Shira Ackerman Simchovitch

Shira Ackerman Simchovitch is currently the director of the early childhood department of the TALI Education Fund which provides Judaic enrichment in the Israeli non-religious school system. Prior to this position she was the educational content and community outreach director for the Shalom Sesame project and she continues to advise the Israeli Rechov Sumsum series and enjoy her relationships with the local Muppets.

From 1995 – 2009 Shira served as the director of early childhood services at the education department of the Jewish Agency for Israel in Jerusalem overseeing consulting services, professional development initiatives, curriculum development (including Chalav u’ Dvash – Hebrew for Preschoolers) and Israel experience seminars for Jewish early childhood programs around the world. She has taught in the Israeli school system, worked in Israel’s first teacher resource center, developed curricula at the Hebrew University and was the founding director of the Reform movement’s flagship preschool in Jerusalem. She is a graduate of the David Yellin Teacher’s College, the Bank Street College of Education and Parsons School of Design Joint Program and the Mandel Jerusalem Fellows Program for Leadership in Jewish Education. Shira has authored numerous articles on Jewish early childhood education and Israel education in the early years and has been an ardent student of the Reggio Emilia approach since 1995 simultaneously being delighted, perplexed and moved by the core values of the approach.