Jewish Principals Kick Off Innovative Leadership Program

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Ten principals of Jewish schools across North America gathered in Brooklyn this week to participate in the Menachem Education Foundation’s Principal Leadership Program. The program began with an informal dinner on Monday, Oct. 5, and continued with two full days of intensive and challenging workshops on Oct. 6 and 7.

The workshops took place in the Crown Condos penthouse suite and were led by the New York City Leadership Academy. The NYC Leadership Academy was created by Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein in 2003 to develop transformational principals for New York City public schools. The Menachem Education Foundation recruited the Academy to provide training and individualized coaching spanning the 2009-2010 school year, and has tailored the curriculum to fit the unique profile of a Yeshiva principal.

“For the very first time, a group of Yeshiva principals are being formally trained to become more effective leaders by world class trainers and coaches,” comments participant Rabbi Avrohom Bergstein, principal of Cheder Lubavitch in Morristown, NJ. “While much professional development has been available in the past, this course imparts both the rationale behind and the practice of expertly efficient mechanisms that propel a school to succeed through the development of its leader.”

The Menachem Education Foundation developed the Principal Leadership Program to give Jewish school principals “tools to become brilliant leaders who will inspire and transform generations of students, parents and teachers,” says executive director of the Menachem Education Foundation, Rabbi Zalman Shneur. The program, with its interactive methods of group exercises and discussions, “will create a new standard in Jewish educational leadership,” he predicts.

As growing focus is being placed on improving American education both nationally and locally, “Now is our moment,” Shneur says, “to utilize the opportunity… to work with the Jewish community to provide the best possible education for our children.”

The Foundation's programs focus on workforce and professional development within the Jewish education system by providing training and placement for those aspiring to become teachers and educational leaders.

The NYC Leadership Academy’s success in producing transformational leaders has recently been confirmed in an independent study performed by NYU’s Institute for Education and Social Policy.

The following principals will once again come together in November and will continue to meet over the next ten months for a total of sixteen workshops – in addition to the individualized coaching - as part of the Principal Leadership Program:

1. Rabbi Lustig - Oholei Menachem, Brooklyn, NY
2. Rabbi Simpson - Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY
3. Rabbi Rosenblum - Achei Temimim, Pittsburgh, PA
4. Rabbi Greenbaum - Cheder Menachem, Los Angeles, CA
5. Rabbi Zaltsman – Zahavy Cheder, Toronto, Canada
6. Rabbi Zavdi - Kluman Mesivta, Miami, FL
7. Rabbi Rappaport - Oholei Menachem, Brooklyn, NY
8. Rabbi Wolowik - Cheder Chabad, Monsey, NY
9. Rabbi Benzion - Darchei Menachem, Brooklyn, NY
10. Rabbi Bergstein – Cheder Lubavitch, Morristown, NJ

For more information on the Menachem Education Foundation: mymef.org

For more information on the NYC Leadership Academy: nycleadershipacademy.org