Gateways’ partner Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation which has done so much to raise awareness of including people with special needs as full participants in Jewish life, said it all in this week’s Jewish Week. In a terrific article titled, “Attention to Disabilities Seen Changing,” Jay put his finger on “a critical mass or consensus that’s emerging across the agency spectrum.”

Gateways: Access to Jewish Education is proud to be in the forefront of that critical mass of programs delivering services to those who’ve been, until very recently, left outside the community for way too long. We provide access and support for a Jewish education for children with special needs in a wide variety of educational settings in the Boston area, from day schools to our free-standing Sunday school to bar-bat mitzvah classes to,many of our local congregational and community schools and preschools.  Gateways also trains and coaches teachers in various Jewish learning settings to make their classrooms more welcoming to a range of learners.

I hope we'll be able to use the JECN Jewish Special Needs group to share information about making Jewish education accessible to all students. Next month is Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month, and will be a good time to focus more attention on this issue.

Arlene Remz, Executive Director

Gateways: Access to Jewish Education