About Us
Statement of Philosophy
Shalom-
About 34 years ago the founders of Maimonides Academy of Western Connecticut announced the mission for the school: v'shinantam l'vanecha - “and you shall teach it to your sons.”
Scholars have interpreted this mitzvah from the Torah as giving the responsibility to educate their children to their parents.
What a responsibility! But as the African proverb tells us, “It takes a village to raise a child!”
As we transition into Maimonides Early Education, our newly defined mission begins by stating that our goal is to foster educational, social, and emotional development by providing a high-quality, age-appropriate secular and Judaic education.
Taking the time to internalize our mission statement, a few key phrases stand out for me:
· Foster cognitive, social, emotional and physical development
· Provide high-quality, age-appropriate education
· Promote self-esteem
· Embrace diversity
· Cultivate a connection to Jewish values and tradition
· Involve families to build a sense of community
Ultimately, our mission must be to meet the needs of the whole child, providing a strong foundation for secular and Judaic education to ensure the future success of our community.
A successful education program can be likened to a 3-legged stool. One leg cannot be longer or shorter than the others. At the Maimonides Early Education Program, the three legs of the stool can be represented as: The Students, The Strength of the Education, and The Community.
The first leg: The Students. We want to promote “Hakitah Hasmecha” (the Happy Class)– we want to keep the students happy and engaged. By the end of each day, we want the children to be excited about what they've learned and truly look forward to returning to school the next day. For our Preschool we build on the vision of Maimonides Academy of Western Connecticut. “You shall teach it to your children” and then we will add a little from the vision of Walt Disney: "This shall be the happiest place on earth!"
“Leg #2”, the Strength of the Education: Every teacher and board member that I have worked with so far have been personally committed and have given tirelessly of their time, energy, and skills to making the transition to the new program a success. I am confident that this commitment will continue into the new school year.
However, we all know that a stool cannot stand on 2 legs alone. We have been very fortunate to have such tremendous support from our community, from the Jewish Federation to Temple Shearith Israel to most importantly, our parents. An active PTO is essential to the success of our school. My most sincere todah – thank you -- goes to this year’s PTO President Gigi Bazarian. I am thrilled that Nina Hisinger accepted the position for next year. Mazal Tov!
Our 3 legged stool and thus our Maimonides Early Education Program, will remain strong and stable and is ready to show tremendous success in the upcoming school year.
In order to bring our program’s mission to life, I believe we need to create an environment with five essential tools in our Maimonides toolbox.
The five tools are:
A ruler
A magnifying glass
A Crayon Box
Paper clips
Glue
1. The ruler – A strong, integrated academic program based on math, science, and language arts, in a classroom environment that stresses critical thinking skills in a relaxed, nurturing environment.
2. The Magnifying glass – Our students are seen as individuals and the curriculum is designed to stimulate the natural creativity and curiosity of each child. I believe we have the opportunity to re-brand our program -- the focus is all about being yourself -- Maimonides Early Education is all about Being MEE! (poster)
3. Crayon Box – This is a strong cultural environment involving the arts. We will explore different cultures and languages, such as Hebrew, Spanish and French. We are planning to set up an International Playground, introduce food from different countries, artists from around the world and much more.
4. Paper clips – They hold us together. Parent involvement and excellent family and community programming are vital for a successful program. We are planning Shabbat and holidays celebrations that will be open to the Maimonides Academy families.
5. Glue – This involves teaching Jewish values, celebrating Jewish holidays and exposing students to our rich Jewish heritage. We are blessed to have a parent who is a rabbi. Rabbi Nelly Altenburger, also known as the mommy of Michaela, Eliyahu and Natanel. Rabbi Nelly will be our in-house adviser as we are going to build a new age appropriate Tefila schedule. Our sincere thanks to the board for the great effort to move our Ark and the Maimonides Torah to TSI. We will continue to celebrate Israel with our Israeli schlichim - emissaries who will visit our pre-school – our thanks to Dr. Alvin Goldman and the Jewish Federation. Todah to Cantor Deborah Katchko Gray of TSI that will enrich our celebrations of Shabbat and Jewish holidays and connect us as a community.
This is just the beginning! While our focus will be these 5 basic tools, my hope is to develop and grow our program and continue to add to our MEE tool box!
Those of you who know me know that words are fine but actions are the true measure of success. I approach this new phase of our school with passion and love and together we will be successful.
Naava Koblenz, MEE Director
