When the speaker asked teachers from each decade to rise, the packed room of celebrants stood and cheered. May 31 marked the 70th anniversary of Congregation Neveh Shalom’s Foundation School, and former parents, students, teachers, and administrators were ready to take a bow. Neveh Shalom’s Birnbach Hall looked prepped for a party, with tables covered with treats, an open bar, and pop-up posters advertising events such as a Moroccan Dinner for Ten and a Chocolate Making Workshop.

The preschool started in 1953 when Ahavai Sholom’s Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, z”l, envisioned a magical place for kids, full of life and laughter. When Ahavai Sholom merged with Neveh Tzedek to form Congregation Neveh Shalom in 1961, the school moved with it. Today, Foundation School is the oldest continuously operating Jewish early childhood center in Oregon.

Brian Suher’s memories of attending the school reach back to 1956. “My mother was the director,” he said. “We made challah on Fridays and took turns caring for the pet turtle. There were lots of songs.” The school started with six or eight students but quickly expanded to more than 30. Originally unaccredited and offering half-day sessions, today the Foundation School is licensed and certified, with many students attending all day.

“Most mothers didn’t work at that time,” said Joyce Stein, who has taught at the Foundation School for nine years. “Now, everyone works, but the kids get companionship here. I love the energy, the chaos, and knowing we influence young people with joy, love, and kindness. We’re nurturing a community with everything we do. We’re fostering community in a lonely world.”

Director of Early Childhood Education Ronit Scheyer agrees. “The importance of a Jewish early childhood program is the bond it creates between Jewish communal life, ritual, learning, and identity,” she said in her speech. “Strong bonds between our young Jewish families and Foundation School are a major part of Neveh Shalom’s growth and vitality. It’s more than a place where young parents drop off their kids in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day. It is a place where we understand the value of community. The future of the Jewish people is in early Jewish childhood education.”

Foundation School Administrative Director Candace Rothstein recalled cherished anecdotes during her talk, including the time she overheard two preschoolers.

“One child said she’d been Jewish her whole life. And the other one said, ‘Not me! I became Jewish last year when I tried a bagel for the first time.’”

Rothstein also gave examples of the school’s philosophy, which relies on the Reggio Emilia approach to student-centered education.

“We could teach children about evaporation,” she said. “Or, like two-year-old Logan, we could look outside and say the sun has cleaned up the rain. Instead of teaching about fog, we could look to four-year-old Penelope, who observed that the ‘sky looks blurry.’

“As preschool teachers, we get the profound honor of being able to take hold of this fleeting time in your child’s life, slow it down, and capture it,” Rothstein said. “Preschool spans ages zero to five, the most crucial years of child development. Our children’s relationships and experiences lay the foundation for the rest of their lives.”

Polina Olsen is the author of several books on Portland Jewish history and Portland in the 1960s. Learn more at amazon.com/author/polina_olsen