Bringing together Jewish families through early childhood programming is one of many ways the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston aims to build a thriving Jewish community in Houston.

Launched in early 2022, the Marvin Barish Right Start program does just that by offering qualifying families who enroll their first child into a Jewish early childhood program for the first time a tuition voucher ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, depending on how many days a week their child attends the program.

An important benefit of the program is the ability to connect parents and young children with other people who share the same faith as them—something that promotes lifelong connections down the line.

“The idea is to help bring new families to the Jewish early childhood world. There’s a lot of research about early childhood and how it helps children to grow and develop, but in particular for the Jewish community, families enrolling in Jewish early childhood helps them to make a connection to the Jewish community,” said Lisa Klein, the Federation’s managing director of Jewish education. “This helps build their identity as a Jewish family, helps to provide guidance for the educational choices for their children and connects them with a really supportive community.”

The Federation’s goal is to enroll 65 new children in the program for the 2022-23 school year. Currently, 47 children have enrolled, and the Federation has provided $77,000 in tuition vouchers.

“We are so excited by the response we have had and we have more to give. We want to have more students and more families come,” Klein said.

Funded through the Marvin Barish Early Childhood Endowment Fund held at the Houston Jewish Community Foundation, the program is named after a local patriarch who has supported education initiatives across the community. The Barish Family is matching all gifts made to support this effort. They, along with the Samuels Family are major donors to this endowment.

“Marvin Barish and the Barish family wanted to make a legacy gift that left a positive impact on Jewish early childhood education for generations,” said Federation President & CEO Renée Wizig-Barrios. “We’re really very fortunate to have the ability to put this program into action and touch so many lives.”

There are 10 different Jewish early childhood schools throughout the Greater Houston area where families are eligible to receive a voucher from the endowment fund. The schools serve a range of ages from infants through pre-kindergarten students who receive early childhood programming that weaves together traditional education plus knowledge about the Jewish culture and faith.

The Federation’s leadership also hopes that through integrating Jewish faith and culture into education at a young age, the children will see the Jewish faith as a natural aspect of life, instead of something they have to actively think about.

Because the pandemic affected how families interacted with one another, the schools are starting to slowly see socialization come back into play. The connections among families are even more important as we renew our interactions and find new ways to connect.

Through these initiatives, families are able to settle into their own kind of community through the early childhood programs.

“At this stage of their lives, parents of young children are open to considering questions of identity and connection for themselves and their children,” Klein said. “The raising of young children offers Jewish communities an unrivaled opportunity to engage young families and deepen their Jewish journeys.”

The 10 Jewish early childhood schools affiliated with the Federation include Becker School of Congregation Emanu El; Robert M Beren Academy; Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School; Beth Yeshurun Day School; Ellen Boniuk Early Childhood School; Goldberg Montessori School; the Gan Jewish Early Learning Center; the Shlenker School of Congregation Beth Israel; Torah Day School of Houston; and Yeshiva Torat Emet.

To apply for this program, visit houstonjewish.org/rightstart.

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