June is here, the month when summer officially kicks in and the time most of us say a fond farewell to another school year. Did you know that there is no word in the Hebrew language for goodbye? Shalom is used for both “hello” and “goodbye,” but its actual meaning is “peace.” The closest thing is l’hitraot, which is the reflexive form of “to see” (lir’ot), meaning “see you later,” an optimistic, not-so-final way of saying farewell. 

Thursday, June 8 was the last day of school at the TST Early Childhood Center (ECC).  Every year, I am amazed at the amount of growth we get to witness here in the ECC.  We welcome the youngest members of our community and their families into our school and we watch as they explore, discover and learn so much: How to separate, trust new grown-ups, make new friends, share, take turns, ask questions, be part of a conversation, be kind, give love, treat one another with care and respect, connect to different people in the community, empathize with new perspectives, feel responsible for the welfare of others, help to make the world a better place and more! We nurture our children’s social, cognitive, emotional, physical, creative, and Jewish selves.  We help them develop the critical skills needed for their later school life and for life in general as well as the building blocks necessary to become enthusiastic and confident readers, writers and students of math and science.  We help them develop independence, thinking skills, resiliency, focus and an overall love of learning.  It truly is a privilege to be a part of these amazing first years and we are grateful to the ECC parents for partnering with us and entrusting their children to us.

On June 9, we celebrated our four-year-olds, who will be moving on to the next step in their educational journey.  We hope that all the creative class experiences, musical moments, shabbats together, outside explorations, and festive holiday celebrations remain a part of their happy memories of all the fun-filled days spent at the TST ECC. Mazel tov to all the 2023 ECC graduates and their families!  

Ace Barber 

Olivia Blechman 

Emet Blum 

Sophia Brosowsky

Zoe Gold 

Caia Greenberger 

Nathan Klausner

Stevie Kostick

George Kunhardt 

Henry Miller 

Logan Mintz 

Ethan Nable

Jack Schwartz

Elliot Silber 

Beckett Zerach Taylor-Kagel

We wish them all the best and can’t wait to hear about the wonderful things they will learn and create in the months and years to come.

All the children have become part of our ECC family and it is always hard to say goodbye at the end of the school year.  Instead we say, L’hitraot! We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Thank you to Rae Klein and Kate Klarberg for all their work this year as PA Co-Chairs, and thank you to the parent volunteers who helped organize all the wonderful events throughout the year. 

Thank you also to our amazing ECC staff for making the ECC such a warm, safe and special place!

Have a great summer!

Patty