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Dear Temple Israel, 

As some of you are aware, I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in October and have been on a leave of absence from my beloved job as Temple Israel’s Director of Family Education. The cancer was caught very early, and the surgery was successful, as I am now cancer free. My hope was to return to my job as soon as possible. However, the recovery process has been extremely draining, and may be for quite some time. Through this recovery process, I’ve had the time to do some soul searching and figure out what the next chapter of my life may look like. I’ve decided that after 13 years of being at the helm of our incredible youth education programs, it is time for me to retire so that we can bring on a new leader who can commit to taking our vision to the next level! 

We have been able to accomplish so very much during my tenure at TI. Together with the Rabbis, Board of Trustees, teachers and staff, we’ve worked toward the goal of building a top-notch early childhood center, both from an educational standpoint, and then with our physical building. It started with a vision, and my vision was to create a warm, loving, welcoming school where everyone truly knows your name. We also brought in a great deal of flexibility for our parents; if your child was enrolled at DECC, then they always had a place at DECC, regardless of whether they were signed up prior for that day or time. We also extended the hours from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, as we had record numbers of families with two working parents who were in need of full-time care. On top of this, our teachers were the most warm and loving educators; we created a very happy “home” for children and their families. It was so exciting. All of these changes helped us in just a short time to quintuple our enrollment! 

As numbers continued to grow, we started looking at our facility, and we were able to make some updates early on, while recognizing the need for a full renovation at some point soon to meet the standards that parents wanted and our students deserved. We began planning for the complete renovation in 2016 and rolled out the Reimagining Campaign soon after to see if our vision could be viably funded. We quickly realized that our Temple Israel members and school families were deeply committed to that vision, too, and we raised more money than ever before in our Congregation’s history. 

Then, an unexpected pandemic. In March of 2020, DECC had the unfortunate fate of playing host to the first public COVID-19 cases in St. Louis County, where some of our beloved teachers contracted the virus. Rabbi Amy, Erin May, and I spent hours and hours navigating the outbreak with whatever little information we could get from professionals in the medical field, who at that point knew very little. We worked tirelessly together to get us through this terrible time. Though it was tough to close down our school over those months to follow, an empty building meant that we could, thankfully, break ground on the school construction that summer. And that fall, with great excitement and still in the middle of the pandemic with many new protocols to ensure safety, we opened a newly renovated school, complete with an Infant Room. 

This school year was barely up and running when I was diagnosed with cancer. It really threw me; the surgery was extremely difficult, and I am still in the process of recovering. This diagnosis has been an eye-opening experience, and at this point in my life, at 61 years old, I need to slow down. The decision to retire has been so hard for me; I love my life at Temple Israel. I have made lifelong friends and consider all of you my family, too. I am not quite sure how this is supposed to go, and I am not even sure if I am completely ready, but my health right now has to be my priority.  

Lesley Goldenberg has been at the helm of both DECC and the Religious & Hebrew School since I was on leave, and she, along with our Education Center support staff, continue to do a tremendous job. I am thrilled that Lesley will be taking over the position as Director of Family Education. We have spent the past few years working as a team, and I will happily stay on in an advisory role as a consultant to help her transition and stay as long as she and the school need me. Temple Israel has become my home. I feel like I have “raised” the preschool. And, as every parent knows, at some point in your child’s life, you have to give wings to what you’ve raised and let it fly, even without you. Though we are there to help if we’re needed, it’s just in a different way. I know that at some point soon, we will all be able to get together to celebrate OUR successes at the Jack & Ellen Deutsch Family Education Center. 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve Temple Israel and for your tremendous support over the last 13 years.   

Love, 
Leslie