At the ECC we have passionate, qualified staff who are dedicated to helping your child learn and grow during this fundamental time in their lives.
Our staff are:
- Experts in the field of childhood education
- Our head teachers hold a Masters in Early Childhood Education and state certification
- Many of our assistant teachers are currently working towards a Masters in Early Childhood Education at top programs such as Bank Street and Hunter College
- Experienced
- Our head teachers have been with the school for years and many helped shape the program since its inception in 1978
- Committed to excellence
- No matter what their tenure, our teachers are always developing their classroom skills and learning alongside peers and students
Jacqueline Israel
Director of Early Childhood CenterJaci Israel is Director of CBE’s Early Childhood Center and has enjoyed a long relationship with CBE where she began her preschool teaching career in 1986. Since then she has coordinated Pre-K programs for several nonprofit agencies and initiated the Project Reach Youth’s Universal Pre-K Program. She has also worked extensively with elementary age students with learning disabilities as a teacher at the Mary McDowell Center and as an Orton Gillingham tutor. Jaci has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s degree in Special Education. Her proudest achievements by far are her son and daughter.
Email:jisrael@cbebk.org
Phone:718-499-6208 x4
Katie Browning
Associate Director of the Early Childhood CenterBefore starting at the ECC in her role as Associate Director in the fall of 2021, Katie Browning had been with the ECC for the previous three years as the Early Childhood Consultant, coaching teachers around curriculum development, supporting team partnerships, and developing strategies to support students’ learning at the ECC. She has an extension background in preschool school education, as a classroom teacher, and as a special educator. Katie began her teaching career as a classroom teacher at the Little Program at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, and after completing her master’s degree in special education, she joined the staff at Rivendall in 1996 as a special education itinerant teacher (SEIT). As a SEIT, she lent her special education expertise to classroom teachers and families while working to support students in a variety of preschool settings, including the ECC. Katie’s work over the years has also included the provision of workshops to teachers and parents, carrying out educational evaluations, and private tutoring.
Email:kbrowning@cbebk.org
Phone:718-499-6208 x2
Meredith Gary
Education Director at ECC Prospect HeightsMeredith Gary is the former Co-Director of the Downtown Little School, a progressive preschool in lower Manhattan. Meredith earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Wesleyan University and a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. She has 28 years of experience in the field of early childhood education. In addition to her work as a school director, Meredith leads guided support groups and workshop series for parents. She is a NY-NAEYC Professional Development Specialist and first came to the ECC as a staff workshop leader. Meredith is also the author of a children’s book published by HarperCollins: Sometimes You Get What You Want. Meredith and her husband Brian are longtime Park Slope-ers with two children, Audrey and Ian, who both became b’nei mitzvot at CBE. Meredith is also a baker, mystery reader, cat lover and mahjong player. She’s thrilled to be joining the ECC community and to play a role in the exciting expansion to Prospect Heights.
Email:mgary@cbebk.org
Phone:718-499-6208 x303
Rabbi Molly Kane
Director of Youth and Family ProgramsRabbi Molly Kane is thrilled to be CBE’s new Director of Youth and Family Programs. Rabbi Kane most recently served for ten years as the Associate Rabbi-Educator at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. Rabbi Kane focuses on the full arc of childhood and family experiences and education — from birth through the teen years — bringing an overarching and integrated vision to oversee our world-class directors of the Early Childhood Center, Yachad, and Afterschool/Camps.
After graduating from Brandeis University, Rabbi Kane worked for five years as an informal Jewish educator in the Youth Department of the Union for Reform Judaism. During that time she served in leadership positions at the URJ Eisner Camp, the URJ Kutz Camp, and the NFTY in Israel summer program. She then earned an M.A. in nonprofit management from The New School University, went on to rabbinical school, and was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2011. During her time at HUC-JIR she served as the rabbinic intern at Congregation Kolot Chayeinu and completed a summer residency as a chaplain at the University of California Medical Center. In 2017, Rabbi Kane completed a certificate in Jewish Spiritual Direction from HUC-JIR.
Rabbi Kane has roots in Chicago, Illinois, and Westport, Connecticut, and has lived in Park Slope since 2004. She travels to Israel often and is proud to have walked the Israel National Trail (shvil yisrael) in 2018. She enjoys writing and performing stand-up comedy and comedic songs, exercising in Prospect Park, drawing and painting, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Email:mkane@cbebk.org
Phone:(718) 768-3814 x205
Caitlyn Bradley
ECC Department CoordinatorCaitlyn Bradley is the Department Coordinator for the Early Childhood Center. She began working at CBE in 2008 as an extended day helper in the ECC. Caitlyn then moved to the CBE KIDS Afterschool Program where she worked as a counselor and an administrative assistant. She finally came full circle and started working in the ECC again in 2016. Caitlyn was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Francis College in 2013.
Email:cbradley@cbebk.org
Phone:718-499-6208 x1
Congregation Beth Elohim greatly appreciates Gruss Life Fund for Jewish Education for their support of the teachers at CBE.
