preschool at Adas Israel?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone sent their child to the preschool at Adas Israel? Is it any good?

[Anonymous]

yes - 3 kids went there, but the school closed bc of covid and has undergone a total change. covid coincided with a new director. I don't think anyone can speak to what it will be like moving forward.

[Anonymous]

We have had really positive experiences with the school and the new Director -- who has been there since Fall 2019 and is currently running an online and outdoor option for kids even though the full in-person school won't start up again until Fall 2021.

[Anonymous]

Current family. The school is wonderful. One of the better preschools around here.

[Anonymous]

My son was in the Gan starting in the Fall of 2019. He loved it. It was a great preschool and Had COVID not happened, he would have been there for 3 years. I had to enroll my son in a different preschool and we got lucky with an OSSE expansion school in our neighborhood that we don't pay for. My son says all the time how much he misses the Gan. I enrolled him for next year at the Gan to have the option and will make a decision about sending him in the FALL. My heart wants to send him back to the Gan but 29K vs free may make the decision for us.

[Anonymous]

While we went in with high hopes, we had a disappointing experience at Adas Israel. Our son started when he was two years old.

We were very impressed with the school's leadership -- particularly director Noah Hichenberg, who has a PhD in early childhood education -- and were told great things about the Child Development director, Stephanie Slater. Both were very accessible, warm and highly informed during our experience.

Alas, that caliber of professional did not translate to the classroom. Both of our son's teachers were first-time preschool teachers. Communication with parents was spotty; we got an email every 2-3 days from his teachers, and we'd get a phone call when he got injured at school. We felt the floater, substitute teachers were more qualified than the core teachers. In short, Adas felt like a glorified Jewish daycare, lacking intentional programming for child development, with teachers who were there for the paycheck rather than the love of teaching and being with toddlers. The preschool is also quite expensive, at ~$20k per year for five-day-per-week, 8-5 care, for 9 months of the year.

That said, Adas does have some positive attributes, for sure. The head of the school and Child Development Director, Noah and Stephanie, are terrific. It's an extremely inclusive culture -- and the inclusivity is palpable. Diversity of discussed and encouraged. Class sizes are small, drop-off is laid back, and parents are able to arrive within a 30-minute window every day, as well as welcomed to hang out in the classroom for a few minutes before heading off to work. No potty training required, no Kosher food required (though the school is pareve). Uniquely, the school has an in-house child evaluation center with some of the city's best pediatric specialists on retainer. Security is strong -- doors are locked except during drop off, and there is security to get into the parking lot as well as into the school.

When our son started his next preschool, we realized the full extent of what we were missing.
We are now at a school that is pro-active in letting parents know about programming in advance, where teachers are very experienced and clearly love young children, where teachers communicate with parents daily, and where the school hosts numerous back-to-school events for families to meet each other and identify common activities/needs in the first month of school.

I'm afraid the reputation of Adas of being hit-or-miss depending on teacher quality was our experience.

[Anonymous]

While we went in with high hopes, we had a disappointing experience at Adas Israel. Our son started when he was two years old.

We were very impressed with the school's leadership -- particularly director Noah Hichenberg, who has a PhD in early childhood education -- and were told great things about the Child Development director, Stephanie Slater. Both were very accessible, warm and highly informed during our experience.

Alas, that caliber of professional did not translate to the classroom. Both of our son's teachers were first-time preschool teachers who seemed to "fly by the seat of their parents" every day. One did seem genuinely suited for working with children, but the other seemed to be there for a paycheck. We felt the long-time floater, substitute teachers were more qualified than the core teachers assigned to our son's class.

Communication with parents was spotty; we got an email every 2-3 days from his teachers, and we'd get a phone call when he got injured at school. The school leadership sent great, philosophical biweekly emails -- which were motivational though lacked the sort of logistical information that parents really would rather get.

In short, Adas felt like a glorified Jewish daycare, lacking intentional programming for child development, with teachers who were there for the paycheck rather than the love of teaching and being with toddlers. The preschool is also quite expensive, at ~$25k per year for five-day-per-week, 8-5 care, for 9 months of the year. The facilities are mediocre at best (dilapidated building and playground), which we were glad to overlook in exchange for teacher quality, building safety, and the wonderful community we hoped would await us.

That said, Adas does have some positive attributes, for sure. The school's leadership are terrific with parents. It's an extremely inclusive culture. Diversity of discussed and encouraged. Class sizes are small, drop-off is laid back, and parents are able to arrive within a 30-minute window every day as well as welcomed to hang out in the classroom for a few minutes before heading off to work. No potty training required, no Kosher food required (though the school is pareve). Uniquely, the school has an in-house child evaluation center with some of the city's best pediatric specialists on retainer. Security is strong (sadly, living in America requires this); doors are locked except during drop off, and there is security to get into the parking lot as well as into the school.

When our son started his next preschool, we realized the full extent of what we were missing.
We are now at a school that is pro-active in letting parents know about programming in advance, where teachers are very experienced and clearly love young children, where teachers communicate with parents daily, and where the school hosts numerous back-to-school events for families to meet each other and identify common activities/needs in the first month of school. The playground is modern and lovely, each classroom has lots of space and is well-decorated, the school has ample administrative staff, and the school really facilitates families getting to know each other and building community.

I'm afraid the reputation of Adas of being hit-or-miss depending on teacher quality was our experience.