We have limited space available in certain age groups. If you are interested in taking a personal tour and learning more about our program, please contact us directly at (818) 761-6983.  We are accepting wait-list applications to admit families if spaces become available.

Our program is a 5 day/week program. For ages 2-4 we have a half-day option and our Pre-K ages 4-5 is a full day. We are open from 8:30am-5pm and offer early and late care options.

A waitlist application form must be submitted with a non-refundable $100 application fee.  We give siblings and children coming from the Parent & Me registration priority, and we then go by date of application.

The school is a service for Temple Beth Hillel members and membership is required. One of the benefits of being a part of the Beth Hillel Day School community is being a part of the larger Temple Beth Hillel community. Membership allows for access to our Temple clergy, to synagogue programming, and to the greater synagogue community. Many of our families enjoy participating in Brotherhood, Sisterhood or on Temple committees, attending synagogue events like Seder in the Desert, and building friendships among temple members.

Our program is based on meeting each child where he/she is and guiding them forward from that point. Our staff are educated in the principles of child development and understand that development is a spectrum; focusing on academic readiness, gross motor skills, fine motor skills and socialization, our teachers base their curriculum and classroom lessons around the class’ development and interest.  By creating a classroom environment that allows for open-ended learning and discovery, we give children a chance to build their understanding the world.  By providing “scaffolding,” the teachers assist children to become confident in their skills so that they may express themselves in many different symbolic languages—speech, drawing and pretend play, to name a few.  We also believe that learning is a cooperative venture which includes other children, their teachers, their families and our larger community.  Literacy, math, social studies, science, music and arts are all emphasized through a framework of hands-on contextualized experiences.

Yes.  For over 35 years, Beth Hillel’s ECE has prepared children for kindergarten and elementary school. While in our program, children build the foundation for the literacy, math, science, creative, motor and social skills they will need to do well in later schooling.  In addition, because our school goes until sixth grade, our nursery and mechina teachers have the advantage of working side-by-side with elementary teachers on a daily basis; this collaboration allows our staff to maintain the most updated knowledge of elementary expectations

Beth Hillel’s ECE is open Monday–Friday, 8:00 am–6:00 pm.  Our nursery (2 and 3 year olds) program runs from 9:00 am-12:00 pm for a half day, and until 3:00 pm for a full day. Our Mechina (pre-K) program runs from 9:00 am-3:00 pm. Early care is available from 8:00-9:00 am and aftercare is available until 6:00 pm.

No.  We understand that most two-year olds are not yet toilet trained.  When your child is ready, we work closely with the parent and child to toilet train the child in a consistent, calming, encouraging manner. We celebrate success and keep a positive upbeat attitude when the child has an “accident.” The parent and school should follow a consistent and similar schedule, or the child’s training will be erratic.  Your child’s teachers will keep you posted on progress—please keep us abreast of all news, for example, when your child comes to Preschool with only underwear on!

While we do not not provide a daily lunch, we have our “hot lunch Wednesdays” where all the children eat lunch together.

About 1/3 of the ECE students matriculate to our elementary school; the remaining students go to local public and independent schools.

Beth Hillel Day School celebrates diversity. We are known as a warm and welcoming community. While we require that our students have one Jewish parent, our families are otherwise quite diverse. They include families with two parents, single parents, same-sex parents, blended families and grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Our parents come from diverse ethnic, national and socio-economic backgrounds and include many interfaith families. We welcome all of these families, encouraging parents, grandparents and students to share their cultural and family traditions in the classrooms and in student projects.

By law we can have 1:12 but we keep our ratio to approximately 1:6. Every classroom has 2 teachers. In the nursery, class sizes are about 12-13 kids. Mechina (pre-K) class sizes are about 13-14 kids.

In our youngest classes, the age span is about 6-7 months.  The span increases with each class, and the largest span is in our mechina (Pre-k), where the children may be up to 11 months apart in age.

We offer rest time each afternoon.  We provide a cot or mat for all children with the expectation that they will use the time to rest.  As the children grow older, we will allow other quiet naptime activities.  A washable, size-appropriate, labeled blanket needs to remain at the preschool for rest-time and will be sent home weekly for washing.

We believe in “positive discipline,” which focuses on good behavior rather than bad, and we follow the guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices set by the National Association for the Education of Children (NAEYC).  While some behaviors are typical for a specific “age and stage,” we recognize that children learn appropriate social behaviors at different rates.  With that in mind, we observe and make individual behavior plans when necessary.  As children get older, we encourage them to resolve conflicts on their own, building social skills and self-confidence in difficult, emotional situations. For more information on our behavior policies, please consult the Preschool Parent Handbook.

All of our teachers and assistants have the qualifications needed to work in a preschool setting.  Many hold Masters’ degrees in Early Childhood Education, as well. Some of our teachers have several other qualifications to work in the education field.  All of our teachers have the opportunity to continue taking professional development courses that we pay for and encourage.

We welcome and encourage parental involvement in a variety of ways.  Our parents plan and organize special events and fundraisers and support the program and staff.  There are opportunities for parents to serve as room parents, on various committees, to volunteer at events like the Thanksgiving feast, Chanukah Celebration, Passover Seder, and class celebrations.  Our Parent Committee meets once/month and everyone is encouraged to attend.

Strong parent-teacher communication is key for a child’s success. Written communication occurs through electronic class updates once/week and curriculum newsletters once/month. Personal conversations and conferences can happen as needed; quicker conversations might happen during morning or afternoon pick-up, or you can call during the day.  Since drop-off and pick-up can be rushed and busy times for children, parents and staff, we encourage you  to set up a phone conference or a personal conference time with the classroom teacher for a longer conversation. You are also welcome to set up an appointment with our Director to talk at any time. Finally, we have Back to School Night and parent-teacher conferences twice/year.

To decrease the spread of illnesses and germs, general housekeeping chores are part of the teachers’ daily routine and toys are sanitized often.  A professional cleaning crew also takes care of cleaning, vacuuming and mopping on a nightly basis.  They also clean rugs/carpets and wax the floors as needed.

One parent needs to be Jewish in order for children to attend BHDS.  Interfaith families are welcome and are encouraged to participate in all aspects of school life.

Our Jewish parents range in background from orthodox to secular Jews.  Some are very knowledgeable and others have no Jewish knowledge.  All families have the opportunity to learn through their children and through participation in school Shabbat and holiday celebrations. Adult education programs are also available through the Temple.  These include Temple Beth Hillel’s program for interfaith families and families of Jews by Choice and the Temple’s Adult Bar Mitzvah Program.

Yes.  Beth Hillel Day School is a service for members of Temple Beth Hillel, so families must become members of Temple Beth Hillel prior to starting school at Beth Hillel Day School.  Affiliate membership is available for families who belong to other synagogues.

Food served by the school at Hot Lunch is kosher style.  We do not mix milk and meat in the same meal. When food is sent from home for snack or lunch, or when food is served to a BHDS class, in an after school enrichment class or at a school gathering, we request that families not send or serve pork or shellfish products or mix meat and milk products in the same snack or meal.

Fully vaccinated adults are not required to quarantine following travel within the United States and some international (please check the location that you are traveling to). This may open up new possibilities for fully vaccinated adults in your family. However, we want to acknowledge that children remain unvaccinated and will still require compliance with our policy that requires children to quarantine for 10 days and show proof of a negative PCR test taken after day 7 before returning to school OR quarantine for a full 14-days.

While many of you are restricting your daily routines to only essential activities, you may still choose to gather with others on occasion. When you do we ask that you mitigate risk by keeping these gatherings:

♣ short in nature (2 hours or less is optimal)
♣ outdoors and masked
♣ free of food and drink that would encourage mask removal
♣ with adults who are fully vaccinated
♣ exclusive to families in your child’s school cohort

Gathering under high risk conditions puts everyone at risk and could close onsite cohorts. Please continue to do your part. We see that so many of you are sacrificing family reunions, birthday sleepovers, special trips, and moments of celebration. We appreciate your collective effort to keep our community safe.

You can carpool with families within your classroom.

We will continue to have children wash hands before they start the day and throughout the day.  Classrooms and play areas will get cleaned throughout the day as well.

We ask all enrolling families to sign a Family Agreement, which includes a commitment to following LA County and CDC guidelines and being transparent regarding any type of exposure. Daily health screening questions are asked each morning as part of the drop off process. Any family that notifies us of exposure to a “close contact” will immediately be instructed to follow LA County Public Health “isolation” and “quarantine” protocols. These protocols are the same whether or not someone shows any symptoms or tests positive. Any family in this situation would not be allowed back into our program until a number of requirements are met.

It is important to answer this daily question with transparency.  There certain symptoms of illness that may require a Covid-19 PCR test in order for your child to return to school.  If your child is experiencing any sign of illness we ask that you follow all the guidelines in our Parent Handbook.  This includes keeping your kiddo home if they are not well.  If your child has a new cough, vomit, diarrhea and/or a temperature over 100 you will be asked to have them tested for Covid-19 with a PCR test or quarantine for 14 days.  If that test is negative, and symptoms of illness subside, your child will be allowed to return to school.

Children and any entering TBH are required to wear masks indoors and outdoors. Please do your best to have your child’s mask on prior to interacting with our staff.

Yes