Local schools offer variety of options
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
With more than a dozen Jewish preschools in the Valley - including two new schools to open this fall - parents have a myriad of options to choose from.
The preschools vary tremendously in their offerings - from synagogue-based programs to Jewish Community Center schools; from enrollments of more than 150 children to just a handful; and from well-established programs to newly created ones.
Two new programs opening in the fall are Temple Chai's Early Childhood Center, which will offer not only school and childcare opportunities, but family education programs, as well; and Temple Emanuel's preschool, Yad B'Yad, which will serve 3-year-olds in a part-time program.
With new preschools opening each year, it would follow that existing schools would have a reduction in enrollment. Not so, says Roni Zeman, director of Temple Kol Ami Preschool.
"There's plenty of Jewish kids to fill every (preschool)," she says.
The Kol Ami preschool just finished its first year of existence - with an enrollment of 66 children. Zeman says even more children are already enrolled for next year.
Zeman, however, does not see the preschools as being competitive. In fact, she says that the schools cooperate and refer families to each other. Several local preschool directors became friends, according to Zeman, when they worked at the Beth El Center for Early Childhood Education.
"It's a really nice community," she explains. "We all have the same philosophy - we want these kids to be in a Jewish program - not on a waiting list."
The preschool at Beth El has been serving Valley children for more than 30 years. The school currently has an enrollment of about 100 children from infants through kindergarten. Director Carol Bell believes the environment at the preschool, which is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is what attracts parents.
"We offer a nurturing and loving environment which is so Jewish in and of itself. We're teaching them the ethics and the values, the customs, the celebrations that go along with all the things that are important to us as Jews," she says.
The Young Israel Preschool had a class of 15 children last year, reports Director Aileen Becker. The Orthodox preschool is expanding next year to offer classes for 2-year-olds.
"They're taught about the weekly parsha (Torah portion) and all the Jewish holidays. It give them a good foundation," Becker believes. "Basically, I think that learning about your religion gives a child self-confidence."
While most of the students at the Young Israel Preschool are children of rabbis, says Becker, there is quite a range in the level of observance at the children's homes.
"There are parents who are secular, who don't keep kosher, who don't observe the Shabbos, but it's a very relaxed atmosphere. It's very accepting," she says.
Nanci Siegel Manson, director of early childhood at Har Zion Congregation, says Jewish preschool programs are particularly important to parents who want to assure that their children get a foundation in Jewish education before they are old enough to attend religious school.
"I truly believe when we offer the music and the Judaics and the Hebrew and the songs and the study of the holidays and the presence of the rabbi and the cantor, there's no time that's too early. When (the children) hear it, they become part of it. It's so foundational," she explains.
Although the preschool at Har Zion is fairly new - they just completed their fifth year - the school already had 111 children enrolled this year from infants through pre-kindergarten.
A recent study by the Jewish Early Childhood Education Partnership found that 69 percent of Jewish preschool teachers are Jewish (see main story). The local directors report that while some of the assistant teachers and infant caregivers are not Jewish, all lead teachers in the preschools are, in fact, Jewish.
However, with new preschools opening and additional enrollment at existing ones, there is more competition for qualified Jewish teachers.
"I was at Beth El for 14 years," reports Zeman. "Back then no one ever left. ... Less and less Jewish people are getting into it, so the pool of Jewish teachers is very limited now."
Despite the challenges, local Jewish preschools have been successful in implementing both quality traditional preschool education, as well as a strong foundation in Judaism.
"Besides the regular intellectual, physical, social and emotional development, they're also getting a strong positive self image and strong sense of Jewish identity," Zeman says.
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
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