Early Childhood


Our Staff and Facility

Staff

Our Center is licensed by the Office of Children and Family Services, certified by the New York State Department of Education, and accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. We are very proud of this accreditation as it has become a benchmark that less then 8% of schools nationwide have achieved.

In addition to our accreditation, our teaching staff is fun, energetic and engaging. The daily lesson plans encourage opportunities through experiences with literature, music, science, language development, creative movement, mathematics, and conceptual learning. Through our teaching, children learn to express their needs, use their bodies, minds and feelings which in turn provide a strong educational foundation and a positive Jewish identity.


Rhya Jerrold
Early Childhood Center Director

Rhya Jerrold, Director: Rhya has a B.A. in Philosophy and Sociology, a J.D. from Touro Law School, an M.S.Ed. in Elementary and Early Childhood Education, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Policy. Before her tenure as our Early Childhood Director, Rhya previously worked as a nursery school teacher, a private elementary school teacher, and a preschool camp coordinator. Her other prior work experience includes a position as a trainer for daycare workers seeking their credentials, and an attorney editor for a publishing company. Rhya’s combined background of formal education, teaching, and training of others in the daycare field help provide her with a unique perspective and approach to the various aspects of our program.  


Randi Richter
Early Childhood Center Assistant Director

Randi has a B.S. in Speech and Language Pathology, and is currently a Master’s Candidate with a concentration in Early Childhood Education.  Randi’s years as a classroom teacher in our Early Childhood Center have added to her knowledge base of the “ins-and-outs” of both the teaching and administrative aspects of our program.  


Rita Witzer
Early Childhood Center Administrative Assistant

As almost everyone knows, Rita runs the logistics of our Early Childhood Office. When not busy giving pretzels out to our many visitors, she coordinates the daily operations of the office and helps keep the lines of communication wide open.  


Janet Siegel
Early Childhood Center Administrative Assistant

 In addition to coordinating all of our transportation needs, Janet’s knowledge of the Early Childhood Center make her an excellent resource to answer any of your Early Childhood questions. She also helps to coordinate most of our fundraisers and special event days.  


Vanessa Lisco
Early Childhood Center Program Assistant

Since coming to join the Early Childhood Center from the Health and Fitness Department, Vanessa has continued to run our fitness-based Early Childhood extension classes. Vanessa has also taken over our library program, will be the assisting supervisor for our camp program, and now coordinates birthday parties for all ages.  


Laura Bloom
Early Childhood Center Office Assistant

When she is not busy driving a bus, Laura can usually be found shopping and running the many errands necessary to keep our Early Childhood Center fully stocked and ready to roll! 

Facility

The Early Childhood Center occupies 16 well-equipped rooms in a separate wing of the JCC. There are five outside play areas which include a grassy courtyard, sand boxes, climbing equipment, slides, playhouses, and a firm surface for tricycle riding and the use of other wheeled toys. One of our playground areas is designed specifically for toddlers, with specialty ground-covering and scaled-down climbing apparatus. In addition, our courtyard is home to much sprinkler fun in the summer months, for many of our Early Childhood Summer programs.

The facility includes a kitchen area where the children can have many educational experiences, our dance room for movement classes, and 3 gymnasium areas with set-ups resembling an indoor playground, an early childhood climbing/crawling space, and a free space for relays, structured games, active play, or even just some hula-hoop fun!

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