Collaboration, connection, cooperation and community were the themes of the joint Election Day professional development programming throughout the Bergen County day school early childhood programs. A few years ago, the area early childhood directors began meeting on a regular basis in each other’s schools and homes to collaborate and brainstorm about various issues that spanned all of their schools. The directors found the experience amazing, uplifting and supportive for themselves and came up with the idea to expand this same opportunity to each of their respective staff members. The plan was hatched, pitched to their respective principals, and the first annual “Preschool Professional Playdate” was born.
Ben Porat Yosef, Moriah, RYNJ, Yavneh Academy, Yeshivat He’atid and Yeshivat Noam all joined forces, in two locations, for the first ever, one-of-a-kind, community, collaborative meeting of the best and the brightest early childhood educators around. Hosted by RYNJ and Moriah, the teachers attended mixed-school sessions moderated by the schools’ early childhood directors and mental health professionals and explored topics that spanned all of our community institutions.
The teachers emerged with a shared language, sense of togetherness, camaraderie and a real feeling of support and achdut. The vibe was incredible and left the teachers looking forward to the next opportunity, which is already in the works. The day ended with teachers posting feedback on a shared digital message board. One comment said it all, “I loved bouncing ideas around with the teachers from different schools. Really eye opening that we all deal with the same issues. Let’s do this more often!”
Competition in Bergen County…? Nah! Just amazing educators trying to give our collective children the best possible foundation for a successful start in school and in life. Kol hakavod to our school leaders on this beautiful initiative. #BergenCountyNachat
Jessica Kohn is the Early Childhood Director and Founding Educator of BPY and a proud member of the new Bergen County early childhood directors’ network.
