About JECEI

Early childhood education represents a unique opportunity to engage both young children and their parents in a rich and meaningful Jewish communal life. The Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI) is a national organization focused on transforming Jewish early childhood education (ECE) schools by igniting a desire and commitment in families to continue Jewish learning and living beyond their Jewish ECE experience and inspiring increasing numbers of new families to enroll in Jewish ECE schools of the highest quality. To realize this vision, the Jewish ECE school will need to change and grow. It will need to offer children the highest quality education. It will also need to become a center of Jewish life based on learning for the whole family and a community of support and celebration steeped in Jewish values. 

JECEI helps Jewish ECE schools make this transformation. The JECEI school change process involves a four-year commitment that includes:

• Professional and Lay Leaders participate in retreats led by JECEI national staff all four years; some conducted locally and others nationally
• A consultant works on site with professional and lay leadership, teachers, and parents;  the consultant comes for 2 – 3 day visits 5 times a year to the school all four years
• Materials that help outline the change process – phases of change and accreditation process

The school collects data as part of the ongoing evaluation and research that JECEI conducts to assess its impact and provide insights to continuously help refine the change process.