Shalom Austin JCC

Review of Early Childhood Program (ECP) :

We have been members at JCC since 2017 because of ECP. We have had our three children attend the program and have loved being a part of the ECP family.
When our first son was in the "3's" year, they offered to put him in a class with older 3's and give them a pre-k curriculum and he had a huge advantage when starting official pre-k at our local public school.
Our youngest started even earlier and lived through Covid during his 3s and Pre-K year. We chose to keep him at ECP Pre-K rather than public school because they handled Covid so wonderfully. Because of this, we felt even safer sending our third child there as a baby!
I cannot say enough good things about the staff, teachers, and administrators. We saw a change in directors after a couple years and Shereen is such a kind, gentle, patient, and loving director. I see this flow from her through the rest of the staff. She knows every child's name, shows care and concern for all the families, and seems to be awake at all hours to answer questions and give information to the families! I was always shocked at the information she would share to us during Covid at all hours of the night and then be at school bright and early greeting each kid. She seemed to have such ease at being flexible and focusing on the kids and this was clearly modeled and copied by the staff.
The teachers we have had have truly been amazing. Our kids are kind because of how they were treated every day at the ECP. They are given wonderful structure while also given the space to make their own decisions and find their own way. The staff is made up of an array of fantastic individuals - some Jewish and some not - and they love the kids fiercely.
We watched as our kids learned to perform in front of an audience, memorize prayers in Hebrew, learn the kindness of good deeds and giving, learn to write their name, count in various languages, express their feelings, and become individuals. They also understand developmental stages and helped with napping, toileting, feeding themselves, and learning age appropriate skills. The variety in staff meant that our kids were exposed to different ideas and cultures. I love that one year my son was learning a lot of the Jewish culture and also learning to speak Spanish. My daughter learned to ask for personal "space" when she was 2!
They have a great structure during the school year and then incorporate more outdoor play in the summer. Our kids were able to have water play and swim lessons in the summer. ECP coordinated with other programs to expand the kids' activities. And though ECP is a year long program, the littles begin to see how things can be different in the summer. It was also nice to see that the teachers got a break!
As each of my kids have grown, they love going back to see their former teachers and be praised and give hugs. As I walk through the school at the end or start of a day with my daughter, I am shocked at how EVERY SINGLE STAFF knows her by name. It is a big school but they all take time to know the kids. They each answer my questions with ease and I always felt that I could trust them to care for my kids.
It has been heartbreaking and bittersweet to graduate from this school. My sons have been out of there for a few years and still told me we have to go back to visit. They have such special bonds with their former teachers.
While all ECP families are members of the JCC and get to use the great facilities, not all the JCC members know the cherry on top is the ECP.
It is my pleasure and honor to get to give such a great review to such a wonderful place that my kids called home for so many years.

Review of Early Childhood Program (ECP) :

The facilities are impressive and the Jewish immersion is one-of-a-kind for Austin. However, there were too many red flags for us to be comfortable sending our child for even one day, so we decided to immediately unenroll him. If you’re in dire need of “babysitting, ” a Jewish environment, and live in the area, the JCC Early Childhood Program (ECP) is an expensive but available option.

Below are the red flags we encountered. For context, our child was 11 months when he was set to begin ECP. We are first-time parents admittedly accompanied by all the cliché first-time neuroses and weren’t just looking for babysitting but an actual program that would reinforce wholesome learning and behaviors.

#1: Unresponsive: Over the summer before the program started, we repeatedly asked for program curriculum, details, and/or guidelines. We rarely received responses or were just told the information would come later. We finally received the details three days before the program started. We struggled to get in touch with administrators via email or phone to ask any questions or address concerns. It’s clear they have a long waitlist and just don’t really care to satisfy individual families when there’s another desperately ready to replace them at a moment’s notice.

#2: Inappropriate: The guidelines we received weren’t consistent with pediatric standards. Days before the program started, we were told our 11-month old would only get one nap a day without a crib or bottles. We would have been okay with the guidelines if we had been given more notice, but receiving them just days before the program left us no time to prepare our child.

#3: Unprofessional: The open house was chaotic and poorly run, with nowhere to park and few directions for how to find our class. When we asked our child’s designated teacher about the guidelines, she was dismissive, answering every question with “he’ll be fine. ” Moments later, another parent asked about the age range of the class, and she answered “14-17 months. ” She didn’t even know the age of our child and had been answering every question thinking he was older.

The other red flags relate to the unhealthy school-provided lunches and snack recommendations, nonstop chaotic alerts from Brightwheel, conflicting information on the website and in the rare responses we’d receive from administrators, and questionable billing tactics. If this was a backyard program, we’d have been more understanding. But given the price and facilities, it was too concerning for us to continue.

I've been an active member of the JCC for seven months, attending many of their excellent workout classes each week. It's a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, and the new facility is as elegant as any of the more expensive gyms in town.

Wow this place absolutely stunning. I went there for a friend's kid's birthday party and was blown away by how beautiful the facility is. People are super nice too. Now I wish I'm Jewish and can be part of the community

The remodel is wonderful, it feels like the J in Houston, in San Francisco, where the living room is welcoming and people are actually using it. The staff are helpful and kind. Love, love, love the new space!

The grand opening celebration of the Dell Jewish community center was absolutely gorgeous. It's stunning it's beautiful it's very well put together all the people who've been working on this over the years all the money that was raised was done so well put in the right places congratulations to a wonderful community and a wonderful community center I'm sure it's gonna empower and help many people today and in the future. Congratulations to Jolie Amber Estes my eldest daughter and Knucklehead #2, a resident artist and designer who works for Shalom Austin and designed so much of the work that you see there today. I love you kiddo.

Hands down the worst and most traumatizing “therapy” appointment of my life. Jonathan was my therapist - or therapist in training, I believe. Awful miscommunication happened that created a two days of anxiety. Speaking to the supervisor solved things thankfully but this will still remain an awful memory for me. I think I learned to vet someone you are going to talk to as a therapist before diving in. Two stars bc Amanda the supervisor was sympathetic and seemed genuinely interested in making it right.