Rabbi Mendy Greenbaum, principal Cheder Menachem, Los Angeles:“ In 2010, I joined MEF’ s first cohort of principals for a newly launched leadership training program. At the time, I had over a decade of experience as a principal and hoped that by participating in MEF’ s pioneering program I could enhance my skill set and knowledge-base.
That program took place over the course of sixteen in-depth days of training spread throughout the year, with our cohort of principals traveling to schools all across America to learn about best practices in education. We learned from top professionals, many associated with the NYC Leadership Academy, and discovered what goals we should be setting as school leaders. The entire program focused on broadening our horizons and elevating the level of professionalism in our schools. It gave me a foundation of tools for coaching my staff, and taught us to really see the role of principal as an educational leader, not just site manager.
The program also leveraged every participant’ s area of expertise and allowed us to collaborate and share our experiences, successes and challenges with fellow school leaders. We discussed what success looks like for a Chabad school and identified a need for Judaic Standards that would assist us all in our roles as educational leaders. The
Laying a Foundation for Growth and Success
eventual development and publication of the Zekelman Standards was born out of that collaboration.
Good Leaders Create Followers. Great Leaders Create Leaders.
I became involved in the development of the standards, and my role eventually evolved into sharing what I’ ve learned and presenting it to others, including younger cohorts of principals. The entire purpose of the training is to build the capacity for leadership which, in turn, moves our successes forward by allowing us to produce more leaders and thinkers.
Today, I am working closely with MEF in running the current Chabad School Leadership Program, where we train the aspiring teachers in the same skills and knowledge I learned years ago. By developing and supporting high-quality school leaders, we are able to increase students’ and teachers’ success in the classroom. We also build each leader’ s capacity to give back. Part of the current curriculum requires the participants to facilitate the learning by presenting to their peers. It is our hope that giving them these opportunities to apply their leadership skills will encourage them to give back to their schools, becoming a source of leadership in others.
Drawing the Best and Brightest into Jewish Education
When Rabbi Mendy Levin was deliberating possible career paths, he did not consider education as a viable option. Yet, MEF recognized Rabbi Levin’ s many talents and convinced him to give Jewish education a chance. In 5771( 2010), Rabbi Levin enrolled in the yearlong Teacher Induction Program and went on to become a successful classroom teacher. In the spring of 2012, MEF was working with the then fledgling Cheder Chabad of Philadelphia, whose board was seeking a principal for their growing school. Identifying Rabbi Levin’ s potential, MEF invested in his training and secured him a personal coach to build his leadership abilities. Rabbi Levin assumed the role of principal in 5774( 2013).
As a young new principal, Rabbi Mendy Levin was eager to work toward achieving high quality educational outcomes for his students. With guidance from MEF’ s leadership consultants and access to a wide range of resources, Rabbi Levin quickly improved his school’ s culture of excellence by enhancing communications, tackling thorny staffing issues and developing a mindset of growth and understanding throughout the administration.
This year, Rabbi Levin was promoted to Head of School, and today is a mentor in his own right, regularly coaching a young principal in Argentina.
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