About
Leadership
Administration
| Rachel Goldman, M.B.A., CPA Executive Director rgoldman@westchesterday.org Ext. 108 |
Lauren Kaplan Grades K-2 Director lkaplan@westchesterday.org Ext. 412 |
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| Rabbi Joshua Lookstein, M.A. Head of School jlookstein@westchesterday.org Ext. 102 |
Tamar Benjamin Grades 3-5 Director tbenjamin@westchesterday.org Ext. 142 |
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| Jamie Schneider Schwartz Early Childhood Director jschwartz@westchesterday.org Ext.104 |
Amy Ament, M.A. Middle School Principal aament@westchesterday.org Ext. 144 |
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Rabbi Joshua Lookstein is the Head of School at Westchester Day School, a 300-student co-ed, Modern Orthodox, toddler-8th grade Jewish day school in Mamaroneck, New York. Prior to joining WDS, Rabbi Lookstein served as a Major Gifts Officer at UJA-Federation of New York, where he led the fundraising effort for the Day School Challenge Fund, a $150 million fund to incentivize endowment fundraising at NY-area day schools, and was the Coordinator for the King David Society, the organization’s major gifts event division. Prior to UJA-Federation, Rabbi Lookstein served as Executive Director of the S. Daniel Abraham Foundation based in Palm Beach, Florida. Rabbi Lookstein began his career in education at Yeshivat Ramaz and Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He received his BA in Philosophy at Yeshiva University, his MA in Medieval Jewish History at YU’s Bernard Revel Graduate School, and his rabbinic ordination at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is a member of the New York Board of Rabbis, the International Rabbinic Fellowship and the RCA and he is a board member of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot. He lives in Scarsdale with his wife, Georgie, and their 3 children, Trudy, Oliver and Claire.
Mrs. Goldman has been the executive director of Westchester Day School since the late 1990s. Her responsibilities include partnering with the board of directors and the finance committee in developing the annual budget, to overseeing the school finances and grants, to buildings and grounds, to food services, security and maintenance. including security and dining services and the Westchester Summer Day Program. She is also the contact person for tuition assistance. Rachel has a master’s degree in business administration and is a Certified Public Accountant. She has also lectured at several national conferences on financial management at independent schools and has been a member of several Middle States Visiting Teams, constantly incorporating new ideas in the evolution of WDS.
Jamie Schneider Schwartz comes to WDS from Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where she served as the early childhood instructional leader. She was a Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) and an educator for many years at JCC Manhattan’s Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School. Schwartz also taught at the Bank Street Family Center, interned at Sesame Street Workshop in the educational research department and was a staff member for NJCD Yachad. Schwarz received her B.A. in early childhood education from Stern College, Yeshiva University, and her master’s of art in early childhood special education from Hunter College Graduate School of Education. She has presented on numerous topics including emergent curriculum, gender in early childhood years, and executive functioning. In the words of the director of the JCC of Manhattan preschool, “Jamie is a superstar educator, plain and simple… She radiates trust, empathy and caring—critical ingredients for any school setting, from which all else flows.”
Ms. Benjamin is a master educator who has been teaching 3rd grade General Studies for eight years, most recently at the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA. This year, she has also taken on the additional role of 2nd grade General Studies teacher. She has been a member of the Faculty Leadership Team responsible for planning in-school staff professional development and coaching teachers in the Data-Wise Project, a Harvard School of Education program that supports educators in using collaborative data inquiry to drive continuous improvement of teaching and learning for all students. Prior to Maimonides, she taught 3rd grade at the Kehillah Schechter Academy in Norwood, MA.
Ms. Benjamin received an MA in Education in Integrated Elementary and Special Education from Wheelock College of Boston University, and a BA in Psychology from American University. She takes an innovative approach to education and is deeply committed to making an impact on the lives of students.
This is Mrs. Ament’s 3rd year at Westchester Day School. Mrs. Ament has been a professional at the Jewish New Teacher Project, a division of the New Teacher Center. Most recently, she served as Associate Director, where she oversaw the professional training and support of over 90 mentors and 130 new teachers in over 60 Jewish schools, including WDS. During her tenure at JNTP, she personally mentored over 20 teachers. During her two decades in the field of Jewish education, Amy served in various professional capacities at several educational institutions, including many years as a classroom teacher in the Boston, Los Angeles, and New York metropolitan areas. She was recently an instructor in the Education Department at Stern College for Women. She has co-authored a Chumash curriculum, published papers in a number of educational journals, and has been a sought after presenter at national Jewish education conferences. Amy holds a B.A. from Binghamton University in History and Judaic Studies, an M.S. in Administration and Supervision from Yeshiva University, and an M.A. from Brandeis University's Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service. She lives in White Plains with her husband, Jonathon, and three children, Ezra, Joshua and Adina.
School Board
| President |
Aaron Lauchheimer |
| Chairman |
Jack Bodner |
| Executive Vice President |
Susan Wachsstock |
| Secretary |
Michelle Cohen |
| Treasurer |
Adam Bensley |
Trustees - Term Expires 2019
*Executive Board Member
| Alex Kahn | Barry Novick | Daniella Rader | Aaron Lauchheimer* |
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Jack Bodner*
|
Elisha Tropper | Irit Tratt |
*Executive Board Member
Trustees - Term Expires 2020
| Michelle Cohen* | Haley Toledano | Malka Helft | Susie Meyers |
| Nicola Rosenstock | Robyn Shapiro | Joshua Trump |
*Executive Board Member
Trustees - Term Expires 2021
| Adam Bensley* | Ben Bernstein | Daniel Gewanter | Dani Gold |
| Michael Nachmani | Jonathan Rosenfeld | Susan Wachsstock |
*Executive Board Member
Honorary Trustees
| Lawrence Gorfinkle** | Don Motzkin** | Barbara Plotnick | Mortimer Propp** |
**Deceased
Associate Trustees
| Russie Berger | Michelle Bernstein Goldberg | Seth Cohen | Sam Groner |
| Evan Jerome | Rafi Kalman | Dan Kosowsky | Sara Meyers Sadinoff |
| George Puro |
Who We Are
Westchester Day School is a Modern Orthodox, co-educational, dual-curriculum, toddler to 8th grade Jewish school that inspires and educates our students in their own way to value menschlichkeit, mitzvot, and lifelong learning.
