philosophy

The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School at The JCC in Manhattan is a joyful and inclusive community of learners devoted to cultivating the creative spirit of young children and families through inquiry and meaningful experiences. Jewish values, and the seasons of the Jewish year, provide a framework for our journeys in the classroom.

The child’s voice, their passions, artistic visions, and their questions are a driving force in our curriculum. We believe that children are competent thinkers, problem solvers, and builders of their own knowledge. Teachers and children together identify paths of wonder and engage in extended, collaborative work that fosters individual growth and the ability to learn in large and small groups.

 We think of our children as members of ever widening communities, including their own classroom, the school, the JCC, and New York City. The missions of The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School and The JCC in Manhattan are inextricably bound, each feeding off of the vitality and energy of the other. We seek opportunities for children’s meaningful participation in JCC experiences. As a nursery school located in New York City, we draw upon the resources of our urban context, including parks, subways, museums and local landmarks, to build upon children’s awareness of themselves as a member of the city-at-large.

Our staff views the environment, classrooms and common spaces, materials, bulletin boards, and print materials as powerful tools for learning. Children use their physical world in a myriad inventive ways, finding pathways for self expression at every turn, transforming the everyday into moments of wonder.

Teachers facilitate this process by working collaboratively as researchers, guiding and following the interests of the group. We support children’s learning, connections with one another, their achievements and their points of view by making their work visible through many forms of documentation. Daily reflections, journey binders, small booklets, visual narrations on the walls and videos provide windows into the world of the children at school. This documentation helps teachers, parents and children understand and deepen the learning at school, as we think collaboratively about children’s learning.

We monitor children’s progress through individual assessments across the school year, ensuring that they reach developmental milestones and master academic skills necessary for continuing their educational journey. We foster a love of literacy and language, mathematics, science, social studies and the arts as well as Jewish life and living.

All learners have a place at The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School and we embrace an inclusive model of learning. We believe that every child arrives at school with a variety of interests and strengths, and will face many challenges in school as well. Our goal is to support children as they reach their potential within a caring and inspiring learning community.


We embrace families from all backgrounds as we cultivate a connection to Jewish values and tradition. We offer children many experiences that foster empathy with others and encourage students to make a positive imprint on their world. Mitzvah projects, such as collecting food and clothing for city shelters, and visiting nursing homes, are practical experiences which allow our children to be actively involved in tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of repairing the world.

Shabbat and Jewish holiday celebrations are occasions to share Jewish stories and ritual, and to pass on a love of Jewish life to the children. Our families gather around important moments in the Jewish and national calendar to assert our feeling of connection, to remember our history, and celebrate the beauty of our traditions. Music is a key element in our Jewish curriculum, as we learn songs and melodies that bring us together, and give us a feeling of belonging throughout the year. Music is part of the fabric of our life at the JCC; it is in the air around us and creates the setting for all of our communal celebrations.

The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School at The JCC in Manhattan strives to create inspired and cooperative learners, individuals who can work independently and collaboratively to solve problems with fortitude and tenacity. Empathy and respect, a love of inquiry, and intellectual curiosity and creativity are core values that will stay with our students for a lifetime.