ROSALYN GILBERT makes a crown for her Queen Esther mask for Purim. Gilbert is a student at Aleph Bet Preschool, on the Maimonides Jewish Day School campus in Southwest Portland. The school is accepting applications for the 2008-09 school year.
‘Warm’ preschool enrolls for fall
By Deborah Moon
Warm, supportive, caring and exciting are words one hears a lot when asking about the Aleph Bet Preschool, part of Maimonides Jewish Day School.
“For me as a person involved in Jewish education for more than 20 years, being here with this class is like a vacation,” said preschool teacher Sharon Pollin. “It’s a joy to come in here every day and teach these kids and work in this warm, supportive, respectful environment.”
“Because of the wonderful small class size, we are able to have a very strong assessment of each child’s development in each of the domains,” she said. “We have some children in this class (4- and 5-year-olds) who are already reading and some are pre-readers. We are able to discretely work with them to ensure appropriate growth.”
Former preschool parent Bonni Goldberg said her daughter started public charter school ahead in both math and language arts after starting her education at Maimonides.
“Maimonides was the perfect place for my daughter to experience a warm and nurturing introduction to Judaism,” said Goldberg.
Pollin said she is also impressed with the school’s emphasis on kindness and polite behavior, which she said impacts the atmosphere of the classroom and the school as a whole.
Another teacher in the same classroom, Chani Bialo said, “We focus on caring for each other. These kids come in happy and looking forward to what’s going to happen. It’s a nice, warm, exciting place.”
Teacher Mimi Wilhelm said that teachers try to instill a love of and caring for Judaism in their students.
“We want them to be excited about the holiday,” she said, as she described how her students have been preparing for Purim.
“We have a warm environment where kids are exploring in a lot of ways,” she said. “Now moving into Purim, we are having them explore with puppetry, dramatic play, painting and literacy. It’s all integrated.”
Aleph Bet Preschool and Maimonides Jewish Day School are now accepting applications for the 2008-09 school year. For more information, call 503-977-7850.