From the Desk of Noah Mencow Hichenberg

Director, Saul + Carole Zabar Nursery School at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan

We are a school by name and a community by nature. The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan is a place where children, parents, caregivers, and teachers come together to build meaningful relationships in the context of a value-rich landscape. On our website, you will find a lot of information about who we are and what we do. As you explore the site, you’ll find we are dedicated to raising thoughtful members of a Jewish community. Our school uses a carefully honed set of Jewish values to guide our learning and relationships. These values are present in all that we do, from lighting Shabbat candles and baking challah to helping a friend learn how to use scissors or tie her sneaker.

You will find a school inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, where children are seen as competent creators of ideas and knowledge. Our classrooms are spaces where children’s voices matter; our play-based curriculum is built around students’ emergent interests, passions, and capabilities.

You will find a school deeply in touch with a vision of social justice consonant with the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world. Our community engages in work throughout the year to explore and address our responsibility to the world we inhabit.

For a more in-depth understanding, I also invite you to come in: Walk into the JCC and experience the vibrancy of a joyful Jewish community oriented around raising children together. You can schedule an admissions tour of the school; find a program for you, your child, or family; or come experience the community living room, as I like to call it, of our café, lobby, Common Space, and rooftop playground.

Welcome to our community. I think you will enjoy yourself.