FORT GREENE — Construction has begun on the neighborhood’s first Jewish preschool.
Gan on Greene is slated to open next fall at 54 Greene Avenue, offering Jewish language classes and activities to children between 18 months and 3 years of age.
The name of the preschool is a play on words, with the Hebrew word “gan” meaning both school and garden.
“We’re going to look at every child as a little seed that’s waiting to blossom,” the school’s director Hadassah Kirschenbaum said.
Kirschenbaum said she opened the Jewish preschool, the first in Fort Greene, because as an educator and a mother of 5-year-old twin boys, she saw the need to create a school that met all the educational and social needs she wanted for her children right in her own neighborhood.
The school’s curriculum is split between three age groups: Early toddlers (18 to 24 months old), toddlers (2 to 3 years old), and nursery (3 to 4 years old).
While lessons will expose children to Hebrew words and phrases, Kirschenbaum said the curriculum will serve more to teach children the values associated with Jewish culture, but the school will be open to students of all backgrounds.
“In general, the Hebrew or Jewish learning is more like giving the values of it, the traditions of it,” she said. “We’re trying to give them the most that we can before they head off to a big school.”
The school will operate on a normal school schedule throughout the year, with vacations scheduled for the high holy days, like Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., but the school will also offer an early drop off starting at 8 a.m. and an aftercare from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Starting in February, the school will start giving tours to parents of prospective students. For more information on tours or admission, email info@ganongreene.org.
