Board Chair Announcement

March 3, 2020

Dear FJECC Families,

Helen Cohen, our beloved Director, has informed the Board of Directors of the Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center that she intends to retire at the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

We have been immensely fortunate to have had Helen as the founder and longtime Director of our school. Under Helen’s guidance and with the support of Temple Israel, FJECC has become one of the most prominent centers for early childhood education in Boston.

More than a thousand students and their families, and numerous teachers and staff, have benefited from her wisdom, compassion, energy and determination. As those of us with FJECC alumni witness every day, Helen’s impact stretches far into the future. When our families sing the Shabbat blessings each Friday night, we remember the many times we witnessed our children take their turns as Shabbat helpers and the warmth and joy of Shabbat Sing. When our children come home and tell us how they helped a friend, we recount the lessons of kindness and caring they learned at FJECC. And every time we see a friend that we ourselves made at FJECC, we are so grateful for the teas, socials, volunteer events and the countless other ways in which Helen fostered our everlasting spirit of community.

Helen’s accomplishments and contributions to the school are too numerous to reflect upon now.  We look forward to celebrating her and ensuring her legacy remains vibrant.  If you would like your name added to a list of those who want to help honor and celebrate her, please let us know at shalomhelen@fjeccfriends.org. 

In anticipation of Helen’s retirement, we have appointed our immediate past FJECC Board President, Lesley Inker, to chair a search committee to find our next Director.  Lesley has formed a team that encompasses expertise in early childhood education and reflects the diverse voices of our community.  The search committee has designed an extensive listening process to hear from families, faculty, alumni, alumni parents and friends to help them identify what makes our school so special and the characteristics our next Director should have.  Our consultant, Jerry Katz, former head of The Park School, will be holding meetings with interested parents on March 13th at 10 am and March 23rd at 6:30 pm.  In addition, we are seeking input from the entire FJECC community via a questionnaire.  Please also look for more information and updates on the FJECC website at https://fjecc.org/transition-process.

We are hoping to name FJECC’s next Director by the end of 2020, who will assume responsibility on July 1, 2021. Between now and then, we can all look forward to having current and future children at FJECC benefit from Helen Cohen’s continuing leadership and love.

With warm regards,