Yeshivat Shalshelet, the first yeshiva day school for children with language-based learning differences, is proud to open its doors this month. Under the leadership of its head of school, Shulamit Roth, M.S., CCC-SLP, Shalshelet has a stellar educational leadership team, with the newest addition of Esti Herman as the school’s executive director. Their collective goal is to ensure that the school’s carefully designed special education dual curriculum will set its students on the path to academic, spiritual, and social-emotional success.
Esti Herman joins Shalshelet from Beit Issie Shapiro, where she was its national director. Previously, she was the chief development officer at SINAI Schools and executive director of the U.S. office of Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl. She lives in Fair Lawn with her husband; they have four daughters and three sons-in-law.
“We can take great pride as a community in both recognizing the unmet challenge of a yeshiva day school for students with language-based learning differences and answering the call so that these students are provided with an educational setting that is tailored to their unique needs,” Herman said. “I am thrilled to be part of this journey, and look forward to working with a group of dedicated educators whose goal is to ensure that each student in need of this unique educational model is provided with the tools necessary to feel confident and become productive, compassionate, and kind adults.”
Miriam Schulman, M.S.Ed., is Shalshelet’s curriculum coordinator. She has been supporting yeshiva day school students and teachers for almost 15 years. She has significant expertise in literacy development and specialized instruction for students with dyslexia and other language-based difficulties. Miriam has served in various teaching roles featuring extensive training in both English and Hebrew reading at SAR Academy and RYNJ.
By tailoring her instruction to each child’s strengths and needs, Schulman has helped build critical literacy and student skills for struggling learners. “I am looking forward to creating an environment and curriculum that makes learning accessible to all types of learners,” she said.
Schulman graduated from Queens College with a bachelor’s in history and received a dual M.S.Ed. in general education and literacy from Bank Street Graduate School of Education. She lives in Teaneck with her husband and children.
Dr. Bracha Katz, M.A., PsyD, is Shalshelet’s school psychologist. She is nationally certified and has a broad range of experience working with children and adolescents in community-based mental health clinics, therapeutic day schools, and public schools. Previously an intern at Ridgefield Park Public Schools, Academics West on the Upper West Side and the Stern College Counseling Center, Dr. Katz most recently served as school psychologist at the Livingston Public Schools.
Dr. Katz is especially passionate about the role of social-emotional learning in Jewish education. “When students learn social emotional concepts through the framework of Torah learning, they learn to make deeper connections between their religious experiences and their personal lives,” she says.
Her doctoral dissertation explores the significance of integrating social emotional curricula within the framework of Torah learning to broaden and deepen students’ interpersonal and religious experiences. Dr. Katz is incredibly excited to join Shalshelet and help implement its mission by caring for the emotional well-being of each student.
Dr. Katz graduated summa cum laude from Stern College for Women with a bachelor’s in psychology and received an master’s in educational psychology and a PsyD in school and clinical psychology from Kean University. She lives in Fair Lawn with her husband and two children.
Alisa Salamon, M.A., CCC-SLP, is Shalshelet’s director of speech and language. With over 15 years of experience, Alisa has developed a thorough developmental approach to working with students with a range of language and learning challenges. Her experiences working in both private practice, as well as various special education settings, including at Teaneck Speech and Language Center, Na’aleh High School for Girls and SINAI at RYNJ have provided her with a unique understanding of language learning and its implications for academic success.
As a therapist and teacher, Salamon leads both individual and group language lessons and collaborates with teachers to develop strategies for reading, writing, and language instruction across curriculum. “As a speech and language pathologist,” she said, “I have a unique understanding of language and its implications for academic success. I’m passionate about helping my students recognize their unique strengths and reach their potential.”
Salamon received her bachelor’s in communication sciences from Stern College for Women and an master’s in speech and language pathology from Queens College. She lives in Bergenfield with her husband and four children.
Shalshelet is equally proud of its faculty and staff, who are all committed to seeing the students succeed. Lead teachers include Chaviva Alter, Ahuva Forman and Erika Wengrofsky. Assistant teachers include Tova Alyeshmerni, who is also a speech-language pathologist, Leora Bak and Ariella Pinchot. Leora Frohlinger is the school’s nurse and executive assistant. Alyssa Hertzberg is Shalshelet’s occupational therapist and programming coordinator. Shua Winkler is the school’s director of IT.
