School Staff - School Year 2009 - 2010

BJDS is fortunate to have such excellent teachers, who engage in and put forth great effort in the classroom. All teachers continuously participate and remain involved in the school’s community events and other activities.

Administration

Daniel Bennett
Interim Executive Leader

Daniel W. Bennett has served the Colorado community since 1979 teaching, leading, convening, coaching and guiding institutions, individuals and families toward their highest goals. He currently combines his business experience with a deep respect for Jewish creativity and values to provide Sea Change Consulting based in Colorado.

Daniel came to Colorado after his graduate studies in Jewish, modern and ancient history & Semitic languages at The Ohio State University to meet the challenge of creating a Jewish Studies department at Herzl Day School, a K-6 community day school. During his nine years at Herzl - as the school grew from 60 to 220 children - he worked with families, hired and trained teachers, wrote curricula, articles and textbooks, and helped found RaVSaK, the Community Day School Network.

In June 2009 he completed a 12-year position as President & CEO of the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education (CAJE) in Denver. Previously Daniel was Director of Education at Temple Sinai and then at Congregation Emanuel in Denver, where he spearheaded the development of youth, family, and adult education programs, and continued to travel, write, and speak about his vision and passion – Jewish education.

Daniel loves to teach families, children and adults, and to coach others to achieve their personal missions: to find and nurture their path and passion. He cherishes his opportunities to speak and present locally and nationally. He believes that it is essential for parents, teachers and other adults to come to cherish and respect and own our texts and Judaism’s mission of making life sacred through learning - so that they may help children to do the same. With the anchors and compasses our rich tradition offers, each individual has a better chance of being a partner in repairing the world.

Married to soul-mate, psychotherapist and early childhood education director Devorah Uriel, Daniel has the blessing of parenting two nearly grown sons. He draws strength from his family and from his fellow travelers, as well as from the majestic spirituality of Colorado’s mountains. Raised on the best of Jewish values, activism and study – as well as on Bonanza and Star Trek - Daniel plays guitar and sings both Jewish and secular folk music, loves horses and dogs, is an avid stamp collector, tropical fish enthusiast, and baseball fan. He considers himself a Jewish spiritual seeker.  

Cynthia London
School Administrator

Cynthia spent ten years with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She began working with the U.S. Department of Justice on the program which compensated the Japanese-Americans who were interned or relocated during World War II.  Both of her daughters are BJDS alumni. Cynthia holds a BA in International Relations from the American University in Washington, D.C.

Teachers

Eti Gal
Hebrew and Judaic Studies Teacher

Eti received her teaching certificate from Seminar Levinsky in Tel Aviv. She was born in Israel to a family with deep roots in the country - her grandmother, mother and brothers were all born in Petach Tikva, a city which her ancestors helped to found after emigrating from Russia in 1848. Eti served in the Israeli army, studied to become a teacher and then spent the next 15 years teaching Fourth through Eighth graders in Beersheba.

In 1987, she accepted an invitation to teach in a Jewish Day School in Youngstown, Ohio. Eti took courses to improve her English and participated in the Melton program which deepened her understanding and love for the Torah and Jewish way of life. She also trained extensively in the Tal-Am Tal-Sela Hebrew program. In 1995, Eti moved to Portland, Oregon and taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies in First through Eighth grades. All told, Eti has over 35 years of experience teaching grade school students with a world-class focus on Jewish studies.

Eti feels very blessed to be part of the BJDS family. She looks forward to sharing her love, affection and knowledge with her students. 

Caren Philips
Fourth and Fifth Grade Teacher

Bio forthcoming.

Lara Otto
Preschool Teacher

Lara has 18 years of ECE experience. In those years she has worked for preschools in the Boulder area. Lara has attended Metro State College of Denver, and received her ECE group leader certification in 1995. She is a Colorado native and currently lives in Erie with her family.

Jerod Sarlo
Music Teacher

Jerod Sarlo was born in Denver, Colorado and attended the Denver School of the Arts Middle and High School Magnet Program for Piano Performance. After high school he studied on scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA; and graduated from the New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Program in New York, NY where he worked developing a musical therapy program for adults and children with developmental disabilities at the Institutes of Applied Human Dynamics. 

Jerod has been an experienced private piano instructor for 10 years, and maintains a studio of his own in the Denver area where he also performs regularly with a variety of musicians and groups. He believes that every child, parent, and school benefits from music education, and has been asked to speak on panels about the importance of the arts in our public schools and special education programs. He currently provides general and private music instruction at schools throughout the Colorado area and at all grade levels including the Boulder Jewish Day School and St. Mary's Academy. 

Gayle Adler
Kindergarten, First and Second Grades Teacher

Bio forthcoming.

Rose Valentine
Art Teacher

Bio forthcoming.

Jessica Greenberg
Computer Science/Physical Education Teacher

Bio forthcoming.

Marilyn Pinsker
K-5 Teacher Advisor

Marilyn Pinsker has been hired to mentor the upper school (K-5th Grade) teachers. She is a highly qualified teacher who comes to the BJDS staff as a mentor and curriculum developer, with over 30 years experience in pre-school, elementary and secondary education. Marilyn earned her Masters degree in Reading from Queens College of the City University of New York. She taught middle school Language Arts and math in New York City before moving to Boulder.

Marilyn has been recognized for her over 20 years of service in the Boulder Valley Public Schools, much of it teaching 3rd grade at Eisenhower Elementary School. She has extensive experience in curriculum development and has done additional graduate work in literacy and reading education. Marilyn has been an educator to the teaching staff and public school administration on diversity issues and cross cultural sensitivity.

As one of the founding members of Congregation Bonai Shalom here in Boulder, she is well known within the Jewish community and served as a preschool teacher and principal of the Bonai Shalom Hebrew School for 13 years.