DCJCC Feedback?

[Anonymous]

Did a search of the DCUM board but didn't see anything recent re: the DCJCC preschool program. My child just got off the waiting list for the 2s class. Does anyone have experience with this program? Is it good or worth it? What about for families that are not Jewish or multi-religious? Wondering what if any feedback there is. Does the program have a good reputation?

[Anonymous]

I am a DCJCC parent of 2 kids. We have been there for 3 years. It is an incredible program- nurturing, loving, and full of learning. It is a pre-school AND a community. The "Regio" program is a great approach to start the foundation for our kids education.The preschool administration is organized. The hours are also great for working parents. And then in the summer- it switches to camp! I wish the DC JCC went past pre-K. We would LOVE to stay for years to come.

[Anonymous]

06:57 - new poster here. What do you do for the many days off (Jewish holidays, last week of the year)?

[Anonymous]

when did you get on the waiting list for the 2s class?

[Anonymous]

We got on the 2s waiting list when DC was about a year old. Am curious what JCC parents do for childcare over all the Jewish holidays. It looks like there are nearly 2 weeks of holiday days on top of a winter break and another break. That's nearly a month of non-coverage.

[Anonymous]

bump - any answers on what you do with all those days off?

[Anonymous]

We sent DC to the JCC (now in PK elsewhere), and we adored it. We are non-Jewish and multi-religious, so very open to the Judaism "light" that the JCC taught the children. Mostly social values that we also espouse.

As for the days off, there are a few things you could do. You could divide up the days with your spouse (I would work in the AMs while DH would work in the afternoon/evenings, so one parent was always home). You could get together with some of the other families to work out a babysitting-share. (There's an active email community within the preschool.) You could share a nanny with another family.

The days off are not so bad, but you do have to plan ahead.

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

My name is Sarah Rabin Spira, and I'm the Director of the Washington DCJCC Preschool.

I believe that our current and recent parents posted updated feedback about our school, but I want to also offer that we are available for tours or to connect prospective families with current families to provide more information.

I'm on maternity leave until March 21, so Mandy Sheffer is our acting Preschool Director. She can be reached at [e-mail] or [phone].

For the Jewish holidays and school breaks (one week between Christmas and New Year's, and one week in August for teacher training and school transition), we are sensitive to parents' needs for full-day care, balanced with the fact that we are a school (not a daycare) in a Jewish Community Center. So all of these inform our decisions about closing for holidays and training days. We do try to give as much notice as possible and connect parents to each other to try and split the days off. (A poster above mentioned this--four families get together, each taking the other three families' kids for one day and then rotating so that each family only needs to have one parent take one day off.) We also have full- and part-time teachers who are sometimes interested in babysitting by private arrangement. Compared with other full-time schools, we take off about the same number of days throughout the year; but with the fall holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot), they tend to get bunched up right at the beginning.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to email Mandy or me or post further questions on this board. I'm able to get online about once a week (depends on my DS' schedule that day), but Mandy is at the J Monday-Friday, 7:30 am-4:30 pm.

Take care,
Sarah


Sarah Rabin Spira
Director, Early Childhood, Youth & Family Programs
Washington DCJCC
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Sarah again:

I'm sorry that I missed the other two questions:

1) We have many families that are Jewish, non-Jewish and interfaith. We do have a Judaics Specialist and a focus on Jewish holidays, values and Shabbat but we are respectful that home beliefs and practices vary from family to family (even within the Jewish religion). Our diversity is one of the things that makes me incredibly proud of our school.

2) Parents are welcome to place their child on our waitlist after birth, the earlier the better (though I don't mean to stress anyone out by saying that). We are admitting new students for 2011-2012 now, and our first round offers went to families that got on the list in the summer of 2009 (for a 2s spot in fall 2011). But we admit on a rolling basis until all spaces are filled, so if an offer is not taken (declined, deferred or not answered), we go to the next family on the list.

Hope this helps!
Sarah