One of the many privileges of working in our school is being surrounded by all of the amazing work that your children do each and every day. A day does not pass by when I don’t marvel at something that your children (and their teachers) do. Yesterday I admired the new “bottle cap installation” that hangs in […]

The month of February is always the most challenging month for Nursery School Directors, as it is the month of admissions and exmissions. It is the season of supporting families through the process of getting into ongoing schools and then reviewing hundreds of applications for a very limited number of spots here at the JCC for next September. […]

This morning I awoke wondering how I could face one more day of snow, rain, ice, sleet and cold. This winter has felt endless and all of the layers and boots and changes of clothing are certainly beginning to wear on me and my family. But in the midst of this internal rant I began […]

I’ve had a rough week. To begin with, January is my least favorite month, and I seem to feel the cold even deeper this week. Some of you may have heard that singer, song-writer Debbie Friedman just passed away. She was an important part of my life, and on so many levels connected me to […]

Welcome back and happy 2011. It was striking to watch everyone’s re-entry this week. The parents arrived at school describing their feelings of exhaustion as they came back into the swing of things but the children came into 2011 with focus and energy, seeming to have grown inches over our two short weeks apart. The classrooms were […]

Do you ever just lose it? Do you ever become that parent you swore you would never be?  This past Monday evening my family was rushing off to a Chanukah performance at our synagogue.  I was racing from a late afternoon party at the JCC to quickly feed my children before we went out again. […]

If ever I talk too positively about my children my grandmother will interrupt me and warn against the “evil eye.” Her superstitious worries inhibit her (and me, in return!) from saying too much about how great things are, or telling others for fear that they might feel jealous and cast an evil eye upon me […]

Thanksgiving was always my mother’s favorite holiday. It was near her birthday, she loved the family coming together, and gratitude was the lens through which she viewed her life. Even as she was dying, almost 13 years ago, she felt grateful. She felt thankful for all of the abundance she had experienced in her all […]

This summer I travelled to Haiti on a three day mission with Jewish Federations of North America. I came home distressed and depressed, seeing how deep and multi-faceted the challenges there are. The combination of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of infrastructure and utter destruction caused by the earthquake made it hard to see the light. […]

I am not one who is usually at a loss for words. But all week I have been struggling to find words for the indescribable feeling that I have experienced with the arrival of my twin nephews early Monday morning. To watch my “baby” brother become a father, a father of two healthy full-size boys […]