"The Quest for Teaching Excellence"
Investment in Teachers: Excellent teachers and academic excellence go hand-in-hand, which is why our community is investing $1 million into professional development for teachers.
The four-year program, known as “The Quest for Teaching Excellence,” supports and enhances the work of every teacher in every classroom in each of four Jewish day schools: Golda Och Academy (GOA) in West Orange, Jewish Educational Center (JEC) in Elizabeth, Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School (JKHA/RKYHS) in Livingston, and the Gottesman RTW Academy in Randolph.
The program was developed through collaboration among the three schools under the guidance of a consultant, Penney Riegelman, the former Head of School of Newark Academy, one of the region’s top private secular schools.
The $1 million in funding supports the following major areas: a “faculty dean” position at each of the schools to coordinate ongoing professional development; a pool of grants to enable teachers to build on their skills through individualized workshops, continuing education, and other professional development activities; the preparation of new, comprehensive faculty assessment systems at each school; and a community-wide professional development conference for all faculty.
The Greater MetroWest community and private donors are embarking on a $1 million “quest” aimed at bolstering academic excellence in the area’s three Jewish day schools.
The Quest for Teaching Excellence, a multi-year program of the Greater MetroWest Day School Initiative, supports and enhances the work of educators at Golda Och Academy in West Orange, Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, and The Gottesman RTW Academy in Randolph. Read more
Seminar presses need for teacher training
For kids to learn effectively, their teachers need to upgrade their own skills throughout their careers, according to Vivian Troen, co-director of a teacher learning project at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University.
“You stultify if you don’t have opportunities for growth,” Troen told a gathering of 75 Jewish day school teachers at a Dec. 7 seminar in Livingston. A teaching degree, Troen said, “only allows you to walk into the building. It is imperative for kids to learn but it is also essential for teachers to learn, and most schools are not set up to support teacher learning.” Read more
For more information
For more information on day schools in Greater MetroWest and the Greater MetroWest Day School Initiative, please contact Rebecca Hindin at [email protected] or (973) 929-2962, or contact the schools directly.