"St James pray for us!!!"

St James Syrian Orthodox Church

7 Conklintown Rd, Wanaque, NJ 07465 USA

St. James Malayalam School (മലയാളം സ്കൂള്‍)

We believe, in addition to developing our kids spiritually, we need to focus on enriching their personal, communicational and cultural proficiencies. Considering most of us have our roots in Kerala, we think the multilingual skills, and a deep understanding of Malayalee culture will play a key role to their success. Moreover, as SOCA members with roots in Malankara, our prayers and holy services are greatly depended on Malayalam language. In addition to giving them an effortless choice to have connections to their roots, it will give more options for the kids in the current globalized world. We believe, one of the key steps towards this is teaching the kids Malayalam – the mother tongue of most of the parents.

With this in mind, St. James Church initiated a Malayalam school in 2014. The primary aim of this school is to teach our kids the basics and improve their communication skills in Malayalam. The school offers basic Malayalam lessons for children over 5 years of age. The classes provide the kids an opportunity to read and write in the Malayalam language. The Malayalee culture is incorporated in the learning process. The classes are scheduled to follow the US academic year. The detailed curriculum is discussed with parents on a regular basis. The classes are conducted every Sunday after the Sunday School.