Temple Judea

I LOVED Mommy and Me at Temple Judea. Our instructor, Julia, was so caring and kind. Her approach to mindful and respectful parenting was right up my alley and so enjoyable and reassuring. The other moms in the class were all equally wonderful, and welcomed me and made me feel right at home from the first class, even though I joined mid-​semester and didn’t know any of them beforehand. I love this little community and am now enjoying the toddler class with my daughter.
I would have joined this Mommy and Me much earlier had I known about it! I think it’s not as well known in the area as some of the other more «famous» groups, but it should be — it was a wonderful experience. I now tell everyone I know to join.

My two children were students at Temple Judea, both in the Mommy and Me program, as well as the ECC Nursery School. It was an absolute delight to send my children through Temple Judea for these very important years of early education. Between my two kids, we had five different sets of teachers, all with whom were loving, inspiring, friendly and nurturing. At Temple Judea, my children learned social skills, sharing, conflict resolution and so many other pre-​school «basics». Not to mention a love for Judaism. Most importantly, Temple Judea’s teaching staff prepared both of my children for their transition to Kindergarten. The administration at Temple Judea is as wonderful as the pre-​school!

BEWARE! If you are a working parent, stay away from this preschool. I am so disappointed by the wasted year my son spent at this preschool. As we participated in transition over the summer, I was told the hours available could be until 5pm if need be. I planned on staying until 3 and napping there. After being shown the nap room and how it works, I signed up. A few days before school started when I had a pick– up schedule organized, I was told that it was being eliminated because not enough parents signed up. What? I never realized this was even an option. Two other parents out of our small class of 10 kids wanted this nap time as well. I was told it wasn’t worth it for them to pay a teacher to watch my son, but they could bring him into the library with older kids and keep him in a stroller. No thank you. Not only is that not acceptable to keep your word on what you sold me on for the integrity of the school, but it is illegal. Nobody in the whole preschool takes a nap? Since I’ve taken my son out and toured other schools, all of the kids nap and there is a designated nap/​rest time for all the kids in the whole school. Probably because it is the LAW. I ended up having to hire a new nanny (since I had now given away mine) and pay another salary on top of preschool.
And as far as communication with parents, the teachers are miserable. I was actually told that if there was a problem, they are not allowed to talk to me. Crazy! I am a teacher and of course that is an integral part of the job, communication with parents. Once in awhile we received a newsletter at the end of the week, if we were lucky. Rarely a picture. They don’t have any kind of potty training program in place, any encouragement of social interaction or conflict resolution. My advice for potty training from the teacher was, «put it off as long as possible». I thing that was the worst advice ever. On the bright side, those teachers can tell a good Jewish holiday story and put glitter on a hand print. Personally, I’m looking for more than a glorified babysitter. I want the teachers to interact with the kids in the classroom and on the playground, teach them basic skills to help them grow as little people. These teachers were very lazy and more interested in socializing amongst themselves and doing art projects. I never saw the teachers try to engage with any kids on the yard, but I did see them on their phones. God forbid they got their hands dirty with a diaper, oh no, they bring in designated diaper floaters for that. I was in class once and watched the teacher threaten a little girl with going to the principals office if she didn’t stay still in her spot, on the carpet, against the wall. Poor girl was wiggly and laying down because they were asked to sit like soldiers for over 15 minutes watching each other do a task one at a time, on a rainy day. Hello teacher, maybe she is wiggly because she is still 2 and I doubt she understands that going to the principals office is a bad thing. Thank goodness my son is at a new school and it’s a different world. The teachers really interact with the kids and are teaching them to play with each other and to use polite words. We are with teachers that are skilled with early childhood and can help guide me if I have a question. It’s amazing. My son has grown so much in the past month. I am so regretful taking him to Judea and wasting that crucial, growing year.

I came here as a guest with a friend of mine. Everyone was very warm and welcoming of me. They made me feel right at home and comfortable. Very friendly people that I’ll remember for years to come.

Me andy husband and our daughters have been extremely blessed at Temple Judea! Both of our daughters have been at the Temple School and have loved every minute of it! They simply adored their teachers! I can wholeheartedly recommend this loving community.

There’s no place other than Temple Judea to be a member of and participate in all the wonderful community events. You can really feel at home when you are here whether it’s your first time or you are a regular. The Clergy are very friendly and supportive and the community is very united and it doesn’t matter what you’re going through whether happy or sad you have someone there to celebrate with or to find for help.

This review is of the early childhood development center. My daughter and I started there with the Mommy and Me classes when she was 18 months old and we are still there now doing transition classes and getting ready for pre-​school. This school is oozing «bubbee» warmth and charm. If you do not know what a bubbee is, then a temple school is probably not that important to you, but once you know, its hard to go elsewhere. I alwasy feel like I just walked into my granny’s house – its warm, cozy, and helpful. Everyone wants to help you and the advice is spot on! I tried to go another school because of a variety of stupid reasons, but I ended up coming back within a days. Love it.

Temple Judea is an amazing Jewish preschool. The students learn about the bible, Torah, and learn Jewish songs. Every Friday, the students celebrate shabbat (the sabbath) in the synagogue with a rabbi. In conclusion, I am very happy with TJ preschool.