East Valley JCC’s Early Learning Center includes kindergarten starting next fall

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

The East Valley Jewish Community Center (EVJCC) in Chandler opened its Early Learning Center (ELC) in 1971 and currently has children anywhere from 6 weeks to 5 years enrolled. Next year, it will add a kindergarten class for the 202324 school year.

Pam Morris, ELC director, said that after a number of inquiries from parents with kids at the school about a kindergarten option, it seemed like the right time to add one.

Parents told her of their concerns when it came to sending their kids from the safe environment of the ELC to the big and unknown world of public and charter schools. They wondered if they would have the same kind of close relationships with new schools, teachers and even other parents.

Some parents whose children had started at the ELC and gone on to a bigger school even complained to Morris that the parents of their children’s new classmates didn’t respond to the birthday invitations they sent.

“This is a safe environment and their children know it and feel comfortable,” she said. Parents also appreciate the ELC’s staff, which will add a new full-time kindergarten teacher. There will also be enrichment programming including movement, cooking, Israeli culture and Hebrew.

The new class will adhere to the ELC standard of a student-teacher ratio of no more than 1 to 12 and the curriculum will be aligned with and utilize the Arizona kindergarten standards. With the assistance of the Arizona Tuition Connection, the new kindergarten class will also be free to those who apply.

The COVID-19 pandemic supercharged parents’ fears and the ELC became an even more protected and prized space, Morris said.

the EVJCC, it moved to the campus of Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley in Chandler and became Desert Jewish Academy.

Morris said she isn’t looking to have a day school, however, and there is no plan to add a first grade.

“We’re looking at having a kindergarten and one more year of protected community before the kids go off to a bigger school.”

Parents aren’t necessarily ready only to accompany their kids into school the first day and then leave them in the schoolyard.

At the ELC, parents have an app that provides a constant connection with pictures and communication throughout the day.

“Parents feel they can almost touch their children’s hands with this access to the teacher and then suddenly it gets cut off and they’re not ready,” she said.

Still, the ELC is a school, and Morris

She’s excited about providing this safe haven for parents. It also brings back good memories from when she was a preschool teacher at the ELC and there was a kindergarten.

“Being able to give that next stage of learning to our children and that safety and security for the parents — I think that’s just so important,” she said. JN

For more information, visit evjcc.org/elc.