History Mission Logo Our Values Our Educational Philosophy
History .
The Zimmer School, with the help of a generous grant from the Zimmer Family Foundation, opened its doors in 2001 with just three children, Alex, Ari and William.
Founded upon the belief that children are curious, competent and wondrous beings with tremendous potential, the school found inspiration in the educational approach of the schools in Reggio Emelia, Italy.
The deep respect we have towards children and their way of learning touched the community. Today we have five age groups of children, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 1st Grade.
Mission.
Our mission is to create an emotionally-safe learning environment where our children feel empowered to explore ideas, skills and an understanding of self; and to inspire these children with a sense of responsibility towards others and towards making an impact on their world.
Our mission is shaped by
- Jewish values
- An appreciation and respect for the child’s natural stages of development
- The belief that children build knowledge through personal experiences
- The recognition that the years of early childhood possess within them the capacity for life-long habits, behaviors and attitudes
- The belief that each child possesses a unique inner voice that needs to be heard and encouraged by both the child and by those around him
We work collaboratively - our children, their families, and our teachers - towards meeting this mission.
Logo.
In our logo’s imagery, we encapsulate our mission of empowering children to seek knowledge, ‘own’ it, and then act upon it.
The plant’s leaves form the shape of the first letter of the Hebrew letter, Aleph. Aleph symbolizes unity (oneness) and fluid interconnectedness between these three elements, as reflected in the three bars forming the letter’s shape.
The children develop into this balanced person with the support and guidance of the adults and peers who surround them.
Our Values.
The organizational mindset of the Zimmer Preschool is permeated by Core Values. These values find expression in all of our programs and activities. They are not a list of disconnected ideas but a holistic unit that forms our attitude to life, and are the heartbeat of our pedagogical philosophy.
RELATIONSHIPS. As humans we are part of the created world, inextricably joined to the multitude of other people and creations. At Zimmer we seek genuine relationships with each other and with our environment. We deeply value the sense of enrichment that community brings.
RESPONSIBILITY. When one is part of a greater w
hole, one has a fundamental responsibility to the larger organism; one component's welfare is everyone's concern. Responsibility is a mindset which de-emphasizes 'self', in order to experience 'other'; it's not what we want out of life, but what life wants out of us. At Zimmer children learn to see responsibility as a beautiful thing, not as a burden. By showing the child the benefits of behaving responsibly, the child learns about this value, first hand.
EXPLORATION. A constant openness to questioning allows us to 
discover new frontiers; it is a necessary tool in the unfolding of one’s potential. It takes active effort to maintain that natural spigot of curiosity, to raise our children as active seekers of knowledge, rather than passive receptors of information. At Zimmer we place great emphasis on capturing - and celebrating - the child’s exploratory endeavors, and converse with them to help clarify and modify their discoveries, turning their questions into opportunities for learning.
TIME. Time passes by so quietly... By slow
ing down, we can appreciate life’s special moments. At Zimmer we don’t rush through the day’s schedule; instead, we pay respect to each designation and activity. Children explore at their own pace, guided by their internal interest, not by a preset external time clock. As they make new discoveries, they create their own special moments and celebrate these with each other.
SPACE. Space is a part our natural reality, setting the physical parameters in which we operate having a profound effect on how we feel and the way we learn. At Zimmer great thought was put into the spaces occupied by the children so that it meets their developmental needs. The space fits the children, and is adaptable to adjust to their moods, curiosities, and physical needs and desires. Additionally, children have the power 
to transform their spaces in which they learn, and in turn, learn to respect the concept of space and its designations.
JOY. Living right is an intense experience, but we must never lose the lightness of being, the feeling of boundless joy. Children can teach us so much about joy; they happily dig in mud, sing with abandon, smile at sunshine and dance freely like a butterfly. At Zimmer we focus on the joy of simply being in the moment and celebrating who we are within a shimmering world.
Our Educational Philosophy.
LIFE...A JOURNEY OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Remember back when your child was a little baby...
The very beginning of her life’s journey...
You imagined, you dreamed...
So much potential in this little baby, who would she grow to be?
The child’s processes of growth and development begin immediately at birth, both normative development (the general set of human capabilities for each age range) and individual development (the child’s unique set of talents and traits).
The child’s body: her bones, muscles and limbs grow and her motor skills develop. Her senses - her vision, her audio abilities – become more refined.
The child’s mind: her cognitive abilities - comprehension, imagination, language, thought, study skills and judgment – develop, facilitating her acquisition and usage of knowledge, enabling her to learn.
The child’s emotions develop – they become more refined, developing her character and behavior patterns, and her own sense of morality. She begins to understand herself and from that understanding learns how to effectively interact with others.
As we hold our new baby, we ask ourselves, “How can I help my child utilize all the gifts that she was born with and become all that she can be? What can I do to support my child's developmental process so that, indeed, she will grow into her fullest potential?”
‘EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING’ AS A FOUNDATION FOR ALL OTHER DEVELOPMENT
Although much of development will occur naturally, an emotionally-safe and supportive environment has the capacity to bring the child’s development to a higher potential; indeed, the focus in the early years of a child’s life should be on her emotional wellbeing.
It is within the child's emotional well-being that we find the foundation of all other learning and cognitive development. Their emotional wellbeing is “uniquely related to their academic abilities, over and above their intelligence,” (Dr. Clancy Blair, Penn State University).
How a child sees herself (her ‘sense-of-self’) is a primary factor in her development into a balanced, inspired and productive person.
The child’s basic sense-of-self combines two major concepts: One is the child’s sense of her own uniqueness. The other is the child’s sense of another’s needs and her ability to effectively interact with others.
A healthy sense of uniqueness is defined by:
- A child who is aware of her innate capabilities
- A child who has a sense of independence, is willing to take risks, investigate and self-reflect
- A child who can cope with stress and adapt to change
- A child who has the ability to self-regulate, and not dependant on external regulations
A healthy self-perception of one’s place in relationship to others is defined by:
- A child who acknowledges the role that she plays in the larger social group, while appreciating the nuances of her own personality
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A child who empathizes with others
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A child who feels a sense of responsibility to her peers and to the larger world
A child who knows how to integrate herself into the environment, without losing her core uniqueness
Thousands of years ago, the great sage, Hillel, said, “If I am not myself, who am I? If I am only for myself, what am I?” Indeed, it is a balance of these two aspects that define the emotionally-healthy child.
These life-molding years of early childhood are critical to a child's future emotional and academic success. In this time of tremendous focus on teaching specific content and factual information, research indicates that “without a simultaneous focus on emotional-wellbeing, many children are likely to struggle to keep pace with academic demands,” (ibid). In this time of great socio-political pressure for young children to meet imposed deadlines and performance standards, it is more important than ever to preserve the magical experience of early childhood so that they can truly grow into their best possible selves!
