The Standards of Excellence Project for Early Childhood Jewish Education

The Standards of Excellence Project in Early Childhood Jewish Education is a partnership of the Bureau of Jewish Education of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma and the Early Childhood Education Initiative. The Standards of Excellence Project is made possible by a grant from the Jewish Community Kohn Fund of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. In Nap Time is Over, the Strategic Plan for the Early Childhood Education Initiative in the Bay Area, The ECE Initiative identified Standards of Excellence as one of several core challenges for our community. The logic model of the Strategic Plan is based upon the following assumption: "Early Childhood Jewish Education programs produce the best outcomes when the school adheres to acknowledged best practices in Early Childhood and Jewish Education." In spring of 2008, the Kohn Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund made a grant to the Bureau of Jewish Education to create the Standards of Excellence Project. This project began in late September 2008 when the BJE convened the early childhood directors Mifgash to address this challenge. At that time, directors reviewed and evaluated existing assessment tools from 4 national projects: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and D.C. Feedback and recommendations for our Bay Area project were collected and a Standards of Excellence working group was formed. The Standards of Excellence working group is a volunteer committee comprised of directors and teachers from the Federation Service Area of the Jewish Community Federation early childhood programs. In addition, Janet Harris, Director of the Early Childhood Eduction Initiative of the JCF and Ellen Brosbe, BJE Early Childhood Specialist work closely on the project. Shelley Alexander, interim Early Childhood Director of the CJLL of the East Bay also serves on the committee, along with Rabbi Becky Joseph, Senior Education Planner of the JCF. The BJE leadership team is informed of all work. The group is an inspiring and dedicated group of early childhood professionals devoting hours of their time to this project. For additional information and meeting dates, contact Ellen Brosbe at the Bureau of Jewish Education at 415.751.6983 x153 or Janet Harris at 415.499.1223 x8104.