The Osher Marin Jewish Community Center’s preschool has been chosen along with 12 other schools nationwide to take part in an initiative that offers funding, staff development and coaching to take it to the next level in Jewish education.
The initiative is sponsored by the New York-based Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), founded by eight Jewish philanthropists — including Michael Steinhardt — with an interest in Jewish education.
While the two-year program is meant to improve the schools overall, it is also hoped that the preschool will become a vehicle for families who send their children there to become more involved in Jewish life.
“The goal is to create models of excellence so that schools reflect not only best practices but are places Jewish families can begin to cultivate their own Jewish identities,” said Cantor Mark Horowitz, executive director of JECEI.
Since it is believed that unaffiliated Jewish families might send their children to a Jewish preschool, this is a good way to bring those families further into the community.
“We are hoping not only to engage them in Jewish life and have them come to centers where they haven’t been, but to create a bridge between congregational affiliation and JCCs.”
The 13 schools were selected after an extensive screening process in which JECEI staff visited 75 of the 1,200 Jewish early childhood centers in the country.
They were looking for a number of factors, said Horowitz, including “a director who was someone with vision, who could be self-reflective and could do the hard work of change.”
They were also seeking out institutions with boards that were supportive of the project. The school’s directors had to fill out an extensive questionnaire about where they saw themselves and where they’d like to be.
Those that were chosen are a wide range “geographically, institutionally and denominationally,” said Horowitz. “They range from Chabad to Reform to JCCs.”
The schools have signed on for a period of two years, in which JECEI will send out a coach for several days at a time every four to five weeks.
“It’s a collaborative effort between the school and us,” said Horowitz. “We understand this only happens if
we take into account the culture of the school. We’re not coming in with imposed views of what schools should look like.”
The curriculum is heavy on Jewish values.
Janet Harris, director of early childhood education at the Marin JCC, said that she was very excited about this opportunity.
When they met with their coach, they spent a whole day talking about what excellence means.
“As people who work in the field every day, a lot of times we’re on automatic pilot,” said Harris. “It’s great for the staff to reflect and analyze, and ask how can we do what’s best?”
Harris has since attended a retreat in New Jersey, where she met her counterparts in the program and was struck by the differences in the schools.
While Harris couldn’t say much more because they have barely begun the two-year process, she concluded, “this is a journey for me and the staff. We’re right in the beginning of it, hoping to be the best Jewish school; not in a competitive way, but in the best way for us. I want my teachers to grow into being learners.”