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The Hebrew Day Institute in Rockville was filled with the rhythmic patter of dancing feet and the smell of challah bread baking in the oven as students and staff ushered in the Jewish new year Friday.

The sound of the shofar, a trumpet-like instrument made from the horn of a ram or other kosher animal and blown on Rosh Hashana as a reminder to Jews to heed the call of repentance, could be heard cascading through the hallways.

Friday marked the school's first celebration of Rosh Hashana, which began Monday evening and ends tonight, in its new home within Tikvat Israel. The Hebrew Day Institute, which serves students in kindergarten through sixth grade, moved to the Rockville synagogue from Silver Spring over the summer.

"This year, Rosh Hashana is especially meaningful to us because we're not only celebrating the new year, which is 5769 according to the Jewish calendar, but also we're celebrating being in our new building, our new home," said Madeline Rothbard, head of school.

"We welcome the people who are already in this community to be a part of our community — they've welcomed us into their community and our children are integrating wonderfully into the life of this building," she added. "We're excited about where we are and we're looking to grow in this building and to become part of the community and this area."

Debbie Wilcox, a general studies teacher, said it was a pleasure celebrating the new year in a new home.

"It is one of the greatest honors we have as teachers and staff at HDI because we see one of the greatest holidays come to life through our children — it's a continuation of generations and generations," she said.

Students said they enjoyed hearing teachers tell stories and creating stained-glass window hangings out of markers and plastic container lids. They also brainstormed new year resolutions.

Josh Lempert, a sixth-grader, said he had fun making a loaf of challah.

"I liked making the challah because you can't be wrong with it," he said. "It's also a really fun activity."

The 10-year-old Silver Spring resident said Rosh Hashana is a time to start the year anew.

"It's the beginning of the year," he said. "It's a holiday where we start again and we try to do things better the next year. I'm going to try to improve in school and do the best I can. I'm also going to work on being a better person."

Hadas Elazar-Mittelman, a fifth-grader, said the blowing of the shofar was music to her ears.

"It was really cool when they blew the shofar," the 10-year-old Silver Spring resident said. "It just sounds so cool."

She said she will try to help her brothers more with their homework in the coming year.

Wilcox said the shofar has a unique way of affecting people of all ages when it is heard. The horn is also blown on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, to mark the end of the holiday, which will begin at sunset Oct. 8 and conclude the following evening this year.

"The whole purpose of Rosh Hashana is to hear the shofar and to wake your soul up so that you can re-evaluate your own life," she said. "I really believe that our children experience that and I watched it this morning where they heard the shofar and I could see how much it touched them. Some of the kids came over after and said all of these different things about how this year they now want to do this or that, which is not something we prompted them to do — it was something that the shofar itself actually did. It's supposed to open your soul to receive these things and we watched it happen today."