explore different artistic techniques.

Students learn about a variety of artistic subjects such as landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and still life. They explore different artistic techniques through hands-on projects including drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and mosaic work. Through these experiences, students experiment with materials and learn how artists use different techniques to create visual effects and express ideas.

They focus on important elements of art such as shape and form, texture, line, and color while learning how artists use these elements to communicate ideas and emotions.

Our art curriculum is thoughtfully integrated with Torah studies and reflects the school’s core values. Throughout the year, students create meaningful art projects connected to Jewish holidays and traditions. Projects are inspired by the Jewish calendar, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, and continuing through holidays such as Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot, allowing students to creatively connect their artistic expression with their learning and cultural heritage.

A key message in our art program is that art is a place for exploration and growth, not perfection. Students learn that mistakes are a natural and valuable part of the creative process. When something does not go as planned, they are encouraged to adapt, problem-solve, and transform the mistake into something new. This approach helps students build confidence, resilience, and a willingness to keep trying.

Emek’s Art Elective Program allows students in grades 4–8 to explore and focus on a variety of creative areas beyond the core curriculum of math, science, social studies, and language arts. In this program, students transform the art room into an “artist and designer studio,” where they experiment, discover, and create their own unique works of art.

Students apply what they learn in the art program across many subject areas. They develop important skills such as creative problem solving, communication, and time and resource management—skills that support lifelong learning and future career opportunities. Students also learn about careers related to the visual arts.

Student artwork is proudly displayed throughout the school year, allowing the entire school community to celebrate creativity and experience art beyond the art classroom.

Music

Our music program reflects the school’s philosophy and in support of our ESLRs, revolves entirely upon the songs inspired by the Torah, our chaggim (holidays), zimrei Shabbat (Sabbath songs) and extractions from the siddur (prayer book).  Throughout the elementary grades, the students are exposed to the moving and meditative niggunim (tunes) of the Chassidim, the stirring melodies we hear at shul, and also the more contemporary compositions by musical masters such as Shlomo Carlebach, Mordechai Ben David, Avram Fried and present popular performers in the observant world such as Yaakov Shwekey and members of the Miami and Yeshiva Boys’ Choir(s). While engaging in the music of our tradition, the students learn the fundamental language of written music. The students also learn the difference between pitches and simple rhythmic patterns and the way they are represented on paper and in theory. Various instruments, such as tambourines and other percussion instruments for the rhythmic, and the glockenspiel and keyboard for the melodic, are used each class by the students.