Lerner Early Childhood Pavilion is Born
Addition Results from the Cooperation of the PJC and the Lerner School

It’s easy to see the first tangible result in the capital campaign of the Partnership for a Jewish Center: The Early Childhood Pavilion at the Lerner Jewish Community Day School is now being enjoyed by students and teachers alike. This new 6,000-square-foot structure provides Early Childhood students with brand-new learning classrooms and a 9,000-square-foot playground. Each of the classes has its own bathroom (inside the classroom), a teacher work space, a cubby room and a small kitchen attached. Further, this beautiful building also contains a new office for the Early Childhood Director; a new staff workroom for teachers: a new technology server room for computers, phones and security systems; and a Learning Resource room, which will be used for both Early Childhood and elementary students.

“It’s so gratifying to see the care and commitment of our supporters come to life in this new building,” says Bini Silver, the Head of School. “Every day the children benefit from these new resources that show how much this community values a quality Jewish education.”

“The Early Childhood Pavilion was the first element put into construction due to our overwhelming need for more space,” says Julie Harris, president of Lerner’s Board of Directors. (The Lerner School is one of the PJC partners.) “We were simply bursting at the seams with even more children waiting to get in. The new Pavilion provides a fourth Early Childhood classroom, and will allow us to meet the overwhelming demand for Jewish Early Childhood programs in our area.”

The Partnership for a Jewish Center is well on the way to reaching its $10 million goal for the construction of a state-of-the-art Jewish Community Center on land adjacent to the Lerner School. The Charlotte and Dick Levin JCC will offer an outdoor swimming pool, health club facilities and meeting rooms, in addition to housing the offices of the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation and its agencies.

“The Early Childhood Pavilion at the Lerner School is the first exciting step in building this new home for all of us,” says Orit Ramler Szulik, Executive Director of the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation. “Investing in our children is investing in our future. And that future is almost here!”

The official dedication of the Lerner Early Childhood Pavilion is tentatively scheduled for February 8 at 2:00 pm. Save the date and plan to be there, to celebrate this success and all that the future holds for our new JCC!