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April 11, 2008
New leadership from RJDS
Former teacher Rebecca Cohen has big plans to grow school.
MICHELLE DODEK
In November, when Ella Levy, current principal of Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS), announced to her staff that she would be leaving the school in order to be closer to her young daughter in Florida, the search for a new principal had already begun. Although the committee sent out extensive feelers, they found their preferred candidate within the school's campus: Rebecca Coen, a member of this year's staff and administrative team.
Coen began working at RJDS this past fall as an upper grades teacher and acting vice-principal. Her role as an administrator includes everything from parent communication liaison to student discipline issues. She commented that these responsibilities have prepared her for many of the tasks she will have to face in the top leadership position at the school.
Coen holds a master's degree in educational leadership and policy from California State University in Northridge and worked for 13 years as a classroom teacher in Jewish day schools in Los Angeles. There, Coen was not only a teacher, but also a teacher mentor, curriculum co-ordinator and administrator. She also had a key roll in organizing Los Angeles' Yom Iyun, a professional development day in which 38 Jewish day schools participate.
Coen plans to use her experience from Los Angeles to take RJDS in a new direction. She would like to see it grow, from the current enrolment of 155 (including the preschool programs) to 175 in the next few years and a 10-year goal of 200. She is confident that this sort of enrolment would maximize the current facility at RJDS without taxing it. She said she believes that, "If you build it, they will come," and she would love to see the school burn the mortgage and expand its campus. "It's much easier said than done, and would require a $4 million endowment," she acknowledged.
A larger facility might encourage more Richmond families to send their children to RJDS. Currently, 75 students are bussed from Richmond every day to Vancouver Talmud Torah. Coen explained that facility concerns are one issue, but that the delivery of strong Jewish and secular education is vital to building and growing the school.
"The board of directors is made up of such a devoted group of people who want the students to leave RJDS with a strong Jewish identity and feeling of belonging to the community," she told the Jewish Independent. "Every facet of the education at the school needs to reinforce the feeling of connection to community, no matter where they go after they leave RJDS." Coen plans to align the Judaic and provincial curricula so that everything works toward building that identity. "This school provides a culture of excellence ... and we create outstanding, quality individuals, which is the key component of an education at RJDS."
Coen wants to change the perception of RJDS so that more people will consider it as a first choice for their children. "People need to come here and see what we are doing and to realize that this school is a permanent, essential part of the fabric of Richmond's Jewish community and that we provide an amazing educational experience," she said.
Coen cited a few projects as examples of the cutting-edge technology students learn, such as Grade 7 students working on a digital yearbook and fifth graders doing digital animation. Fine arts, physical education and music programs taught by specialists are also part of the RJDS curriculum. Music specialist Harriet Frost is a staff member who responded to Coen's appointment with enthusiasm: "I think it'll be great for the school," she said.
When asked why she made the break from classroom teacher to a strictly administrative role, Coen replied, "At the end of the day, it's about kids. Having been a successful classroom teacher for over 14 years, I realize that I can change the world of a child in a classroom but with limitations to the success because of administrative challenges. In order for me to effect the greatest change in the world of children, I must be sitting in the principal's office."
Coen's responsibilities as principal of RJDS begin at the end of the current school year. For more information about RJDS, call 604-275-3393 or go to www.rjds.ca.
Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver whose full-time job is caring for her two small children.
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