Proudly Supported By
Rivky Ross
Head of School
Morah Rivky Ross holds a B.A. in Jewish Studies and English Literature from Stern College, Yeshiva University, and completed the Bruriah Scholars fellowship in Talmud at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem. She has worked in the field of alternative Jewish Education for 20 years through organizations including Melitz-Centers for Jewish Zionist Education, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus. She began her Montessori journey as a parent, falling in love with the method while her children attended Montessori schools in Ithaca, NY. Convinced that Montessori could be applied to yeshiva day school curriculum for an optimal educational experience, she trained in Montessori elementary education at the Princeton Center for Teacher Education. Morah Rivky joined the staff of Yeshivat Netivot as Director in 2006 and became Head of School in 2009. She is both our chief executive and the director of curriculum development for the school. She is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on Jewish Montessori education and lectures widely on this topic.
Contact: morahrivky.ross@mynetivot.com
Alexandra Schupper
Chief Operating Officer
Having recently relocated to New Jersey from Toronto, Alexandra brings over a decade of operations and managerial experience spanning the gamut from food sustainability to information technology. Early in her career, she worked with grassroots organizations and local food producers to sell their fresh produce in surrounding communities. More recent roles have included the development and deployment of VoIP cloud services and project support in life safety systems for the senior living industry. To round out our administrative team, Alexandra will be taking on aspects of school operations as well as focusing attention on the increasing demands of our facility purchase and building improvements.
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Contact: alexandra.schupper@mynetivot.com
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Sara Dyckman
Office Manager
Sara Dyckman holds a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Excelsior College. In Israel, she attended attended Binas Bais Yaakov for one year.
Previously, Sara managed the customer service and order processing department for a large furniture company.
She has many years of experience in administration, customer service and staff management. She has been a part of the Netivot administration for four years and her three daughters attend the school.
Contact: sara.dyckman@mynetivot.com
Devora Hollander
Director of Admissions
Early Childhood Co-Ordinator
Devora holds a BS in Psychology from Lander College for Women and has worked as the Administrative Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the CEO of SeniorCare EMS, one of the largest ambulance providers in New York State. In that role, she was responsible for project management, record keeping, inventory, event planning, and contributed to the development of marketing strategies. Devora recently returned to her hometown of Highland Park/Edison. As a parent invested in positive parenting and mindfulness of child development, she quickly fell in love with Netivot and is excited to be sending her two children to our school this year.
Contact: devora.hollander@mynetivot.com
Mikaela Zirin
Administrative Assistant
Morah Mikaela Zirin...
Contact: morahmikaela.zirin@mynetivot.com
Batsheva Moully
Training Center Co-ordinator
Raizi Feitman
Lower Elementary Director
Morah Batsheva Moully attended teaching seminary in Cape Town, South Africa, and later received a Masters in Educational Leadership. Before coming to Netivot, she worked for 11 years at the Zimmer School in Basking Ridge, a progressive Jewish early childhood program where she taught, designed curriculum, and mentored new teachers. She trained in Montessori at Netivot’s Jewish Montessori Training Center in 2015 and served as a head Judaic Studies teacher in our Primary class for four years. In 2019, Morah Batsheva completed her General Studies training at the Princeton Center for Teacher Education in preparation for her new role directing our Early Childhood division.
Contact: earlychildhood@mynetivot.com
Morah Raizi Feitman holds a BA in Behavioral Science and a Masters in Speech Language Pathology. She has worked in a variety of educational settings, including public school, Yeshivas Darchei Torah, and Kulanu Academy. Morah Raizi has trained extensively in the Developmental Individual-Differences Relationship-based (DIR) model and finds that it perfectly aligns with the Montessori method in treating each child as an individual. She received her Montessori training at the Princeton Center for Teacher Education and at the Jewish Montessori Training Center at Netivot. Before becoming the Lower Elementary Coordinator, Raizi was a teacher for three years in the Zmora classroom.
Contact: ledirector@mynetivot.com
Penny Kaplan
Director of Learning Services
Mrs. Kaplan holds a BA and MA in Education from Brooklyn College. Over the past 25 years, she has honed her skills as an educator in a variety of assignments at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva with an emphasis on supportive instruction for diverse learners. Mrs. Kaplan is a certified reading instructor through Orton-Gillingham/Wilson, a concrete, systematic approach to literacy. She is also a graduate of Schools Attuned, a program providing innovative tools to meet the varied learning needs of K-12 students, and a coach for Hidden Sparks, a program that promotes the nurturing of each child’s innate potential. Mrs. Kaplan believes, as we do, that each child is unique, with individual strengths and challenges. The support of learners requires a thoughtful, non-judgemental approach and a willingness to understand and appreciate the whole child. As Director of Learning Services at Netivot, Mrs. Kaplan will supervise reading skills programs throughout the school and work directly with teachers to identify and implement academic supports and modifications to address a wide range of learning needs.
Contact: Penny.Kaplan@mynetivot.com
Suzie Foger
School Counselor
Morah Suzie holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan, an MA in Child Life from Bank Street College of Education, and an MA in School Counseling from Seton Hall University. Of particular importance to our school, she is also a certified Positive Discipline Educator. Morah Suzie holds developmentally appropriate, child-centered interactions as a core tenet of her practice, aligning perfectly with the Montessori method. Her goal is to use interventions not only to provide agency but to educate, problem solve, and scaffold children’s experiences. While completing her MA, Morah Suzie has worked in our classrooms as a paraprofessional and substitute, having the opportunity to work with staff and students from the infant room through upper school. She is excited to continue her work with the Netivot community in a full time capacity starting this fall.
Contact: suzie.foger@mynetivot.com
Jill Simkhayev
Social Worker
Milena Jaraczova
Infant Head Teacher
Morah Milena, originally from Slovakia, earned her masters degree in Comenius University. She taught Math and Biology to middle and high school students in Slovakia for many years. She came to the US via an exchange program to teach biology at NYC public schools. After she married and moved to NJ, she was introduced to the Montessori philosophy and fell in love with Netivot. In 2008, she was offered the position as Infant Morah and runs the class with her love and passion.vBoth of her children also attended a Montessori school.
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Contact: dvash@mynetivot.com
Ariela Weintraub
Pre-Primary Tamar Head Teacher
Ariela Weintraub was born and raised in Highland Park, NJ, and currently lives with her husband and 3 children in Edison. She attended Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva for elementary school and Machon Bais Yaakov in Brooklyn for high school and seminary. During her year in seminary, she began working as a teacher’s assistant. For the past thirteen years, she has run her own in-home daycare for children from birth to two and just opened a summer camp for children ages two to three. She is delighted to bring her years of infant/toddler experience to her work at Netivot.
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Contact: tamar@mynetivot.com
Cindy Baruch
Pre-Primary Tamar Co-Teacher
Sabrina Carty served for 12 years as a head teacher for ages 2-6 at South Orange Country Day School. She created and facilitated lessons to cater to specific ages with an emphasis on helping children learn to problem solve and develop their social/emotional skills. She is proud of cultivating strong parent-teacher relationships to enhance student learning. Ms. Sabrina has also worked as a Zumbini Music and Movement Instructor. Since March of 2020, she has homeschooled her children, aged 4 and 6, and she is thrilled to be returning to the classroom now as her children head back to school.
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Contact: tamar@mynetivot.com
Malka Ben-Haim
Infant Head Teacher
Malka has worked with children for many years and has a true passion for childcare. She is very detail-oriented, creative and loves spending time with others.
Malka enjoys fostering the babies' development and seeing them reach their milestones. She joined the Netivot infant classroom in 2015 and her children attend Netivot as welll. Malka loves being part of the Netivot family.
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Contact: dvash@mynetivot.com
Liat Balinco
Pre-Primary Tamar Assistant
Contact: tamar@mynetivot.com
Sarah Strum
Pre-Primary Zayit Head Teacher
Before moving to East Brunswick last year, Morah Sara taught for four years at a Jewish pre-school in Maryland following the Reggio Emilia method, a progressive approach bearing many similarities to Montessori. This summer, she completed her training at Netivot’s Jewish Montessori Training Center, and she can’t wait to be back in the classroom helping toddlers to explore and discover their world.
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Contact: zayit@mynetivot.com
Malka Isler
Primary Dekel Head Teacher
Morah Malka holds a BA in Biology from Stern College. Before joining the field of education, she worked in a research lab and then as a veterinary technician. She first came to Netivot after enrolling her children here, signing on as a substitute teacher in the Primary classrooms. She was immediately captivated by the method and, in 2017, participated in our Jewish Montessori training for the early childhood level. She has since served as a head teacher in the Zayit classroom, a “bridge” room between the toddler and Primary levels, and most recently in the Tamar classroom.
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Contact: dekel@mynetivot.com
Chaya Baila Schaier
Pre-Primary Zayit Co-Teacher
Chaya Baila has over five years of experience working full time with toddlers. Morah Chaya Baila also has 10 years of experience working on a therapy farm for children with special needs. She provided animal therapy for the children and also helped them feed, interact, and play with the animals. Chaya Baila will be moving to the Highland Park/Edison community in the near future and her son, Pinchas Shlomo, has joined the infant room. We wish Morah Chaya Baila brucha ha'baah to our classroom and community.
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Contact: zayit@mynetivot.com
Atara Erps
Primary Dekel Co-Teacher
Atara first came to Netivot as a substitute. She has worked in all of our early childhood classrooms. She has also worked in Camp Gan Izzy for many years as a counselor and lifeguard and for the past two years ran her own summer camp for two year olds. Atara is currently studying for her degree in Speech and Language Pathology.
Contact: dekel@mynetivot.com
Jodi Leventhal
Pre-Primary Zayit Assistant
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Contact: zayit@mynetivot.com
Leah Kotowitz
Primary T'eina Head Judaic Studies Teacher
Morah Leah Kotowitz has a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Regular and Special Education. Over the summer, Morah Leah will be completing her Montessori Jewish Studies training at Netivot. She is a fluent Hebrew speaker and has taught kindergarten in Israel. She considers Jewish Montessori education to be among the most important advances in the Jewish world today. Morah Leah has twin boys, Moshe and David, who will be joining the Pre-Primary program in the fall.
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Contact: teina@mynetivot.com
Niza Kassin
Primary T'eina Head General Studies Teacher
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Contact: teina@mynetivot.com
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Grace Scott-Hieser
Primary T'eina Assistant Teacher
Grace Scott-Hiser grew up in the Boston area and attended Smith College. She received a BA in Film and Media with a minor in Jewish Studies. Grace has worked in camps for many years and more recently as a teaching assistant at Tech Goes Home Boston, a program introducing young children and their parents to computers and technology. She moved to Interlaken, NJ, this summer and began her Primary training at Netivot.
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Contact: teina@mynetivot.com
Sarah Smith
Primary Rimon Head Judaic StudiesTeacher
Morah Sarah holds a BS in Elementary Education and has worked for the last seven years as a Hebrew immersion kindergarten teacher at Hatikvah International Charter School. The proud parent of two Netivot students, Zev (PP) and Abraham (I), she is delighted to be joining a Montessori school. She embraces as her personal motto the saying: "Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand." Morah Sarah is attending Montessori training this summer at the Princeton Center for Teacher Education as well as Netivot's own Jewish Montessori Training Center.
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Contact: rimon@mynetivot.com
Faigy Eiserman
Primary Rimon Co-Teacher
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Contact: rimon@mynetivot.com
Laila Schwartz
Primary Rimon Head General Studies Teacher
Morah Laila Schwartz began her teaching career at Lamplighters Yeshivah in Brooklyn, where she worked in a classroom of 26 students and helped to create curricular materials for Limudei Kodesh. From there, she went on to become the lead Judaic Studies teacher at WeGrow, the Montessori school created as an extension of WeWork in New York City. Over the last week, Morah Laila has been observing in the Rimon classroom and beginning to interact with the students. She will step into the role of Judaic Studies teacher on Monday.
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Contact: rimon@mynetivot.com
Leora Lerner
Primary Rimon Assistant Teacher
Leora Lerner grew up in Teaneck, NJ, and attended Rutgers University. She received a BA in Theater with a minor in Organizational Leadership. She has been involved with theater since the age of 12 and has worked as a theater and improvisation educator. Last year, she entered the field of early childhood education as an assistant kindergarten teacher at the Moriah School in Englewood. Leora and her husband Ethan recently moved to Edison, NJ, and she is excited to become a part of the Netivot community.
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Contact: rimon@mynetivot.com
Rivka Rosenbaum
Lower Elementary Eshkol Head Judaic Studies Teacher
Morah Rivka holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and a Masters of Arts in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation from the Graduate Program of Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS), Yeshiva University. She has served as a Kollel Fellow at Ramaz Upper School and a Beit Midrash Fellow at SAR High School and most recently taught Tanach at Ramaz Middle School. She received her Montessori training at Netivot’s Jewish Montessori Training Center this summer and is moving to Highland Park with her family in August.
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Contact: eshkol@mynetivot.com
Tammy Birbach
Lower Elementary Eshkol Head General Studies Teacher
Morah Tammy graduated from Rutgers University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Education. She has worked as a teaching assistant in the Zmora for the past two years, taking on areas of the General Studies curriculum including phonics, literature, and cultural writing. She received her training in Montessori General Studies at the Princeton Center for Teacher Education.
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Contact: eshkol@mynetivot.com
Michal Steinherz
Lower Elementary Zmora Head Judaic Studies Teacher
Morah Michal grew up in Ma’alot, Israel. For her national service, she worked for one year at a special education school and a second year teaching life skills to developmentally disabled youth. She later studied hydro-therapy and worked at Tel Hashomer Rehabilitation Center. In the U.S., Morah Michal has taught Judaics and Ivrit at Gan Breishit in Flatbush and provided Shabbat programming to disabled adults through HASC Women’s League. Morah Michal first joined the Eshkol classroom in 2017 as a paraprofessional and then took on the role of Judaics Assistant in the Zmora classroom. She received her training at Netivot’s Jewish Montessori Training Center.
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Das Zell
Lower Elementary Rimon Head General Studies Teacher
Morah Das is returning to the Zmora classroom to resume the assistant position she began during Morah Chana’s maternity leave last year. Morah Das completed her Jewish Montessori training this summer at Netivot’s training center.
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Contact: zmora@mynetivot.com
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Abi Rosen
Upper Elementary Chitah Assistant Judaic Studies Teacher
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Contact: chitah@mynetivot.com
Shannon Tuorto
Upper Elementary Dagan Head General Studies Teacher
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Irene Siegelman
Lower Elementary Reading Specialist
Morah Irene Siegelman has worked with early childhood and lower elementary aged children for over 12 years. She has served as a support professional both at Netivot and Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion and is currently completing a degree in Child Counseling. Morah Irene began the year performing reading assessments and will now continue to work with students one-on-one and in small groups to support English and Hebrew reading.
Miryam Gordon
Upper Elementary Chitah Head General Studies Teacher
Morah Miryam Gordon holds a BA in Psychology and is currently completing a Masters in Museum Education from the Johns Hopkins University. While working part time as an educator at Amud Aish Memorial Museum in Brooklyn, she has also been serving as a paraprofessional in the Eshkol Lower Elementary classroom. Morah Miryam has many years of experience in the field of informal education and has found that the techniques of museum education intersect beautifully with Montessori methodology.
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Contact: chitah@mynetivot.com
Marna Wolff
Dagan Co-Teacher
Gershom Tave
Upper Elementary Chitah Head Judaic Studies Teacher
Rabbi Gershom Tave holds a BA in Economics from the University of Florida and a Masters in Jewish Education from Touro. During 13 years of living and studying in Israel, he also became a sofer STa”M. Rabbi Tave was first exposed to the Montessori method while teaching an early childhood class at the Clifton Cheder, an offshoot of one of the first authentic Jewish Montessori schools. Following that, he began a 10-year career in educational technology, delivering professional development workshops around the Tri-State area for Teq and later serving as Director of Educational Technology at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy. Throughout this time, Rabbi Tave nurtured a dream of returning to Jewish Montessori education and is currently leading an effort to launch a Jewish Montessori school in his hometown of Passaic. He attended Netivot’s Jewish Montessori training this summer and is thrilled to be joining our faculty as the Upper Elementary rebbe this year.
Contact: chitah@mynetivot.com
Dassi Katzenstein
Upper Elementary Dagan Head Judaic Studies Teacher
Morah Dassi Katzenstein holds a degree in Psychology and a certificate in Pedagogy from the Michlala, Jerusalem. Last year, she was a member of the first cohort of PELE Fellows, Masters students in Constructivist Jewish Education at Azrieli Graduate School of Yeshiva University. While completing her student teaching at Netivot, Morah Dassi quickly became a beloved member of the Upper School community. She taught lessons in a variety of subject areas, introduced the format of Socratic Seminar, and offered one-on-one learning opportunities in Judaic Studies. This summer, Morah Dassi was selected to participate in the OU Women’s Initiative Tanach Intensive in Israel, and she looks forward to bringing the text of Tanach to life for our students in the coming year.
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Contact: dagan@mynetivot.com
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Faigy Anolik
Upper Elementary Dagan General Studies Co-Teacher
Shannon Tuorto, our new UE General Studies teacher, received her AMS 9-12 certification from the Center for Montessori Teacher Education (CMTE). She led an Upper Elementary classroom at Rainbow Montessori in Bloomfield, NJ, before becoming a Middle School English and Literature teacher at Princeton Montessori School. In addition to teaching, Ms. Shannon enjoys photography and painting. She has two young daughters and has been a host parent for Healing the Children, an organization bringing children from third world countries to host families in the US for courses of medical treatment. Ms. Shannon is excited to be returning to her first love, the Upper Elementary level.
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Contact: dagan@mynetivot.com
Liraz Ben-Baruch
Upper School Ivrit Teacher
Morah Liraz Benbaruch is our new Ivrit teacher for Upper Elementary and Middle School. A native of Yerushalayim, Morah Liraz has lived in the U.S. for the last 16 years. She began her career in Israel at Beit Chinuch Ivrim, creating educational programming for children with vision impairment and other special needs. Since moving to the States, she has taught Ivrit and Limudei Kodesh to all ages, from early childhood through upper elementary, most recently at the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth. Morah Liraz is excited to be available to our upper school classes on a full time basis, weaving Hebrew grammar and syntax lessons and spoken Hebrew activities into the daily experience at Netivot.
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Contact: ivrit@mynetivot.com
Yechiel Wogel
Middle School Math and Science Teacher
Since receiving her Masters in School Social Work, Morah Marna has spent 12 years providing support for students with a wide variety of behavioral and academic needs. Before joining the Netivot faculty, she worked as a homeschool teacher, providing one-on-one instruction and curriculum modification in all subject areas.
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Contact: dagan@mynetivot.com
Zev Rappaport
Middle School Judaics Head Teacher
Rav Zev studied at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel. He holds a BA in Liberal Arts and is currently completing a Masters in Special Education. He has taught Chumash and Jewish Thought at Yeshivat Ashreinu in Beit Shemesh, as well as Chumash, Mishna and Ivrit classes at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva. In addition to Limudei Kodesh, Rav Zev is passionate about English Literature. He enjoys teaching everything from Dr. Seuss to Charles Dickens, and he hopes to have the chance to "guest lecture" in General Studies literature circles.
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Contact: seorah@mynetivot.com
The first person to hold the position of Lower Elementary General Studies teacher at Netivot, Morah Faigy Anolik is thrilled to return after a hiatus of 15 years. Morah Faigy received her BA in Education from the University of Massachusetts and did her graduate work in Special Education at Kean University. She is NJ certified as an Elementary School Teacher and a Teacher of Students with Disabilities and received her Montessori training from the North American Montessori Center. She has been teaching for over 30 years now in a wide range of settings, with children of all ages and learning styles. Most recently, she taught at Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion in a number of capacities, including 4th grade General Studies, 5th grade Math, and 6th-8th grade Language Arts.
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Contact: dagan@mynetivot.com
Yardena Bannet
Middle School Judaics and General Studies Head Teacher
Morah Yardena Bannett will be joining Ms. Shannon in the Dagan homeroom as Judaic Studies teacher. Morah Yardena is originally from Canada. After high school, she attended the Michlalah Jerusalem College for two years and then came to the U.S. to pursue a degree in Judaic Studies with a minor in Psychology at Stern College. Morah Yardena has worked for many years in informal education with teenagers and college students through NCSY and recently moved with her family to Highland Park.
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Contact: seorah@mynetivot.com
Helene Kravitz
Early Childhood Support Staff and Aftercare
Sharon Shulman
Pre-Primary Support Staff and Aftercare
Yechiel Wolgel grew up in Israel, completed the hesder yeshiva/army program at Sha'alvim, and then studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion. After moving to the United States, he received a Bachelors in Business Administration from Baruch College, where he now teaches Math, Statistics, Accounting, and Finance review classes. Yechiel also teaches elementary and middle school Hebrew and Judaics at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Hebrew School. Yechiel’s fondest school memories are of teachers who truly invested in understanding him and ensuring that he could succeed and enjoy what he learned. His goal as a teacher is to emulate them, and he is excited that Netivot offers an environment uniquely suited to doing so.
Contact: seorah@mynetivot.com
Adina Brooks
-Teacher
Dina Leff
-Teacher
Morah Adina is studying marketing and management at Touro. For the past two summers, she has run Camp Kef, a day camp for 3-5 year olds. She has also been a nanny and a shul group leader for many years.
Contact: