(Courtesy of JEC) This year Rebecca Skolnick joins The JEC Lower School as its new director of Student Services.
Skolnick has a passion for nurturing student development and challenging them to their potential. Her experience is in creating an inclusive environment that engages and supports all types of learners. She will be leading our dedicated learning specialists, working with faculty and partnering with parents in supporting and inspiring our children as we continue to move JEC forward.
Skolnick previously was a special education teacher at SAR Academy in Riverdale for both general and Judaic studies. She has a duel master’s degree in general and special childhood education with a concentration in learning disabilities from Hunter College School of Education. She is currently pursuing another master’s degree in educational psychology with a concentration in assessment, research and evaluation.
Skolnick is committed to providing her students with strategies and skills that will enable them to develop intellectual independence, creativity and curiosity, as well as a sense of responsibility that will enable them to succeed in and out of school. Skolnick has worked all summer with the leadership team and we look forward to benefitting from her expertise, warmth, and student centered approach.
JEC also welcomes Brooke Czarka who will be the lower school programming coordinator. Czarka looks forward to enhancing our programming and facilitating meaningful and fun activities throughout the year.
Jessica Bienenfeld expands her role in the Learning Lab to include the title of kriah coordinator. She will be working with our teachers to guide them in best kriah practices using a multi-sensory approach to kriah.
JEC MS and HS is happy to welcome several new faculty members, including Rabbi Noam Lichtman who will be teaching history and Rabbi Gavriel Bernstein who will be teaching Judaic studies subjects.
Matthew Gikher is another new faculty member who has been teaching math to students of all ages for the past six years. He believes in taking creative approaches to traditional methods of teaching to account for all learning styles. Gikher is looking forward to working with and getting to know our JEC students to make this upcoming school year a productive and enjoyable experience for all.
Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene, a featured columnist for The Jewish Link, is also a veteran educator and administrator. He will be joining the English faculty at JEC. After earning his degrees in English literature and history, Rabbi Greene taught at various yeshivot in the New York-New Jersey area and served on the faculty of Yeshiva University, Queens College and Upsala College for many years. As principal, Dr. Greene built the academic powerhouse now known as the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and founded The Sinai School when no other yeshivot in New Jersey would accommodate children with learning challenges. More recently, he was the director of Jewish educational services at the Jewish Federation and currently manages the Alisa Flatow Memorial Endowment Fund, which grants scholarships to students for study in Israel, named after his late student who was killed in a terrorist attack while studying in Israel.
We are looking forward to welcoming back our other faculty members and to having another successful year at JEC MS and HS!
