For Ilene Vogelstein, director of Beth El @ Federal Hill and an expert in the field of Jewish early childhood education, preschool is all about “making memories, making connections and building community.”
For families living throughout downtown Baltimore, the school — which opened at 1530 Battery Ave. in 2015 and currently serves 32 preschool-age children — offers convenience, individualized care and a warm and welcoming environment.
“It was really a grass-roots effort,” says Vogelstein. “In 2010, we learned there were 5,000 Jewish families downtown and they were mostly in Federal Hill, and many had preschool-age children. They said, ‘We live downtown, we want to stay downtown and we want a Jewish presence downtown.’ Eyal [Bor, Beth El Congregation’s director of education] said, ‘We have to go where they are.’”
Before the preschool opened, Liz Simon-Higgs and her husband, Stephen, who live in the neighborhood, “schlepped” their kids, Daniel and Micah, to Jewish preschools in Northwest Baltimore. Simon-Higgs knew that Beth El, which is based in Pikesville, had long been seeking space for a downtown preschool location. So when she learned the church around the corner, Salem Lutheran, was looking for a tenant, she made the match.
It ended up saving her two hours of driving a day. But that wasn’t the only benefit.
“Beth El is wonderful,” says Simon-Higgs. “The teachers are so warm, really loving, they do developmentally appropriate activities and they really try hard to foster community. The Jewish curriculum is strong, but they are welcoming to everyone.”
Anne Irwin Tillinghast and her husband, Peter, aren’t Jewish but they “have never felt out of place” at the school. “We’re glad [their daughter] Evelyn has learned about Jewish holidays and traditions at Beth El,” says Irwin Tillinghast.
Vogelstein says the downtown preschool is pleased to serve people of diverse religious backgrounds, but notes the school’s Jewish curriculum is the foundation of everything they do.
“We try to tie a Jewish value to every month, and there’s a social action component. We teach tikkun olam [repairing the world], we do Shabbat on Fridays and the kids bring tzedakah,’” she says.
In addition to learning about Jewish holidays and traditions, students at Beth El @ Federal Hill benefit from the neighborhood’s attractions. For example, says teacher Jane West Walsh, “We walk to the library on Wednesdays, the [Maryland] Science Center once a month. When the weather’s good, we put the kids in the wagons and take them to Federal Hill Park.”
For information, visit bethelbalto.com/learning/children/beth-el-federal-hill.
Top photo: Ilene Vogelstein and Natasha Tull take Beth El students for a walk in the park. (Photo by Evan Cohen)
Also see:
- Street Smarts
- In The House!
- Playtime in the City
- Repair and Relevance
- Editor’s note: Planting Seeds in the City
- Publisher’s note: Choosing to Live in the City
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