Jewish Day/High School,
There is no better way to provide children with a quality Jewish education than enrolling them in a Jewish day school. The Bay Area has some wonderful options, as j. readers know. The Readers’ Choice awards go to both campuses of Brandeis Hillel Day School in Marin and San Francisco, Oakland Hebrew Day School in the East Bay and the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in the South Bay/Peninsula.
The diverse cultural environments at the Brandeis Hillel campuses make them winners for j. readers. Students in grades K-8 can excel “academically, socially, spiritually and emotionally” at Brandeis, says the Marin campus’ Office Manager Tyna Jensen. “Brandeis Hillel Day School serves the Jewish community by offering an outstanding Jewish and academic studies program that is both dynamic and age appropriate,” she says.
Oakland Hebrew Day School serves all kinds of Jews, from all sorts of backgrounds, with a variety of learning needs, says Head of School Mark Shinar. “There’s no one student or there is no one identity or model that sort of fits Oakland Hebrew Day school,” he says. Because of that, the middle school has grown from 15 to 50 over the last four years and the whole school (K-8) has increased from 100 to 170.
Barbara Losel’s involvement with Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City didn’t begin nine years ago when she began working in the school’s office. It started when she sent her own children to Wornick. “The feeling of community in this place is unbelievable. If anybody needs anything, even before they ask for it, everybody steps up to the plate,” Losel says.
Second place winners included Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, Contra Costa Jewish Day School in the East Bay and Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in the South Bay/Peninsula.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco and
Marin/Sonoma
Brandeis Hillel
Day School
San Francisco: (415) 406-1035
San Rafael: (415) 472-1833
www.bhds.org
East Bay
Oakland Hebrew
Day School
Oakland
(510) 531-8600
www.ohds.org
South Bay/Peninsula
Ronald C. Wornick
Jewish Day School
Foster City
(650) 378-2600
www.wornickjds.org
SECOND PLACE
San Francisco
Jewish Community
High School of the Bay
(415) 345-9777
www.jchsofthebay.org
East Bay
Contra Costa
Jewish Day School
Lafayette
(925) 284-8288
www.ccjds.org
South Bay/Peninsula
Gideon Hausner
Jewish Day School
Palo Alto
(650) 494-8200
www.hausner.com
Early Childhood Program,
Teaching your children, no matter how young, is a commandment for Jewish parents. So j. readers chose their four favorite early childhood education programs: Mimi’s Baby Groups at Adath Israel Congregation in San Francisco, Gan Mah Tov Preschool in the East Bay, Temple Beth Jacob Preschool in the South Bay/Peninsula and the Osher Marin JCC Preschool in Marin/Sonoma.
Mimi Greisman’s playgroups for newborns to 3-year-olds only began a year ago, but it’s growing in popularity. The program is held at Modern Orthodox Adath Israel, which is primarily an aging community, says Greisman, the shul’s director of early childhood and family education. “We want to invite young families to come back into this community,” she says.
Cheryl Schwarz has her work cut out for her at Gan Mah Tov Preschool at Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland, which has 45 2- to 5-year-olds enrolled for next year — including five sets of twins. Activities for pre-K students include pen-paling with Israeli kids and learning math. This coming year, Schwarz plans to introduce a Hebrew immersion program for all ages.
Early childhood programs at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael are not just for youngsters, says ECE Operations Director Deborah Burg-Schnierman. “Teachers and parents and children are all engaged in the learning process,” she says of the preschool and toddler programs. “We’re all lifelong learners.” In the fall, Burg-Schneierman says they plan to open a branch at Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon for up to 27 families.
The preschool at Temple Beth Jacob in Redwood City welcomes children 18 months to 5 years from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Ann Cauterucci, the preschool’s director, says about half of the 50 families belong to the synagogue. “Because we’re a small school everyone has the opportunity to meet everyone else and get involved,” she says. “When babies are born people are cooking meals. When somebody’s sick people are doing that as well. I think you feel that when you walk down the halls.”
Marin Day School/Bright Horizons-Sherith Israel Campus won second place in San Francisco, Gan B’nai Shalom Preschool in the East Bay and the Peninsula JCC Preschool in the South Bay/Peninsula.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco
Mimi Greisman’s
Playgroups
(415) 759-1195
www.adathisraelsf.org/PlayGroups.php
East Bay
Gan Mah Tov Preschool
Oakland
(510) 504-8073
www.thegan.net
South Bay/Peninsula
Temple Beth Jacob
Preschool
Redwood City
(650) 366-8481
www.templebethjacob.org
Marin/Sonoma
Osher Marin Jewish
Community Center
Preschool
San Rafael
(415) 444-8042
www.marinjcc.org/preschool.html
SECOND PLACE
San Francisco
Marin Day School/
Bright Horizons
Sherith Israel Campus
(415) 346-1720
www.sherithisrael.org/main.php/
early_childhood/index.html
East Bay
Gan B’nai Shalom
Preschool
Walnut Creek
(925) 933-7633
www.bshalom.org/preschool.html
South Bay/Peninsula
Peninsula JCC
Preschool
Foster City
(650) 493-9400
www.pjcc.org/family/ece/ece-index.html
After-School Program
It’s comforting to know that your children are in good hands after school. And not just good hands, but hands that provide arts and crafts, Jewish activities, homework help, field trips and sports. J. readers selected the best places for children to spend those hours between after school and dinner time. The JCCSF’s Havurah Youth Center won in San Francisco, Olam Yeladim won in the East Bay and Brandeis PM won in Marin/Sonoma.
With arts and sports programs being cut left and right at many public schools, the JCC of San Francisco is making sure kids still participate in those programs. Mick Colburn, director of the K-6 after-school program, Havurah Youth Center, says the 120 kids in the program go swimming, take field trips in the neighborhood, celebrate Shabbat, do art projects and take physical education. “We try to supplement the things that they don’t normally get in their school,” Colburn says.
Josh Kramer, who directs Olam Yeladim at the JCC of the East Bay’s Oakland campus, says he is proud of the nurturing, fun-filled and Jewish environment it offers. And Kramer says whenever he can incorporate a Jewish concept into an activity during the after-school program, he does.
In addition to the excellent education K-8 students receive during school hours at Brandeis Hillel Day School, Tyna Jensen, Brandeis Hillel’s office manager, says their aftercare program Brandeis PM, held on both the San Francisco and Marin campuses, is also exceptional. “We have a very dedicated staff who knows each child and each family, so the children feel that they are in a warm and nurturing environment where they’re cared about,” Jensen says.
Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek won second place in the East Bay.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco
Havurah Youth Center
Jewish Community Center
of San Francisco
(415) 292-1210
www.jccsf.org/content_main.aspx
catid=88
East Bay
Olam Yeladim
Jewish Community Center
of the East Bay
Oakland
(510) 848-0237
www.jcceastbay.org/jcc/child_teen
_afterschool.htm
Marin/Sonoma
Brandeis PM
Brandeis Hillel Day School
San Rafael
(415) 472-1833
www.bhds.org
SECOND PLACE
East Bay
Congregation
B’nai Shalom
(925) 934-9450
www.bshalom.org
Jewish Youth Group,
The kids are all right, especially when they can fall in with the region’s many first-rate Jewish youth groups. This year’s winners share a knack for combining fun activities with Jewish learning.
In the city, Club 18 takes the gold. Though based at the JCCSF, Club 18 has its own entrance, and with a flat-screen TV, foosball table and bottomless jar of M&Ms, it’s the coolest place on California Street. “Last year we had 9,000 participants,” says Coordinator Dena Stern. “The mission is to develop a community for teens, to enhance Jewish identity with educational, recreational and cultural activities.” Club 18 teen councils create all the programming, so no buttinsky adults need check in.
In the East Bay, three cheers for National Council of Synagogue Youth. Although part of the Orthodox Union, NCSY prides itself on inclusiveness: All Jewish teens are welcome. “Our goal is to connect teens to their Judaism,” says District Director Ahron Glazer. “We cater to each individual kid based on what they need to accomplish that goal.” To that end, NCSY offers everything from trips to Six Flags and laser tag parks to Shabbaton retreats and “Latte and Learning” get-togethers at the local Starbucks.
It may be 80 years old, but B’nai Brith Youth Organization continues to be one of the hippest Jewish youth groups around, a sentiment shared by j.’s South Bay and Peninsula readers. With more than 200 teens active in her chapter, Program Director Jill Pottel says, “What makes BBYO incredible are the kids who are in it. It’s more than just going to the movies with your friends. You partake in experiences that are not only social but also meaningful in a Jewish way.” BBYO organizes everything from Lake Tahoe retreats and Jewish Heritage Night at AT&T Park, to social action events like the S.F. AIDS Walk.
United Synagogue Youth’s Marin chapter won first place in Marin/Sonoma. USY is a program of the Conservative movement, but all Jewish teens are welcome. While USY sponsors summer sojourns to Israel and Europe, the Marin chapter, headquartered at Tiburon’s Congregation Kol Shofar, offers local fun, too, like Ocean Beach bonfires or holding Rabbi Lavey Derby for “ransom” on Purim (for tzedakah). It’s all peer-led, and last year it won USY’s regional chapter of the year.
The East Bay NCSY came in second in San Francisco, Jewish Youth for Community Action came in second in the East Bay, and USY came in second in the South Bay/Peninsula.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco
Club 18
Jewish Community Center
of San Francisco
(415) 292-1281
www.jccsf.org
East Bay
NCSY,
East Bay Chapter
(917) 575-5683
www.westcoastncsy.org
South Bay/Peninsula
BBYO
(650) 627-8560
www.crwbbyo.org
Marin/Sonoma
Marin USY
Congregation Kol Shofar
(415) 388-1515 ext. 35
www.newfrontierusy.org
SECOND PLACE
San Francisco
NCSY, East Bay Chapter
(917) 575-5683
www.westcoastncsy.org
East Bay
Jewish Youth for
Community Action
(510) 763-5875
www.jycajustice.org
South Bay/Peninsula
USY
www.newfrontierusy.org
College Prep High School
High school can be the best time of your life — especially if your high school happens to be one of those voted favorite college-prep high schools in the Bay Area. Winners are Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, the College Preparatory School in Oakland, Crystal Springs Uplands School in the South Bay and Marin Academy in Marin.
With tuitions at private high schools skyrocketing, it’s amazing that Lick-Wilmerding in San Francisco didn’t charge students a dime until 1972 (it was founded in 1895). Today, 40 percent of Lick families have “flexible tuition,” Head of School Al Adams says. “We have this legacy of being accessible to kids from all walks of life,” he says. And the diversity doesn’t stop at the socioeconomic level: Over half of Lick’s students identify as students of color, Adams says.
The students at the College Preparatory School in Oakland learn how to speak up and take an active role in their learning. “The students who are best suited to College Prep are the ones eager to seize opportunities and ask lots of questions,” Head of School Murray Cohen says. “There’s no back of the classroom.”
Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough can claim Patty Hearst as an alumna, but aside from this claim to fame, Crystal Springs is well known for the close-knit and intellectually vigorous environment it offers students, says Amy Richards, the head of school. With only 350 students in grades 6-12 and a faculty to student ratio of 9:1, Richards says the small population works to the individual student’s needs. The intellectual experience spills out of the classroom into “casual conversations and encounters” between faculty and students, she adds.
Balance is the name of the game at Marin Academy in San Rafael. The prep school features an academically rigorous program, as well as a strong arts program and an “outings” program for students. Outings include weekends of kayaking, climbing and surfing, and a week during the school year devoted to getting outside and doing hands on learning, says Bill Henley, the director of college counseling.
Coming in second in this category are the Urban School of San Francisco and Gunn High School for the South Bay/Peninsula.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco
Lick-Wilmerding
High School
(415) 333-4021
www.lwhs.org
East Bay
The College
Preparatory School
Oakland
(510) 652-0111
www.college-prep.org
South Bay/Peninsula
Crystal Springs
Uplands School
Hillsborough
(650) 342-4175
www.csus.com
Marin/Sonoma
Marin Academy
San Rafael
(415) 453-4550
www.ma.org
SECOND PLACE
San Francisco
The Urban School
of San Francisco
(415) 626-2919
www.urbanschool.org
South Bay/Peninsula
Gunn High School
Palo Alto
(650) 354-8200
www.gunn.palo-alto.ca.us
Jewish Day Camp
Jewish day camps offer the best of both worlds: fun-filled, Jewish days in the outdoors, followed by nights free of homesickness. And j. readers seem especially fond of those run by local JCCs. That’s why Camp Kochav at the JCC of San Francisco, Camp Tzofim at the JCC of the East Bay, J-Camp at the Albert L. Schultz JCC and the Osher Marin JCC all won for best Jewish day camps in the Bay Area.
With 150-200 kids in kindergarten through 12th grade passing through Camp Kochav every day, Rebecca Pofamentier, the camp director, could easily have a permanent headache. But Pofamentier loves camp for its “ruach and spirit,” she says. She is especially excited about a new nature program that teaches campers the Jewish value of “treating the environment with respect.”
Josh Kramer doesn’t just like Camp Tzofim — he can’t get enough of it. Battling through a sore throat, Kramer explains how he started out as a camper and now, for the ninth year in a row, he’s running the K-10 program. The Jewish life he experienced at Tzofim has had the greatest impact on his Jewish identity, Kramer says.
What child wouldn’t love talking about Harry Potter all day long? That’s why the Albert L. Schultz JCC’s J-Camp, in addition to offering more conventional camps for third- through ninth-graders, also offers specialty camps like Hogwarts camp, spa camp and culinary camp. So how do Harry Potter campers fill their days? “They make the wands … they do spells, dress in costume and play Quidditch,” says Tracy Shuleman, director of sports, camp and recreation for the JCC.
The Osher Marin JCC camp has opened its doors to kids in preschool through 10th grade for 60 years. Most exciting about this camp is its optimal location in San Rafael, where campers can take advantage of nearby forests, trails and beaches for some outdoor excitement. Trips to Yosemite, Santa Cruz and white water rafting are offered for kids, teens and families, says Shira Wainer, the camp’s operations coordinator.
In second place is Congregation Beth El’s Camp Kee Tov for the East Bay.
FIRST PLACE
San Francisco
Camp Kochav
Jewish Community Center
of San Francisco
(415) 292-1250
www.jccsf.org
East Bay
Camp Tzofim
Jewish Community Center
of the East Bay
Oakland
(510) 530-9222
www.jcceastbay.org
South Bay/Peninsula
J-Camp
Albert L. Schultz
Jewish Community Center
Palo Alto
(650) 493-9400
www.paloaltojcc.org
Marin/Sonoma
Osher Marin JCC
Summer Camps
San Rafael
(415) 444-8055
www.marinjcc.org/youth_family_camps.html
SECOND PLACE
East Bay
Camp Kee Tov
Congregation Beth El
Berkeley
(510) 848-2372
www.campkeetov.org
Secular Summer Camp
It’s everything a summer camp should be: Nestled in the gorgeous Sierra National Forest, Skylake Yosemite Summer Camp has been giving campers wholesome, active summers since 1945. No wonder it’s j. readers’ first pick for their favorite secular summer camp in the Bay Area.
Around 750 campers attend Skylake each summer, about half from Northern California and half from Southern California, Camp Director Jeff Portnoy says. Campers get to choose their own adventure at Skylake, selecting from a variety of activities, including water sports in the warm water of Bass Lake, horseback riding, mountain biking and arts and crafts.
“It’s a camp you come back to,” Portnoy adds. “It’s not a camp that you go to once.”
In second place is the famed circus and performing arts Camp Winnarainbow.
FIRST PLACE
Bay Area
Skylake Yosemite
Summer Camp
Wishon
(559) 642-3720
www.skylakeyosemite.com
SECOND PLACE
Bay Area
Camp Winnarainbow
Laytonville
(510) 525-4304
www.campwinnarainbow.org
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