(Courtesy of BPY) Ben Porat Yosef is excited to announce and congratulate Aliza Strassman as the newly appointed director of student services. BPY thanks Elana Cohn, who has been a valuable part of BPY, having served as the director of student services for the past 13 years, and wish her the very best in all of her future endeavors.

Strassman has been an integral part of the BPY team for the past seven years, with four years of teaching experience prior to joining the faculty of BPY. She has broad experience in self-contained and inclusion classrooms, in addition to general education work. Strassman has a dual master’s degree in general and special education from Bank Street College, and she holds dual New Jersey State Certification in elementary education and in teaching students with learning challenges. At Bank Street College, Strassman was in the first mentoring colloquium for lead teachers and she participated in JNTP’s pilot program for individualized learning. She is also the director of STEM at the Moshava Ba’Ir summer camp program, and has trained in the Tal’Am Ivrit program. Strassman is the 2019 recipient of the Northern NJ Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Education, and she serves as the chairperson of the Steering Committee for NJAIS and Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges Accreditation for BPY.

Rabbi Saul Zucker, head of school, comments, “I know that Aliza’s tireless commitment to BPY and its mission, her boundless love for students, her legendary warmth, her inspiring leadership and her amazing communication skills, make her an outstanding person to take the reins of director of students services at BPY.”

Strassman said, “While I am sad to leave my classroom, I am really excited to move into the role of director of student services. I look forward to the opportunity to work with individual students and their families, teachers across the whole school and the other members of the admin team to help each student thrive during their time at BPY. I am also thrilled that this role enables me to reconnect with students that I taught in the past as well as form new relationships with students, families and teachers.”