Pride: Lindsey Levin-Salamon, Director of BMH-BJ Preschool; and Sheryl Last, Assistant Director of BMH-BJ Preschool, have a beaming sense of pride for the community they serve.

Top Notch School: BMH-BJ Preschool offers a unique blend of an emergent, child-centered curriculum in a warm, intimate, Jewish environment.

For more than four decades, BMH-BJ Preschool has been a premier center for excellence in Jewish early childhood education in the Denver community. As an inclusive community, they welcome everyone to learn and grow. Currently, they have 105 kids in the program. They have 10 classrooms open now and plans for an 11th to open in the spring.

BMH-BJ Preschool offers a unique blend of an emergent, child-centered curriculum in a warm, intimate, Jewish environment. Here you’ll find teachers who are caring and devoted to your child’s development and happiness. They pride ourselves on the relationships they create with each child and family, not to mention the lasting friendships that they encourage between families.

BMH-BJ Preschool’s mission is to provide your children with a warm, nurturing, educational environment. Our educational philosophy incorporates early childhood education best practices that emphasize:

  1. Developmentally appropriate emergent curriculum.
  2. Play-based practice that fosters exploration and builds confidence.
  3. A strong Jewish identity highlighting Jewish values at every age level.

Play-Based Curriculum: Play is an opportunity to engage in active, independent, self-sufficient, cooperative learning that encompasses both physical and social contexts with open-ended materials. It incorporates hands-on activities and learning. “We really believe children learn through play,” said Lindsey Levin-Salamon, Director of BMH-BJ Preschool. “We embed all of the necessary skills into play. So, by the time they get into kindergarten, they are kindergarten ready.” BMH-BJ Preschool also has built-in enrichments. They offer a music and sports programs.

 

Emergent Curriculum: The goal of an emergent curriculum is to thoughtfully plan, engage, and incorporate children’s interests in a developmentally appropriate curriculum. Through observation, engagement, and reflective practice, teachers can learn about their students’ skills, interests, and needs to create a successful emergent curriculum. Emergent curriculum goes hand-in-hand with a play-based curriculum because it is self-directed and open-ended. A successful emergent curriculum is co-constructed with teachers, students, and the environment.

Celebrating Judaism

Jewish concepts and values are deeply embedded into everyday learning in a meaningful and developmentally appropriate way. Their educational program emphasizes love and respect for Judaism and Jewish values. Your child will use art, song, movement, food, storytelling, and emergent literacy to help explore the universal themes found in Jewish culture and 

Judaism.

They celebrate each Jewish holiday throughout the calendar year with food, music, family, and fun. A highlight of the week is when they gather as a preschool community every Friday morning for a festive Shabbat Party.

Nursery To Pre-K Programs

BMH-BJ Preschool provides education and care for children 6 weeks to 5 years with flexible schedule options, including extended care options to early risers, as well as those who need care in the afternoon and early evening. They have the longest hours of any Jewish preschool in the metro area.

They also have a full-time security guard on staff for added safety. “We received a grant from Homeland Security a couple of years ago so we were able to put in cameras and doors,” said Levin-Salamon. “So, it is a really secure place.”

“I think one unique thing about the preschool as a whole is the longevity of the staff,” said Levin-Salamon “We have a teacher that has been here 37 years. She is teaching kids of kids that she had. We have another teacher that has been here 27 years and then from there, they have been here 20 and 15 years. These teachers genuinely love these kids and the care the kids get here is unlike anywhere else.”

“Not only do the teachers stay but the families stay,” said Sheryl Last, Assistant Director of BMH-BJ Preschool. “That speaks to the program that Lindsey has created. They are not rushing out of here. They are staying for all of these years and that is what creates that strong connection.”

“Because we do have infants here and the children can go up through the ages and the grades, every teacher knows every single child,” said Last. “And the children go to visit their old classrooms and that strengthens this whole family connection as well.”

“BMH-BJ preschool has given our children a safe place to grow, learn, and be happy,” said Noa, a parent of a child at the school. “The BMH teachers welcome our kids every morning with warm smiles, tending to their individual needs so they feel comfortable in their ‘home away from home.’”

BMH-BJ Preschool is located at 560 S. Monaco Pkwy. in Denver. More information can be found at www.bmhbjpre school.org. For information on pricing, visit www.bmhbjpreschool.org/pricing.