Alef Bet Preschool, New Rochelle

When we first visited Chabad and met Rochel Botman, we were told that the school had two main goals: developing the Jewish neshama (soul) and a thirst for learning in each child. After having my daughter spend three years at the school I can say that it delivered times a thousand. My daughter gained a deep love and appreciation for Jewish ethics, traditions and holidays and more understanding about each of those things than I could ever hope for. Just as one example (and I can give many), the hagada that she made for Passover was so beautiful and detailed, and the ideas in it so thoroughly ingrained by her, that she quickly became the main contributor to the seder, to everyone's delight and despite her being the youngest child there! In terms of learning, the school feels nothing short of magical in that it making learning so truly joyful for the kids that they don't even notice that they are learning skills well beyond their contemporaries (I'm talking reading and writing in English and Hebrew). This is all in an atmosphere of such kindness and throughfulness that the kids can't help but build empathy. I was so pleased to see how close my duaghter's class was. They supported each other and learned to love each other's strengths and differences. Can't say enough about what what a beautiful experience this was for my child - when the kids graduated the parents were all joking that we needed a self-help group to get over how much the kids (and us) would miss it!