(Courtesy of Manhattan Day School) Manhattan Day School is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Pesha Kletenik as Head of School beginning this September. Dr. Kletenik comes to MDS with unbridled enthusiasm and a powerful vision for building upon the current successes of the school.
Bringing nearly two decades of experience as an administrator in elementary schools, Dr. Kletenik has spent the last 10 years overseeing the rapid growth (both in quality and enrollment) of Yeshiva Har Torah in Queens, most recently as its principal. She is a subject matter expert in elementary school education with exceptional experience, passion, energy and knowledge of the latest research on effective instructional techniques.
On visiting MDS over the past few weeks, Dr. Kletenik was impressed by the warmth of its community and the commitment of the Manhattan Day School leadership to continue to move the organization forward. As a consensus builder, Dr. Kletenik believes in being on the front lines—engaging as a partner with administration, teachers, parents and students and creating a shared experience marked by learning, passion, and progress—all while having fun doing it. Her goal is to cultivate a “united learning community” and envisions everyone in the MDS community living “the mission of the school that unites us.”
The Manhattan Day School community expresses tremendous hakarat hatov to Raizi Chechik for her dedicated leadership over the past five years. During Chechik’s tenure, she spearheaded the development of Manhattan Day School’s enhanced academic offerings culminating in MDS attaining the prestigious NYSAIS accreditation. Her love of Judaism and Torah is evident in her commitment to Jewish education and the MDS students have greatly benefited from this deep conviction. While weathering the unprecedented turmoil of COVID with warmth, patience and grace, Chechik worked tirelessly to ensure that MDS students were able to learn in person, giving them a sense of stability and normalcy while benefiting educationally. Modim anachnu, Manhattan Day School is so grateful to have benefitted from Chechik’s professionalism, wisdom and passion for setting the yeshiva on this trajectory.
The light at Yeshiva Ohr Torah (MDS) will continue to shine as the yeshiva continues to grow and explore new learning opportunities.
