What is the ECE Initiative?

The Jewish Community Federation, in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay is spearheading a new initiative to engage more San Francisco Bay Area Jewish families with young children in meaningful Jewish life and community.

The Early Childhood Education Initiative is informed by national and local studies and initiatives, including Brandeis University and JECEI, and is in response to the 2006 JESNA study which identified the needs of Bay Area Jewish early childhood programs and highlights their potential as an important gateway for family engagement with the Jewish community.

The goals of the ECE Initiative:

• The creation of community-wide standards for compensation and standards of excellence that will be shared throughout the community.
• A significant increase in the number of Jewish families with young children who are connected with Jewish education and choose to maintain their connections with the Jewish community.
• The creation of a model for recruiting, training and compensating high potential Jewish adults into ECJE.

The ECE Initiative Director is leading a community strategic planning process which will be completed by Shavuot 2008 and implemented over the next three years. Over 50 early childhood educators and experts, Jewish educators, Jewish professionals and communal leaders, funders and Federation staff members are gengaged in the planning process to develop this comprehensive initiative.

The first outreach program of the ECE Initiative is Parenting Matters: Jewish Wisdom for Mindful Parenting, a pilot parenting discussion group for interfaith and unaffiliated Jewish parents raising young children. The discussion groups, in Berkeley and San Rafael, begin in April 2008.
 
For more information contact:

Janet Harris, Director of the ECE Initiative or call 415.499.1223, extension 8104

Jasmine Blanchard, ECE Initiative Assistant or call 415.499.1223, extension 8105

The Early Childhood Education Initiative is funded by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, with additional program support from the Levine-Lent Foundation, the Koret Foundation and The Interfaith Outreach Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.