Source: eJewish Philanthropy
JCC Association of North America has announced the inaugural Sheva Center Leadership Institute for Early Childhood Professionals with the acceptance of 31 educators into a program created to build a pipeline in the field of early childhood education of prepared leadership.
The Fellows are all currently educators and administrators in JCCs throughout North America. While participating in the three-year Sheva Center for Leadership Institute (SCLI) initiative, they will take part in six, week-long retreats and two international study tours through Israel and Reggio Emilia, Italy, each of which will incorporate aspects of the Sheva Framework – a toolbox for creating excellence in early childhood Jewish education – and the new “Growing Jewish ECE” platform, developed to nurture the entire JCC community along with the fellow. There will be monthly virtual learning seminars between the retreats.
One goal of this institute is to build advocacy skills within the group – along with those in the Covenant-funded cohort – for continuing work in the field, focused on teacher recruitment and retention, salaries and benefits, and more. Fellows will also focus on exemplary education practices in such areas a marketing, enrollment conversion and family satisfaction and retention. A personal mentor will work with each fellow and with the fellow’s JCC. The fellows, in turn, will complete a National Director Credential from the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University.
Read more at eJewish Philanthropy.