Happy Monday!
We are heading into our final week with students and teachers, and somehow, despite it all, we are actually on track to successfully wrapping up this year. We are also beginning to prepare for, what we have every reason to believe, will be a triumphant return to (perhaps a somewhat new) normal for the 2021-2022 school year. Here are a few quick thoughts before sharing what you came here to read…
…we are looking forward to seeing actual human beings on campus this week for “Popsicles, Pals & Pickups”! We know that the timing of when we received the rules from the province, to when we were able to make sense of them for our spaces and times, to when we were able to share them with parents, inevitably put pressure on already stressed working families. This is regrettable and we are sorry for any extra drama this may have caused. On the flipside, we can also tell you how incredibly excited we are to see many of our students in person! If you are an OJCS parent and have any questions or concerns, please do be in touch with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
…as hinted at above, we have no new information, other than what we shared in last week’s blog post. What I can promise new and returning parents is that we will be transparently and proactively sharing details about next year’s plans for a safe, in-person return to school as they become clear. I can also promise you that the information will be shared directly with families by email. I may also share here, in my blog, but I do recognize that not every parent reads my blog religiously.
…for new and returning JK and SK families, I do want you to know that we are preparing for all circumstances – despite my sunny optimism from three paragraphs above. My biggest regret from this year is that we (I) were not smart enough to start exploring daycare options so that our SK, dual-working, essential worker families had a landing spot for their children during the extended at-home learning pivots. Even though the odds are truly small that we will be in this position again, please know that we have already begun exploring institutional partnerships and options so that in that unlikely event, we will have an address and a solution. Our first priority will be JK and then SK and I look forward to reporting back to those families when I know more. Your choice of school should not be determined by who gets to stay open and who has to close in a worldwide pandemic. We are looking forward to the launch of JK done #TheOJCSWay and a smoother year for our youngest students.
…we are thrilled to have TWO Grade 6s next year (that will help you understand what you see below)!
…final caveats: the assignments below are tentative (they always are!) and there are at least two ways they could change: 1) JK and SK are the most likely to continue growing over the summer and, thus, additional sections could open (SK is the more likely). If that happens, there will be a bit of a domino effect on staff assignments. 2) If the province’s rules for a safe reopening are different from what all schools are planning for, we may have to make a few adjustments as well.
OK, I think I have given a lengthy enough preamble. Let’s get excited about this gifted and loving group of teachers and administrators, who will partner with our parents in the sacred work of educating our children. I know I am!
The 2021-2022 OJCS Faculty & Staff
Lower School General Studies Faculty
- Junior Kindergarten: Susan Wollock (plus French) & Mushki Kurtz (EA)
- Kindergarten: Andréa Black, Sophie Pellerin (French) & Taylor Smith (EA)
- Grade One: Ann-Lynn Rapoport & Aaron Polowin (French) [TWO Classes]
- Grade Two: Lianna Krantzberg & Sophie Pellerin (French) [TWO Classes]
- Grade Three: Julie Bennett & Aaron Polowin (French) [TWO Classes]
- Grade Four: Faye Mellenthin, Sophie Pellerin (Core) & Stéphane Cinanni (Extended) [TWO Classes]
- Grade Five: Grade Five Teacher, Stéphane Cinanni (Core) & Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Extended)
Lower School Jewish Studies Faculty
- Kitah JK: Susan Wollock
- Kitah Gan: Shira Waldman
- Kitah Alef: Ada Aizenberg [TWO Classes]
- Kitah Bet: Bethany Goldstein [TWO Classes]
- Kitah Gimmel: Sigal Baray [TWO Classes]
- Kitah Dalet: Jewish Studies Teacher [TWO Classes]
- Kitah Hay: Marina Riklin
Middle School Faculty
- Science: Josh Ray
- Mathematics: Chelsea Cleveland
- Grade Six Language Arts: Mike Washerstein
- Grades Seven & Eight Language Arts: Melissa Thompson
- Social Studies: Deanna Bertrend
- Extended French: Wanda Canaan
- Core French: Dr. Sylvie Raymond
- Hebrew: Ruthie Lebovich (Hebrew Alef for 7 & 8), Hebrew Teacher (Hebrew Alef for 6), and Marina Riklin (Hebrew Bet)
- Jewish Studies: Mike Washerstein
- Rabbinics: Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy (supervised by Brian Kom)
Specialists
- Art: Shira Waldman
- Dramatic Arts: Andréa Black
- PE: Josh Ray (Middle School) & PE Teacher (Lower School)
- Library: Brigitte Ruel
Department of Special Education
- Keren Gordon, Vice Principal
- Sharon Reichstein, Director of Special Needs
- Ashley Beswick, Resource Teacher & Behavior Support Coordinator
- Brian Kom, Resource Teacher
- Chelsea Cleveland, Math Resource
Education Leadership Team
- Melissa Thompson, Teaching & Learning Coordinator
- Deanna Bertrend, Student Life Coordinator
Administration
- Josh Max – Director of Technology
- Ellie Kamil – Executive Assistant to the Head of School
- Staci Zemlak-Kenter – Director of Development
- Emily Jiang – Chief Accountant
- Jennifer Greenberg – Director of Recruitment
- Keren Gordon – Vice-Principal
- Dr. Jon Mitzmacher – Head of School
You will see some new names above!
We are excited to welcome Ashley Beswick (B.A., B,Ed., M.Ed), as our new Primary/Junior Resource Teacher. Ms. Beswick comes to OJCS with many years of invaluable experience supporting and teaching students with Special Needs at Mindware Academy, as well as through her own business. She is eager to meet our students, and brings much experience with strategic learning support, as well as behavioural and social skills coaching. Mrs. Signer is spending much time with Ms. Beswick to ensure a smooth transition.
We are also thrilled to introduce Madame Wanda Canaan (B. Sc., B.Ed., M.Ed.) who will be joining our French Faculty in the Middle School. Madame Canaan comes to us with almost two decades of teaching experience from all over the world. She is extraordinarily passionate about teaching Francais and looks forward to meeting you all in September.
Susan Wollock (B.A.A., ECE) is a familiar face here at OJCS, as both a parent and having taught with us in the past. She has two decades of ECE experience and will be our trilingual Junior Kindergarten teacher. Morah Shoshana is such a joyful and creative force who worked closely with our school community through the virtual Little Learners program this year.
This fall we will be moving away from music to introducing a new specialist activity across Kindergarten – Grade 5, and as a Middle Elective. We are thrilled to share that a Dramatic Arts program with Andréa Black will be launched and lead to opportunities for students to experience cooperative imagination-based dramatic play, music and movement, media studies that leaps off the page, and more…Morah Andréa has starred in more Theatre Shows than we can count, and we can’t wait for her to inspire our student!
We are already at final interviews for the remaining openings and between our extraordinary returning teachers and the quality of our new teachers, we know that the future is bright at OJCS.
Graduation is this evening at 7:00 PM and we are looking forward to celebrating our amazing Grade 8s who have earned the right to be celebrated considering all that they have experienced these last two years. Graduation is a rite of passage for the school as much as the students, and we welcome our entire OJCS Community to watch the livestream and kvell along with us!
