Portland Jewish Academy

Join us in celebrating Sukkot at the MJCC with PJ Library Portland next Thursday, October 1! 🍋 🌿

Register online by visiting oregonjcc.org/daxko .

Celebrate Sukkot with us at the MJCC! 🍕🌿

Join friends in the MJCC Courtyard for our annual Pizza in the Hut on Thursday, October 1. Enjoy a delicious pizza dinner, plus Sukkot-themed activities and traditions, inside the MJCC Sukkah.

Cost: $5 per individual | $18 per family (3 or more)

Space is limited, so save your spot today! Register through your Daxko account at oregonjcc.org/daxko.
Jewish Academy .proud Library Portland

Bringing Books to Life at PJA 📚✏️

We recently welcomed comic creators Stephan Pastis and Will Henry to share their new book, Skeletor Ate My Homework, with our 3rd through 6th graders. Our students loved watching Will draw live, even sketching 4th grader Sam and Teacher Megan directly into his artwork! It was a memorable visit that brought plenty of inspiration and laughter to our school community. Huge thanks to Stephan and Will for sharing their time and talents with PJA!
Stephan Pastis

Check out this week's Spotlight! 📦 🪛 💪

Read about how retiring the mods sparked a massive community effort to transform classrooms in a single day.

The Great Room Shift How retiring the mods sparked a massive community effort to transform classrooms in a single day.

We are excited to announce that we are partnering with NWAIS and ISACS to bring their Parent Series to PJA families!

As school begins, we focus on giving students the right tools—planners, folders, schedules, and routines—to set them up for success. What if these tools aren’t the starting point? What if they depend on executive function skills that many students are still developing? We will shift from tools to the underlying skills students need to successfully “do school.” Gain a deeper understanding of executive function skills—such as working memory, time awareness, task initiation, and organization—and why challenges in these areas can make even the best systems fall apart.

Explore how everyday school demands—getting out the door with materials, recording and completing homework, managing time across the day, and following through independently—require more than reminders and checklists. Learn strategies to help start the school year strong.

School Readiness: Executive Function — Needed to “Do School”
Presented by Sarah Ward
Session 1 | Tuesday, September 29 | 4:30-5:30 pm

Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP has over 30 years’ experience in the treatment of executive dysfunction. She is an international expert and presents seminars on the practical strategies she has developed with her co-director, Kristen Jacobsen. Their latest work, The Time Tracker Program—has received high acclaim for its innovative approach to shifting students from adult-managed to self-regulated time management.

Register for this online session through the link in our Kehillah Update email!

Shana Tova! Happy New Year from your friends at PJA! 🍎

Join us for this year's Lights, Camera, Auction! ⭐️ 🎞️ 👠

This year, we're rolling out the red carpet and taking our auction back to the Golden Age of Hollywood! Will you channel your inner movie star and arrive in glamorous Old Hollywood style? Maybe you'll step onto the scene as a silver-screen legend, a dazzling starlet, or even a director calling the shots! We can't wait to see the fabulous ideas you bring to the red carpet.

Sunday, December 13, 2026
Doors Open: 4:30 pm
In person at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center

Learn more at: pjaproud.org/auction

Check out this school year's first spotlight! 🫶 👯‍♀️

Help us give a warm welcome to PJA’s new Kehillah Co-Chairs, learn about upcoming fall events, and fun ways to get involved this year!

Meet PJA’s 2026–27 Kehillah Co-Chairs Discover PJA’s new Kehillah Co-Chairs, upcoming fall events, and fun ways to get involved this year!

PJA Adventures at BB Camp! 🩺🌲📸

Check out PJA Board President, David Solondz, doing what he does best: taking care of our community as the Camp Doctor over at ! We love seeing our leadership out in the wild making a difference!

Share your favorite summer moments with us using and tag us to be featured on our page! Whether you're volunteering, road-tripping, or exploring your own backyard, we want to see it.
BB Camp

Learn more about our PJA alum working on our campus this summer in our latest blog post by Lisa Katon.

Summer Discovery: Where PJA Alumni Come Home to Inspire Things look different around here in the summer, but there’s still plenty of learning going on! Throughout the month of July, campus is bustling with children in PJA Summer Discovery. This enriching summer program allows children to do a deep-dive into a topic of their choice...

Our alumni are taking over campus this summer! ☀️🐉📋

We are thrilled to welcome back so many of our amazing PJA alumni. You can spot these familiar faces working hard and bringing the camp spirit to life as counselors for both PJA Summer Discovery and MJCC Day Camp.

Seeing our former students step into leadership roles right here, where they grew up, makes us . It’s a great reminder of how the values, community, and friendships formed at PJA continue with them beyond our walls. We love watching them pass that knowledge on to the next generation of campers!
Mittleman Jewish Community Center