Northern New England’s only Jewish day school is embracing the new decade with a new leader — a spiritual scholar with a talent for teaching, a gift for nurturing and a passion for lifelong learning.
Dr. Stephen Simons has been tapped to take over as director of Levey Day School in Portland.
Dr. Stephen R. Simons
“It is a great honor to be entrusted with this sacred endeavor,” says Simons, an award-winning educator from Massachusetts, who looks forward to “providing a nurturing environment in which children from many backgrounds may thrive and grow morally and spiritually as well as academically.”
Most recently, Simons was director of education at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill, Mass., where he focused on intergenerational programs involving children and families.
This ability to connect with people of all ages was one of the primary qualities that made him a standout candidate, according to members of Levey’s search committee.
He was selected from among dozens of applicants worldwide to succeed retiring director Ellie Miller, who has guided Levey for seven years, bringing “stability and growth to the school, overseeing expansion from second grade to fifth and the excellent secular and Judaic curricula,” says Carol Eisenberg, president of the Levey Day School board of directors.
Former students say Simons is an inspiring educator who instills a love of learning that lasts long after they leave the classroom.
Simons officially assumes the Levey directorship on July 1, 2010, and says he is looking forward to continuing to develop the K-5 school, which he calls “an academy of excellence in secular as well as Jewish teaching and learning.”
For more than half a century, Levey has offered strong academic programming combined with moral and spiritual development, and a focus on Jewish values like kindness and responsibility.
