Stoler Early Learning Center

Come Learn With Us!

Our Programs | ELC Overview | Schedule a Tour

From Infant and Toddler care to Preschool to Kindergarten at the J, we provide full-day and extended care options for ages 3 months to 5 years. Enrollment is now open for the 2023-24 School Year – Apply Today!

Stoler Early Learning Center Application 2023-24

*ELC Families receive complimentary JCC Family Membership. New families must submit an ELC Membership form at the time of application.

The uniqueness of the Stoler Early Learning Center (ELC) is evident in the quality of our day-to-day interactions. We aim to build sacred relationships (Kedusha) among children, staff, and parents. Our community (Kehillah) is a place where everyone belongs and grows. It feels secure and reassuring, thus providing an environment conducive to learning. We focus on the uniqueness (Tzelem Elohim) of each child in relation to the family, other children, staff, and the greater JCC community. The strengths, interests, and areas of growth for all of the children are addressed through a developmentally appropriate, child-centered curriculum where learning through play is coupled with small group hands-on experiences to create a caring community. Our staff members act as facilitators, with parents as their partners in this learning process.

For more information contact Dani Frye at dfrye@jcc.org.

Noah’s Ark Preschool Summer Camp

Stoler ELC | Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC | Ages 2-5
Learn more about our summer camp >

Meet Danielle Frye

Having grown up at the JCC in her native New York, Danielle Frye was thrilled to join the Baltimore J family as the director of our Noah’s Ark preschool camp, a role she held for 3 years. She attended Towson University, receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies and subsequent Masters degrees in Early Childhood Education and Special Education. Prior to coming to the JCC, she worked at a school for children with communication and related disorders, and taught kindergarten for Baltimore County Public Schools in a communication and learning support classroom. Prior to assuming her role as the Director of the Stoler ELC, she taught pre-k here and continued as our camp director, while providing community outreach and family engagement opportunities for the ELC.

At Stoler, Dani is focused on increasing hands-on, child-centered learning and family engagement. When she is not at work, Dani enjoys spending time with her friends and family, traveling back to New York to see her niece and nephews, and taking her dog, Cooper, to the dog park.

Contact:
Dani Frye, Director, Stoler Early Learning Center
410.559.3589 | dfrye@jcc.org

Accreditation

All school programs are licensed by the Maryland State Department of Education, License #15258. The JCC also participates in the Maryland Excels program.

Stoler Early Learning Center Programs

Infant/Toddler Care — Ages 6 Weeks to 24 Months

At the Stoler ELC, your child will be lovingly tended to by MSDE licensed teachers specifically trained in the group care of infants and toddlers. Our warm and nurturing environment makes our program the perfect place for your little one! Our youngest learners enjoy a clean and bright space and low teacher to child ratios. The JCC’s state-of-the art, self-contained facility features individual cribs, changing tables, rocking chairs, and developmentally appropriate toys.

Our teachers help facilitate your child's development by continually observing, documenting, and encouraging your child. Our goal is to provide the same care at school that a child receives at home, and we work very closely with parents to maintain and meet each individual child's needs.

Infants
Our infants are in a classroom designed specifically for gross motor and sensory exploration. With plenty of open space and developmentally appropriate toys, infants begin to organize and command their environment. We work with the children individually and tailor the day to help them grow. We encourage them to meet developmental milestones such as rolling over, crawling, and pulling up. We encourage children to explore their environment, both indoors and outdoors, in areas that are designed specifically to meet their needs. Our program focuses on the whole child, and we closely partner with parents to ensure we are meeting the physical, cognitive, and social/emotional needs of each child.

Toddlers
Toddlers have the opportunity to enjoy preschool activities including gym, music, water play, cooking, and art in a highly supportive and supervised setting. We help toddlers gain control over their environment by encouraging independence. Our teachers work closely with each child to help them understand the world around them using sensory experiences, literacy, dramatic play, and so much more.

Preschool – Ages 2-4

Children begin their school years at the Stoler ELC in a warm, nurturing environment led by experienced, MSDE licensed early childhood educators. At the Stoler ELC, we provide a well-rounded program designed to build a child's self-confidence, encourage friendships, and explore new concepts. Each child’s strengths, needs, and interests are addressed through an integrated — Judaic and secular — curriculum. High quality early childhood education lays a foundation for intellectual, language, physical, social and emotional development and is essential for later academic and social success. Here at the Stoler ELC, your child can fulfill their full potential in a secure and loving environment.

Kindergarten

Taught by our licensed educators, our kindergarten teachers will use a variety of educational resources to plan learning experiences and lessons for the children based on the Maryland State Learning Standards. Building on the familiar foundation of the Creative Curriculum, Healthy Beginnings, and the JCC ELC holiday curriculum, Chageinu, the educators, will plan their weekly kindergarten lessons using MSDE approved Kindergarten Common Core Curriculums. The content areas that will be covered will include the following domains: social emotional competencies, language and literacy, mathematics, sciences, social studies, physical well-being, Jewish studies, fine and gross motor development, and fine arts. Educators will be reflective practitioners to ensure that their daily lessons are meeting the needs of their students and create opportunities for social interaction, physical activity, creative expression, and Jewish experiences.

We believe that learning is a collaborative and social endeavor. It is a process of constructing meaning to make sense of concepts. Our teachers will encourage students to be responsible for their own learning. They will ask high level thinking questions to enhance their reasoning skills and increase questioning strategies to encourage conversation while creating a safe learning environment. Promoting social and emotional development for students in the classroom helps children understand and process their world around them with both compassion and care.

Program Hours

We offer a variety of programs and hours to meet the needs of our families.

Infant/Toddler
7:30am-5:30pm | Monday – Friday

Preschool
9:00am-3:30pm | 2–5 Day Options
Early Morning Options: 7:30-9:00am or 8:00-9:00am
Afternoon Extended Hours: 3:30-4:30pm or 3:30-5:30pm

Kindergarten
9:00am-3:30pm | Monday – Friday
Early Morning Options: 7:30-9:00am or 8:00-9:00am
Afternoon Extended Hours: 3:30-4:30pm or 3:30-5:30pm

We request that all children arrive by 9:15am so that they have time to engage in centers, adjust to school, and not miss out on key moments in the flow of their day.

Stoler Early Learning Center Overview

Our Vision

Early Childhood Education at the J is rooted in and inspired by the Jewish culture and values of compassion, respect, and acceptance. We believe that children and their families should be immersed in a community that reflects these values and promotes ongoing community engagement.

Early Childhood Education at the J is an extension of the learning that begins at home. We view families as respected partners in nurturing their children’s growth and development.

We believe that all children are capable, inquisitive, and excited about expanding their worlds.

We believe our educators are nurturing and creative professionals who continue to learn and grow their practice. We value and respect their contributions to our children, their families, and our community.

We believe our Early Childhood Centers are spaces where we come together to co-construct an environment that lays the foundation to support a child’s life-long love of learning.

Our Facilities

Our state of the art, self-contained facility features a variety of spaces for children to discover! From our warm and welcoming classrooms, to our teaching kitchen, three incredible playgrounds, two full sized gymnasiums, the Shapiro Aquatics Park complete with five outdoor pools and the splash pad, the indoor pool where all of our students (ages 3+) receives American Red Cross Certified instructional swim lessons, to the trails for Farm and Forest, our wide range of activities provides every child the opportunity to foster their independence, build friendships, explore new concepts, and thrive.

Our warm, nurturing classrooms are led by Maryland Certified Early Childhood Educators who believe that all children are competent and capable thinkers who create and construct knowledge through interacting with the world around them. As members of our Early Learning Center, you will receive complimentary membership to the JCC as a whole and we can't wait for you to be a part of our community!

The Flow of Our Day

While each educator designs the day to best reflect the rhythm of the individual class community, the daily schedule will be structured, yet flexible, and provide for a variety of experiences and levels of difficulty.

Educators will allow time for individual and small group instruction, collaborative learning opportunities, as well as whole class activities. A balance of indoor and outdoor activities, specials classes, as well as active and calm experiences, will be incorporated into the program each day. Child-initiated learning will be blended with teacher-guided activities for a comprehensive educational experience.

Following morning centers, our classes begin their daily routine with a Community Meeting. They will tell stories, sing songs, play games, share their thoughts and ideas, talk about their plans for the day ahead, and conduct ongoing discussions regarding the children’s interests and their areas of inquiry/study (project-based learning). Children thrive on structure, predictability, and routine, and in order to allow them to have a voice in their plans for the day, children should arrive by 9:15am.

Educators as Facilitators

At the ELC, our educators are responsible for facilitating interactive, engaging lessons that align with our curriculum and are inspired by the individual needs and interests of the children in their class. Educators are reflective practitioners to ensure that their daily lessons are meeting the needs of their students and create opportunities for social interaction, physical activity, creative expression, and Jewish experiences.

We believe that learning is a collaborative and social endeavor. It is a process of constructing meaning to make sense of concepts. Our teachers encourage students to be responsible for their own learning. They ask high level thinking questions to enhance reasoning skills and increase strategies to promote conversation while creating a safe learning environment.

The JCC and the Stoler Early Learning Center are committed to providing ongoing professional development for our educators through college course work, workshops, teacher meetings, and ongoing coaching and mentoring. Our educators view themselves as lifelong learners, constantly engaging in the pursuit of learning opportunities, as prized by our Jewish tradition. Their combination of education, experience, and passion enriches our entire community.

Healthy Choices

SHMIRAT HAGUF: TAKING CARE OF OUR BODIES

In order to be able to respect others, one must first respect oneself. Physical well-being is an important aspect of a child’s over-all development. We believe in fostering a love of physical activity in children and encouraging them to explore, learn, and have fun while exercising and developing locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills in a series of age-appropriate, non-competitive activities. These opportunities teach myriad of skills including gross motor skills, self-esteem, balance, coordination, and teamwork.

We are proud to continue our nationally recognized, award winning, Healthy Choices initiative, a program that uses an integrated approach to teach and raise awareness of the importance of taking care of our bodies by making healthy food choices and the benefits of being physically active. The Stoler ELC was one of twelve schools in the country to be nationally recognized by the White House for its participation in the Let’s Move! Child Care initiative. We were also chosen by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s as a best practice site for the Let’s Move Childcare Initiative and by the Penn State University Better Care Program to help adapt the initiative. healthykidshealthyfuture.org.

Our educators work directly with the children in our teaching kitchen, to follow recipes, cook, practice safely using a knife, and learn about My Plate: the five food groups, proper serving sizes, and how to achieve a well-balanced diet. By encouraging and modeling these behaviors, it helps our community develop lifelong healthy habits and promotes a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle.

Exceptional Program Advantages

Farm and Forest with Pearlstone Environmental Center

J Early Childhood is proud to partner with Pearlstone Environmental Center. Pearlstone is an environmental retreat center that ignites Jewish passion through Jewish Outdoor Food, Farm and Environmental Education (JOFEE). Pearlstone’s programs are anchored in Jewish wisdom, nature connections, and "edu-speriences" (hands-on, engaging, educational experiences) brought to life by their dynamic educators. They foster deep, integrated connections to Jewish culture and the natural world around us. In this year-round partnership with Pearlstone, we will provide many opportunities for our students to investigate Judaism’s deep connections to nature and explore of all of our amazing outdoor spaces.

Our Farm and Forest programing will inspire our community through hands-on activities designed to engage our hearts, bodies, minds, and spirits. It will also complement our Healthy Choices philosophy by fostering a greater sense of connection to others, the food we eat, Jewish tradition, the natural world, and cultivate a sense of responsibility for the world around us (tikkun olam).

Families as Engaged Partners

We view family engagement as essential to building a healthy school community. We work to ensure that each family and child has the best possible experience during their time at the J and strive to create a positive, respectful, and collaborative partnership between home and school. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch once wrote, “The home can do little without the school, but the school can do nothing without the home.”

Aligned with the educational philosophy and values, our Family Association works alongside school leadership to enhance the children’s education and pre-school experiences through fundraising, family engagement, and community outreach. Made up of the overall parent community of the Stoler Early Learning Center, monthly meetings are comprised of volunteers who are invested in fostering community relationships and interactions by creating and planning social events, organizing tzedakah opportunities, supporting the school and our educators, and serving as positive liaisons between school and home.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Stoler Early Learning Center is an inclusive early childhood learning center. We believe that all children deserve a positive preschool experience that provides them with a safe and nurturing environment to promote their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development, while responding to the needs of their family. Through the lens of Tzelem Elohim: Divine Image, we celebrate the dignity and potential in each and every member of our community and value each person’s unique contribution.

We welcome all families, regardless of race, religion, color, sexual orientation, or other protected groups and celebrate diversity. We encourage every child to explore and express their identity. Our students are taught to accept, respect, and value differences though modeling, positive behavior support, and by cultivating empathy and community.

Health and Safety

We ensure a safe and healthy school environment by following CDC guidelines, protocols, and procedures from the Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore County’s Department of Health, as well as recommendations from our medical partner, LifeBridge Health.

Staying up to date on vaccinations is essential to prevent illness from many different infections. The Stoler Early Learning Center follows Maryland State guidelines and requires all children to be fully vaccinated. The JCC also mandates that all employees must be fully vaccinated from COVID-19. We have trained our team in prevention and mitigation strategies to slow and limit the exposure and spread of contagious illnesses.

A Registered Nurse is with us 8:15am-1:15pm daily. The nurses are responsible for dispensing medication, administering first aid, and communicating pertinent medical issues to parents. When the nurses are not present, our administrative team will assume those duties, as we are trained in medication administration, first aid, and CPR.

MSDE Scholarship Vouchers

At the Stoler Early Learning Center, we understand that cost of high-quality preschool programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, can be challenging. We are proud to partner with the state of Maryland to participate in the MSDE Child Care Scholarship program and encourage all families to take advantage of these Grant Programs to provide financial assistance with childcare costs to eligible working families. The state has made this process as straightforward as possible, so you may get started and approved in as little as 10 days.

Visit the Maryland Department of Education website at earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org

Schedule a Virtual Tour

Join Our Team

Search form

Jewish Community Center
of Greater Baltimore