Selected Past Partnerships

Selected Past Partnerships

Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative

The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life recognizes the power of early childhood education in inculcating Jewish identity and beginning a life-long commitment to Jewish learning and life. Moreover, outstanding Jewish preschools have the capacity to not only enrich a child’s identity, but to inspire an entire family to choose Jewish living. Simply put, an excellent Jewish preschool experience is a gateway for the whole family to increased Jewish education and involvement in the synagogue and community.

The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, in partnership with The S. Daniel Abraham Foundation, The Helen Bader Foundation, The Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, The Schultz Family Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York and Combined Jewish Philanthropies/JCCs of Greater Boston, launched the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), a nationwide initiative designed to create models of excellence in Jewish early childhood education, increase the number of families with children attending quality Jewish early childhood centers, and raise the number of families continuing to engage in Jewish learning and living after pre-school. To accomplish this, JECEI provided grants, mentoring, accreditation, co-branding, and marketing with the aim of transforming Jewish pre-schools into centers of Jewish educational excellence.

Although JECEI ceased operation in 2011, the Steinhardt Foundation maintains its website and the resources thereon as a service for Jewish Early Child Education developers and practitioners

http://www.jecei.org

MyJewishLearning.com

As part of our continuing efforts to create points of engagement for unaffiliated Jews, The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life partners with the Samuel Bronfman Foundation and others in supporting MyJewishLearning.com.

MyJewishLearning.com is a comprehensive, pluralistic website of Jewish information and education geared towards learners of all ages and educational backgrounds. As the central Internet site for learning about Judaism, it offers thousands of articles covering such topics as history, culture, holidays and texts. One of the distinguishing features of the site is its guided learning feature, which allows users of widely varying background to find information suited to their needs. Content on the site is packaged to invite and facilitate ever-deepening levels of learning. Its learning materials are representative of the wide range of trans-denominational perspectives within Judaism.

In addition, MyJewishLearning.com now operates a Jewish parenting site, www.kveller.com.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com

NYU Steinhardt

In its continuing efforts to improve the quality of Jewish education, Michael and Judy Steinhardt support the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development – now known as NYU Steinhardt – at New York University. As part of Michael Steinhardt’s naming gift, the NYU Steinhardt and the NYU Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies have created a joint Ph.D. program in Education and Jewish Studies. Designed to develop leaders for a wide range of settings, this program combines course work at the School of Education and the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies with a two-year seminar on issues in Jewish education. Tracks are available in administration, curriculum, and academics/research. A competitive fellowship is available to selected students, providing up to three years of full-time tuition support and a living stipend.

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/