Ali Hurewitz, our Director of Early Childhood Education, has decided to move on from Temple Sinai at the end of this school year. Ali has been a dedicated member of our community for many years, first as a parent, then as a teacher and Assistant Director, before taking on the role of Director in 2020. We are deeply grateful for Ali’s dedication, her leadership, and her commitment to TSNS and Temple Sinai. She has touched the lives of countless children and families, and her impact on our community will be felt for years to come. We wish her all the best in the future.
We are pleased to welcome Melanie Douglass as our new Director of Early Childhood Education. Melanie comes to us from the Little Folks School, where she was Assistant Head of School, Director of Programming, and a Preschool Teacher. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of D.C., teaching courses in early childhood education.
The Nursery School enjoys long term relationships with its faculty, a third of which has master’s degrees or higher in the field. Our teachers gently guide and facilitate learning, employing our nurturing “language of early childhood” to support a range of developmental needs. We are committed to taking each individual child into consideration. Nursery School faculty also engages in an extensive amount of professional development on an ongoing basis. As a model early childhood education program, we share our expertise in our field with other early childhood educators through school tours and presentations at the annual NAEYC Conference. In addition, consultants in the areas of motor, speech, behavior, health and social work provide guidance to faculty and families on site.
Perri Iger-Silversmith is the founding Director of Temple Sinai Nursery School, and is credited with setting the vision for the program for nearly thirty years, anchoring TSNS in the belief that strong social-emotional foundations best prepare children for life and future educational experiences. She has worked in public school, private nursery school, and Judaic settings for many decades. Perri is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, where she received her BA in Special and Elementary Education, and she earned her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Human Development from The George Washington University. Since Perri established the program in 1992, TSNS achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) five times. Perri also led TSNS through a similar accreditation process through the Partnership for Jewish Life & Learning called the “Community Program in Jewish Education for Early Childhood Centers.” Under Perri’s leadership, TSNS garnered its unparalleled reputation for excellence in early childhood education.