Knoxville, TN - On a recent morning, Yakov Drumm quietly worked on a multiplication lesson as a classmate a few feet away pulled on her cheeks in an effort to correctly pronounce the Hebrew alphabet.
Learning their Alef, Bet, Gimels…
Knoxville, TN – On a recent morning, Yakov Drumm quietly worked on a multiplication lesson as a classmate a few feet away pulled on her cheeks in an effort to correctly pronounce the Hebrew alphabet.
Yakov, 6, completed his lesson, put away his workbook and headed to the classroom corner for a snack. He passed one mate putting a skeleton puzzle together on the floor and another tracing cursive letters with his fingers on the table.
The first-grader grabbed a placemat and then put a glass plate from the snack cart on the table. He set a timer – 7 minutes – and sat down to eat.
Now came his favorite part of the day.
“Guess what?” he said to a visitor. “We even get to wash our own glass plates.”
Welcome to the Stanford Eisenberg Knoxville Jewish Day School. It’s a new institution where Montessori-style learning, traditional public school curriculum and Jewish education meet.
Here, the school’s students – five kindergartners and three first-graders – receive individualized instruction, discover responsibility through doing and participate in a full-immersion Hebrew program.
“Children who go to Jewish day school feel much more connected,” said Yossi Wilhelm, the school’s dean. He is the rabbi of Chabad of Knoxville, a Jewish outreach organization that runs the school.
“We’re giving children the opportunity to learn about who they are and to grow to be Jewish leaders themselves,” he said.
The institution joins the ranks of growing faith-based schools in Knoxville, which includes several Christian schools like Grace Christian Academy and a Muslim school, Annoor Academy.
Learning as they play
The school, which opened in August, currently serves a combined kindergarten and first-grade class. It has two teachers – one who speaks only in Hebrew and teaches Judaic Studies and the other who teaches General Studies in English.
A small class setting means “the kind of attention they can get is better than the best public school teacher can afford to give,” said Lawrence Anovitz, father of students Havah Ruth and Leah Shaendel, 7-year-old twins.
The curriculum is “challenging” for Yakov, said his mom, Sandra Drumm.
“He is always eager to learn new lessons and his enthusiasm is kept alive because of the special nurturing and attention he receives,” she said.
Students begin each morning identifying the day of the week on the Gregorian calendar, based on a solar cycle and in use in much of the world today, and a Jewish calendar, based on a lunar cycle.
They then carry their chairs with both hands – not drag them – to a table where they sing their prayers.
“It’s teaching them practical life manners,” said Rishi Wilhelm, the Hebrew teacher and the rabbi’s sister.
Next is almost two hours of individual instruction. Later during the day, half the group has reading time in Hebrew and the other in English. Then they switch.
“I really like the approach of the school,” said Irina Abrams, mother of 5-year-old twins Gabriel and Alex. “The atmosphere is such that there is no pressure. They learn as they play, and they don’t even realize they’re learning.”
Gabriel has speech problems and social delays, Abrams said, but he’s able to keep up with other pupils.
“When the teachers talk about Gabe, they talk about his strengths, so that encourages me,” she said.
Achieving the dream
The institution has been a dream of Knoxville’s Jewish community for three decades, said Miriam Esther Wilhelm, the head of the school and the rabbi’s wife.
It became a reality about three years ago. Wilhelm ran a “Mommy and Me” program for toddlers and the Jewish mothers expressed interest in the school, she said.
The Wilhelms did research on the South, and “one of the things that encouraged us was we found smaller communities that had opened Jewish day schools with successful results.”
They took tips from a school in Columbia, S.C., she said.
Ann Friedlander, of Loxahatchee, Fla., gave the Wilhelms $150,000 seed money. The philanthropist lived in Knoxville 17 years. The school is named in memory of her father, who died in 2002.
“It’s amazing sometimes to look (at the school) and think ‘Wow, this is real,’ ” Miriam Esther Wilhelm said.
The Jewish day school follows a similar calendar to Knox County Schools’ but it’s altered to accommodate Jewish holidays, she said.
It also is working with state officials to attain accreditation, said Rachel Woods, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education.
School officials plan to add classes each year up to the fifth grade. The school currently meets in a commercial space on Downtown West Boulevard but will move to a 3-acre campus on Wallace Road off Northshore Drive after renovations there are completed.
For Sarah Perez, 5, the Jewish day school is a place where she gets to explore the world through her hands. She does cool things like mixing clay to see what colors they make.
She likes the school, she said, because “it’s more funner how you learn.”
an educator
i love this style school- it would help if more chabad schools were acredited like this one. The chinuch of children especially the foundation, is a vital responsibility to all educators. THe statistics show that 98 percent of kids who enter kindergarten have healthy self esteems and by 12 grade graduation only 2 percent leave feeling good about themselves….we need to re think our roles as educatorss and where we are placing our children
a good frind
great work yossi keep it up and mazal tov
gr8
gr8 job guys!!!
brochi
I learned and now teach in a montessori school and it’s not as good as people think it is. most of the kids can’t listen to a story anymore, they’re so very used to doing everything on their own.
Batya
Hey Rishi! Nice to read about you on CHinfo. Yossi and Miriam Esther, Yasher Koach and keep up the great work!
response to Brochi
First of all it’s a very nice article and the pictures are realy great! yasher Koach.
In response to Brochi, I agree with you that generaly Montessori is not an ideal program for most children. It was started b y someone who was working with severly underprivleged children most of them did not have familys they could rely on. For such a situation they needed to learn how to become totaly self sufficient and reliant.
There are many drawbacks for a normal healthy student. There are some very usefull ideas that can be intergraded with some other concepts. Many schools that use montessori also incorporate other ideas. The place where I have seen it be used most succesfully is with special needs children who have a harder time learning to be self reliant.
Fellow Shliach
Mazel Tov Wilhelms on your new School and your new son ka"h. Lots of nachas.
Rochele (her last years student in BR)
Miss Wilhelm what are you doing in there
Dave
B"H
I’m delighted to see news of Rabbi Yossi and his gracious and talented wife, Miriam Esther has made it to Crown Heights Info!
During the past couple of years I’ve been privileged to attend two "Shabatton in the Smokies" (the Smoky Mountains are located in East Tennessee) organized by the Wilhelm family and friends from New York/Crown Heights. Both events provided me with wonderful opportunities to learn, stimulate spiritual growth, and establish friendships. I also added a few inches to my waistline as well!
Mazel tov for all their good work in Knoxville!
Involved in ECE
The reality is that the Montessori Style of teaching is not so ‘hip’ anymore. Parents aren’t going for it. At the end if the day, children need to feel that they have a structure and routine. The Montessori Method is an extreme, and after children have been going through school with this method, the results aren’t what they thought it would be. Especially with our Jewish Religion that has so many laws and rules to follow….that goes totally against the Montessori Method of teaching! ‘What if today I am just not interested in practicing my religion, or davening or wearing clothes !?!….’ or ‘Mother, you asked me to eat dinner in the kitchen, but I will be eating it in the living room, because I want to tonight!’
A Christian woman began it when she wanted to help children from broken homes, so for those children they felt like they entered ‘dream land’ and they were willing to follow whatever the teachers were offering. The teachers were able to give individualized attention to these needy children.
My point is, that two extremes are never good! Certain ideas of Montessori are great, and should be incorporated into your regular structured classroom. But you need a balance where children have the space and freedom that they NEED, along with the structure and routine that they NEED, and this enables them to grow into responsible, self-confident people!
BTW, years back, when a few Chabad schools wanted to change their school into the Montessori Style…..the Rebbe had many questions about it, and never told the Shluchim to go for it.
But, of course, parents want to do the ‘in’ thing, and will send their child to a Montessori school, and an added bonus is that it is Jewish (which sounds oxymoronic to me) —– and the main goal of Chabad is to touch Jewish souls…..so Kol HaKavod Shluchim! Much Luck and Success!
educator
I think that the montessori system, like what your saying needs to be incorporated with other ideas because of lach of structure etc. At the same time, it focuses on ages and stages theory which of course is a big minus in the chabad pre school system
Mazel Tov!
Mazel Tov! I think the world of Yossi and Miriam Esther. They’re good people!
I
Havah
Hi Yakov