The Jewish Ledger
A Stamford preschool has been chosen to participate in a pilot program, the goal of which is to make Jewish early childhood centers instrumental in building Jewish continuity.

Chabad Gan Yeladim in Stamford is one of 13 preschools from around the country that is participating in the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), created by a group of several Jewish philanthropic foundations including the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Springfield, Mass. Harold Grinspoon is president of the board of JECEI and Michael Steinhardt, executive director of the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation is the chairman of the board.

More than $3 million is expected to be raised by the foundations and organizations involved to be used during the first three years of the program.

Chabad Gan Yeladim in Stamford chosen for national pilot program

The Jewish Ledger

A Stamford preschool has been chosen to participate in a pilot program, the goal of which is to make Jewish early childhood centers instrumental in building Jewish continuity.

Chabad Gan Yeladim in Stamford is one of 13 preschools from around the country that is participating in the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), created by a group of several Jewish philanthropic foundations including the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Springfield, Mass. Harold Grinspoon is president of the board of JECEI and Michael Steinhardt, executive director of the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation is the chairman of the board.

More than $3 million is expected to be raised by the foundations and organizations involved to be used during the first three years of the program.

“We feel that Jewish early childhood centers are a catalyst for deepening whole families’ commitment to Judaism,” said Diana Ganger, program director of JECEI, who added that the schools in the pilot program come from all geographic areas of the country and from all Jewish denominations. Gan Yeladim and the other 12 schools were chosen because they showed “leadership that was visionary and ready to look forward,” Ganger explained.

Chabad Gan Yeladim, a program of Chabad Lubavitch of Fairfield County, was founded in 1989. The school, which has more than 100 students, offers a program for toddlers from two years old, its preschool for three and four-year-olds, and a transitional kindergarten program for five years olds, as well as day care and holiday and summer programs. The school’s director is Vivi Deren, wife of Rabbi Yossi Deren.

JECEI held a retreat in August for the schools’ directors. Over the next three years, the schools, which receive grants, will also get training from coaches who are experienced in early childhood education. Each school will receive grants to support any new programming.
“We can create an educational experience that involves the entire family and enriches Jewish home life,” said Cantor Mark Horowitz, executive director of JECEI. “Ultimately, our goal is to engage entire families in Jewish life. JERCEI and its funders are confident that early childhood centers that meaningfully engage the entire Jewish family will attract a diverse range of Jewish families, including the unaffiliated…By investing resources in the vast improvement of Jewish early childhood education, we are laying a solid foundation for a stronger, more committed Jewish community of the future.”