Connecting the Dots: The Early Childhood Education Initiative
How is Professional Development, Connecting with Families, Compensation and Finance, and Standards of Excellence all part of one picture? Both research and common knowledge tell us that a successful educational experience is largely dependent on the quality of the teacher. Developing excellence in our teaching staff is the first step in reaching our ultimate goal. It then follows that excellent teachers consider the entire family to be their client - and understand the power of educating families in the early years. We know that the best teachers will be attracted to the field, and stay in the field if compensation is equitable and professional. And it is all tied together by having community-wide standards of excellence for schools to measure their programs, and for the community to understand what excellence looks like for their children.
In 2007, the Jewish Community Federation received generous funding from the Jim Joseph Foundation to launch the Early Childhood Education Initiative. Since then, the Jim Joseph Foundation has been a key supporter for this strategic change initiative, which aims to address the needs of the youngest members of our community and the importance of Early Childhood Jewish Education in the Bay Area. The staff of the Early Childhood Education Initiative is engaged in fulfilling our mission by working on programs that support our ultimate goals as set out by the strategic plan. The four areas of concentration that have been identified through the community engagement process are interdependent, and each one has a direct impact on the others. Our mission is to be an innovator in Early Childhood Jewish Education by advocating on behalf of teachers, children and their families so that the Bay Area is known as a center of excellence in Early Childhood Jewish Education.
The guiding principles of the ECE Initiative are as follows:
"Bring up a child the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~Babylonian Talmud
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Early Childhood Jewish Education (ECJE) is Jewish education.
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ECJE belongs to the entire Jewish community and influences its vitality.
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ECJE should be a powerful gateway for parents of young children to make meaningful connections with the Jewish community.
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ECJE programs produce the best outcomes when schools adhere to demonstrated best practice in ECJE.
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Professionally trained ECJE educators require competitive compensation.
Areas of concentration:
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Professional Development
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Connecting with Families
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Standards of Excellence
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Compensation and Finance
Current Projects of the Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI):
ECEI Programs:
Bay Area Gratz Fellows: A Partnership between the Early Childhood Education Initiative, Gratz College & the Bureau of Jewish Education
Goal Area(s): Professional Development, Standards of Excellence, Compensation and Finance
Description: Twelve individuals currently teaching or directing in a Bay Area Early Childhood Jewish Education site began participating in a two-year hybrid online professional development program provided by Gratz College in the fall of 2009. These teachers/directors have been chosen for their commitment to Early Childhood Jewish Education as well as their professional accomplishments. It is our first step towards increasing systemic professional development in the field, and is geared toward teachers and directors who will become leaders in the field of Early Childhood Jewish Education. In addition to engaging the teachers, we will involve the directors and other leadership at the site in order to create excellence at the site level.
Funded by: The Jewish Community Federations Endowment Fund (scholarships), The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund (local learning component)
Partners: Gratz College, Bureau of Jewish Education, ECEI
Goal Area(s): Connecting with Families
Description: The PJ Library® currently serves approximately 5,000 children in the Bay Area by providing high-quality Jewish books and music to children from ages six months to seven years. The PJ Library® has brand recognition in the community, and is being very well received. Each Bay Area Federation is now working with a lay committee to establish points of connection and engagement with families that go "beyond the books." In addition, Early Childhood Jewish Education programs are receiving the books so that the curriculum is being reinforced by their teachers.
Funded by: The Jim Joseph Foundation, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, the Jewish Community Federations Endowment Fund, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma counties
Partners: The Jim Joseph Foundation, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay, the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, selected synagogues and JCC’s in the Bay Area, Jewish Preschools, ECEI
Parenting Matters: Jewish Wisdom for Mindful Parenting
Goal Area(s): Connecting with Families
Description: Parenting Matters has served over fifty parents (and by extension, their children) over the last year and a half. Parenting Matters is an interactive parent discussion group designed for parents who are raising Jewish children, and want to deepen their knowledge of Judaism within the context of parenting. The goal of Parenting Matters is to gently move people along in their own Jewish journey, as well as to connect parents to the larger Jewish community. Our initial evaluation showed that 75% of parents felt more comfortable participating in Jewish ritual and practice as a result of Parenting Matters, and 71% reported that they are inspired to connect with the Jewish community in one or more new ways. Funded by: The Interfaith Outreach Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma counties Partners: Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, Peninsula Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Oshmann Family Jewish Community Center, ECEI ECEI Indirect Programs:
Jewish Preschool Scholarship Funds
Goal Area(s): Connecting with Families, Standards of Excellence Description: We have worked the Preschool Scholarship Imprint Committee of the Jewish Community Federations Endowment Fund to help determine need and distribution tools for emergency scholarships for Jewish Preschools in the San Francisco Federation Service Area (FSA). The Jim Joseph Scholarship Funds: Each Early Childhood Jewish Education site in the Bay Area had the opportunity to receive funds from the Jim Joseph Scholarship Fund, based on the number of Jewish children they have enrolled in the school. The preschools have reported that this additional funding has allowed many families to stay in Jewish Preschool for the coming school year. Funded by: The Preschool Scholarship Imprint Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, the Jim Joseph Foundation Partners: The Jewish Community Federations Endowment Fund, the Bureau of Jewish Education Scholarship department, Early Childhood Council of Jewish Educators in the East Bay, the Mifgash (ECE council) of the Bureau of Jewish Education of San Francisco, the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley
Focus on Excellence: Project of the Bureau of Jewish Education
Goal Area(s): Standards of Excellence, Connecting with Families, Professional Development
Description: The Bureau of Jewish Education is taking the lead role in creating an evaluation instrument to assist schools in recognizing and achieving excellence. The project, under the direction of Ellen Brosbe, and in partnership with Janet Harris, has worked closely with area directors to create a user-friendly and comprehensive assessment tool that will be piloted in three Early Childhood Education sites during the upcoming school year. This tool, which is called “Focus on Excellence” will create community-wide standards of best practice in the field of Early Childhood Jewish Education. Funded by: The Kohn Fund of the Jewish Community Federations Endowment Fund Partners: ECE Mifgash, ECE Council in the East Bay, JCF of Silicon Valley, ECEI With consultation from: JECEI, NAEYC
If you have any questions regarding the Early Childhood Education Initiative or any of its programs, please contact Janet Harris, Director, at JanetH@sfjcf.org.
