CESJDS is a school centered around one of its core values: kehillah, or community. While teachers have come and gone, 59 faculty members have stayed at the school for over 15 years.
Although all of these teachers have been members of the community for a while, they all have different reasons for wanting to stay.
High School Assistant Principal Aileen Goldstein (‘96) is one educator who always seems to find her way back to JDS. Goldstein, who has been working at JDS for a total of 22 years, is passionate about the values that the institution upholds. In fact, she found herself returning to JDS after graduating and taking a break from teaching as a whole after working at JDS a first time.
“I really wanted to be in a pluralist setting, because what I realized coming out from here [JDS], going into college, was the tremendous value of being in a place with multiple streams of Judaism,” Goldstein said. “We’re sort of living the experiment of building Jewish community in a really natural and important way that I think really helps students move on from here to be super successful in not only their own personal identities, but also in building communities wherever they go.”
Goldstein said she has furthered her devotion to the school since her daughter began attending the Lower School as she is able to strengthen her appreciation for the core values taught to students during their early childhood.
“Being in the same school as my child is exciting,” Goldstein said. “I didn’t go through the Lower School, so watching her go through the Lower School is like learning a whole new side of the institution.”
Another faculty member who has stayed loyal to JDS is Hebrew teacher Talya Edery, who is now in her 27th year working at JDS. Two major factors that have played a role in Edery’s decision to stay at JDS for this long is the community and love for Israel at JDS.
“I wake up and I am happy to come and teach here,” Edery said. “I love the students, I love the staff and I love teaching Hebrew and making a connection to Israel. I feel it’s like a mission for me to come here and speak Hebrew, teach the culture and through the culture, teach about Israel.”
On the other hand, John Watkins-Chow finds his connection within the community aspect of the school, and less with the religious pieces. The 2024-2025 school year is his 24th year teaching at the school. Watkins-Chow finds that every class he teaches each year becomes his new favorite, but he has a particular appreciation for the relationships he’s been able to build with his coworkers.
“I’m mostly grateful for colleagues I work with,” Watkins-Chow said. “I only get to know students for at most four years … [and] who I teach changes year to year, but who I teach alongside has me feeling very fortunate that I have colleagues that I feel supported by and are really talented.”
While Watkins-Chow said he does believe that there are certain areas for improvement in some systems at the school and wonders what other opportunities there are beyond JDS, he also said he values being able to influence students positively.
As students filter in and out of the school, there are a great number of teachers who have stayed loyal to JDS and hope to maintain that loyalty for many years to come.
“One of the things that I love about this school is there’s always an opportunity to learn, and we are always striving to do our best and be our best, which means we’re always striving to grow,” Goldstein said. “Does it always go in that direction? Who knows? But I think it’s exciting to be in a place where that’s valued and supported and pushed.”