SINAI Schools is proud to announce the appointment of Aura Lurie as director of SINAI at SAR Academy. SINAI at SAR will open its doors in the fall of 2018, serving children with a wide range of complex learning and special needs.

Lurie comes to SINAI Schools with the blessing of Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, principal of SAR Academy, who encouraged her to apply for this position at SAR’s new partner school. “Aura has been a rising star at SAR for over 10 years,” he said. “I am thrilled that SINAI recognizes what a great leader she will be for SINAI—and delighted that she will remain here, within our SAR family, to help establish and guide this partnership between our two schools.”

Lurie has worked at SAR Academy for over a decade as a head teacher and as an inclusion teacher in the elementary school, teaching children with a range of learning disabilities within SAR’s inclusion classrooms. She has also served as a mentor to other teachers through the Jewish New Teacher Project/New Teacher Center for the past five years, and has participated in the Educational Leadership Advancement Initiative, through the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education. She holds a masters in elementary and special education from the Bank Street Graduate School of Education, and has been working with children who have learning, behavioral or emotional issues for the past 18 years.

“Ms. Lurie’s CV and reputation as an outstanding special educator and leader make her eminently qualified for this position,” said Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs, dean of SINAI Schools. “The fact that she comes from within SAR is really icing on the cake for us. Integration and inclusion are at the cornerstone of SINAI’s mission statement. The inclusive environments we are able to create for our students work so well precisely because of the cooperative relationship we share with each of our partner schools. We are so grateful to Rabbi Krauss and SAR for welcoming SINAI with open arms—and because Ms. Lurie comes to us from within SAR, we will have a tremendous edge in the successful operation of our inclusion model at SAR from day one. We feel so lucky to have found her for this position.”

SINAI at SAR initially will serve children ages 6-8 who have a wide range of complex learning challenges and/or developmental disabilities, with the goal of expanding slowly to serve more children each year. SINAI currently operates six other elementary and high schools, but this will be SINAI’s first within New York City. Their partnership with SAR will enable SINAI to serve many more families from New York City and Westchester who have children with special needs that cannot be met in a regular education classroom, or even the inclusion classrooms that SAR currently provides to support children with learning needs. “Partnering with SINAI will allow us to keep SAR families together, and to provide a place for the children whose needs we are unable to meet within our own classrooms,” said Rabbi Krauss.

“I have gained tremendous experience and knowledge through my years teaching at SAR,” said Lurie. “Among the many things I’ve learned is that there are children for whom even an inclusion class does not provide adequate support. As a teacher, it is heartbreaking to watch a child continue to struggle, to know that child really needs more support and individualization in order to progress and grow. Both SAR and SINAI share the philosophy that every child has an inner spark, and the ability to learn if he or she is taught the right way. What is so exciting to me about joining SINAI is that I can move to the next level, helping children who need even more, but who can succeed if we give them the right individualized, focused attention.”

Following its inclusive “school within a school” model, SINAI will operate in partnership with SAR Academy, providing the academic support SINAI’s special education students need, and working together with SAR to create an inclusive educational experience for the students of both schools.

For more information about SINAI Schools, visit www.sinaischools.org or call 201-833-1134.