Rabbi Shira Leibowitz has been Lower School Principal at Schechter Westchester since 2000. Long committed to day school education, Rabbi Leibowitz first came to the world of day school as a sixth grader at The Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union in West Orange, New Jersey, where she stayed through High School graduation. She continued on to Cornell University, majoring in American Studies and graduating Magna Cum Laude and with Distinction in all subjects.
Initially planning on a career in journalism, Shira Leibowitz’s connection to Jewish study and community drew her to Rabbinical School. She was ordained as a rabbi from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1993 and completed a doctorate in Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1998.
Rabbi Leibowitz held a number of positions in Jewish Education prior to arriving at Schechter Westchester. She served as Education Director at Camp Ramah in New England and then as Assistant National Ramah Director. She also served as Judaic Studies Department Chair and taught both Bible and Talmud at the Solomon Schechter High School in Manhattan during the school’s first two years in existence. Rabbi Leibowitz left Schechter High School to return to her alma mater, The Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, in the capacity of Associate Principal, primarily responsible for Judaic Studies. She was soon promoted to Lower School Principal at The Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, the position she held immediately prior to becoming Lower School Principal at Schechter Westchester.
Rabbi Leibowitz lives in White Plains with her husband, Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski, and their two children, Talia and Ronen. She has a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Rabbi Leibowitz is working on a book about building character, based in large part on her work at Schechter Westchester.
September 8, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Thank you so much for your blog post on making homework meaningful. I am pleased to see that there is now an avalachnce of serious academic research showing what I’ve always felt intuatively to be true–that piling on homewok to young children does more to stunt than stimulate their intellectual ane emotional development. I spent many, many hour on homwork through high school, college, and law school and got a great deal out of it. But from k-6 I was blessed to be in a school were little or none was given, and I feel I was better off later as a result of it.
September 8, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Making homework meaningful and manageable, taking into account serious academic research and the experiences of students, parents, and teachers is essential. We’re so glad to be engaging in substantive conversation including parents, teachers, and even students on homework that makes sense. We’re also so proud to be able to offer students more support. This is an important conversation to continue.
August 26, 2011 at 2:31 pm
[...] to do the same. This challenge has been picked up by PEJE, whose guest blogger on August 19th, Rabbi Shira Leibowitz issued a similar challenge to Jewish day school principals and heads here - officially declaring [...]
August 11, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Hi Shira,
You and I are connected on Twitter. It’s always nice to meet a fellow educator. I wanted to tell you that I just visited your blog and really enjoyed it. Have a nice day.
Best,
Steve