New Rochelle's Temple Israel to Open Preschool

will open its Kehillah School for Early Learning in September. The school will offer full-time education for children 6 weeks to 6 years old for the entire year.

Rabbi Scott Weiner said that he thought of the idea of a childcare and school after he and his family moved to New Rochelle a few years ago.

“Looking at the landscapes as parents we saw a need for all-day childcare,” he said. “The absolute best school did not exist at the time.”

Nancy Bossov, director of the Kehillah School, said that a full-time childcare and school  is very needed in the area.

“In this economy you have stay-at-home moms, stay-at-home dads or both parents working,” she said. “Finding childcare can be very difficult.”

Weiner stressed that even though the facility will teach the fundamentals of Judaism, children of all faiths are welcome.

“We will teach ethical moral teachings which are a universal foundation,” he said.

The word “Kehillah” means “community” in Hebrew. “It is not about being a Jewish school, it is about being a Jewish school with our neighbors” Bossov said. “Imagine the potential of what we can do with these children. We will stimulate their minds and their spirits.”

The facility, which opens Sept. 12, will have two classrooms on two floors. The first floor will have classes for children 6 weeks to 18 months and the second class will be for children 18 months to 29 months.

The children then go upstairs, which is Yiddish is ”oybn,” to classes for 3- to 4-year-olds and 4- to 5-year-olds.

“We know that the first five years of a child’s life are the most crucial for learning,” Bossov said.

The children in the 4- to 5-age range can stay at the school for two years if parents feel they are not ready for kindergarten or if they have late birthdays.

Parents will have the option to enroll their child or children for two, three or five days of the week for either four, six, 10 or 12 hours, which is considered all day.

In partnership with Bright Horizons Family Solutions, which has managed more than 700 full-time education centers in the U.S. and abroad, the Kehillah School’s education objective is to “provide students with a global perspective, a love of learning, a forum for curiosity, respect for the individual spirit and a foundation of Jewish ethics, morals and values.”

The new state-of-the-art facility cost $1.6 million. It will contain a outdoor playground and indoor gym with a climbing wall and ballet bar. The building is still under construction, but Weiner said that all construction will be completed by the time school opens.

Weiner said that children have started to enroll and that he can’t wait to open Kehillah in the coming weeks.

“We hope that people can share their experiences,” he said. “Kehillah is a melting pot process with Judaism as the foundation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Temple Israel of New Rochelle would not allow Patch to take photographs of the school's interior.