Faculty

Our Director,  Mr. Zach Goldstein

Under the leadership of Zachary Goldstein, the Ruth and Lewis Davis Religious School provides a unique Jewish educational experience in a professional, caring, fun, and community-focused atmosphere. Zachary has been with our Religious School as an educator for four years and has taken on the role of Director in this, his fifth year with us. He recently received his Master's Degree for Educational Leadership from American College of Education.

Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Education. During his studies at FAU, Mr. Zach was chosen to be an Interim Teacher on Record for the “Accelerated Induction into Teaching” program. Currently, he is a full-time English teacher at Olympic Heights High School here in Boca Raton for the past 4 years with FDOE certification and ESOL endorsement. He is also a freshman advisor and orientation leader.

Mr. Zach has a rich background in Judaism through his traditional upbringing in both his family life and current engagement in Jewish values and community. He brings his love of Judaism to our students along with excellent teaching and professional skills. With a natural ability to relate well to both students and staff, Mr. Zach is an asset to our school.  

Amanda Solomon, Teacher of the Hebrew Language, Grades 3-7

Amanda currently serves as one of four Educator Mentors for the Diller Teen Fellows Program, an immersive leadership program inviting a select group of Jewish 10th and 11th graders from 6 continents and 32 communities to step up, lead their communities, and repair the world. In this capacity, she provides guidance, training, content and methodology for Diller Teen Fellows Educators to support their work as individuals, in their Partnership Community and at Global gatherings. Her areas of focus include planning local programming, assessing successes and challenges, brainstorming and problem-solving, group development, recruitment, ensuring local evaluation, and marketing.

Amanda Solomon served for 3 years as the New Jersey Diller Teen Fellows Coordinator and has worked with the Hillels and Jewish student groups in the North Central New Jersey area. Originally from Florida, Amanda did her undergraduate studies in Anthropology at the University of Florida and received her Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Nonprofit Leadership. A deeply theoretical and experiential program, Amanda has taken one very important lesson and made it her mantra: "You cannot empower others; you can only create the space with which they can empower themselves."

Jo Bakalar, Teacher, K-2

Miss Jo is a fully state certified teacher with 40 years in the field of education. She has taught in a variety of public and private schools in New Jersey and Florida. Before retiring in 2015, Miss Jo was a teacher in Miami Gardens for 10 years.

Most recently, Miss Jo was a 5th grade Judaics studies teacher with Congregation B'nai Israel. During her 19 years at B'nai Israel she also taught an 8th grade Comparative Religions class. Previously she was both a Judaics Studies teacher and Youth Advisor at Temple Beth Orr in Coral Springs. She is a hands-on teacher, believing that children learn best by "doing" and interacting with their classmates.

Miss Jo is a graduate of the very first Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in the state of Florida; this 2-year program included a 10-day education seminar in Israel.

Presently, Miss Jo is a member of the Liberal Jewish Temple of Coconut Creek and is chairperson of the Education Committee. In addition, she is a member of Sisterhood and in charge of publicity.

Keeping busy, she is the assistant director of her building in Wynmoor. Miss Jo is also part of the Hurricane Net which utilizes CB radios to maintain emergency contacts if land lines and cell towers are down after a major storm.