United Hebrew Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center

Our building will be closed tomorrow; clergy and staff will be working from home. Mahj Mondays will kick off next Monday, February 2. Need to reach us? Check the comments for links.

Hi friends. Due to the poor road conditions, the SSECC is closing at 3 pm today. Please drive safely on the way to pick up your littles! It's bad out there!

Due to the weather, we've made some changes to today's programming at UH, United Hebrew Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center, and United Hebrew Millstone Religious and Grollman Hebrew Schools:

1) SSECC is closing at 3 pm.
2) All Hebrew tutoring and small groups for Monday, December 1 are CANCELLED.
3) Rabbi Rosenberg's Maimonides class is moving to Zoom ONLY.

Stay warm and safe, friends!

SSECC grandparents! Love to read to your grandchildren? Here's a great book giveaway for Hanukkah! Be sure to enter by December 5.

Happy Birthday Bailey! Have the best day!💗🎉✨

Happy Birthday to the best Leader! Thank you for all that you do! 💗💜🎂

Happy Sukkot! We're celebrating in the Sukkah today for our Friday Shabbat service with all of our classes. Wishing everyone a joyful and festive holiday!💕🍁

In Israel on Yom Kippur, something truly unique happens—highways close down, and instead of cars, the streets are filled with families walking, riding bikes, and scootering together. 🚲🛴

In Shalom, we’ve created our own tradition inspired by this beautiful custom. Each year, we close down our front drive and turn it into a safe space for our children to enjoy a special Bike & Scooter Day.

It is always so meaningful to bring Israeli culture and traditions into our school community, helping our children connect with the joy, spirit, and values of Jewish life around the world. 🌍✨

To those who will be fasting, wishing you an easy and meaningful fast. Gmar Chatima Tova. ✡️

Over the past few weeks, families have been pausing at our entrance garden to notice the incredible life cycle of the butterfly unfolding right before us. Today, some of our Chaverim friends went out together to take a closer look, after one child eagerly shared what he and his mom had noticed on their way into school this morning.

Thanks to the Anything Grant from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis our entrance has become more than a doorway into school—it’s a space that invites us to slow down, notice, and wonder together.

The butterfly’s transformation feels especially meaningful during this season. Yom Kippur is a time of reflection, renewal, and change. Just as a caterpillar sheds its old form to emerge as something new, we too are invited to think about the ways we can grow, transform, and begin again.

We hope that as you stop by the garden, you are reminded—like our children are daily—that change and beauty often happen in small, quiet, and powerful ways.

Shana Tova Umetuka! With grateful hearts on this Rosh Hashanah evening, we celebrate the arrival of Noa Elizabeth McIntyre
Mazal tov, Bailey and Colin!
May this sweet new year surround your family with health, joy, and gentle beginnings.💗🍎

"Little- big" changes on our Young Toddler playground

In collaboration with our TOV educators, Stacey and Pam, we rethought our space to support children’s independence, gross motor growth, and peer connection. We added a basket swing at child height so children can climb on and off on their own and invite a friend to push. We swapped two bucket swings for monkey swings to encourage upper-body strength and coordinated movement. Pam also sourced repurposed tires from Dobbs; after a deep clean, they’ve become invitations to balance, roll, and build together.

The response has been joyful. Even those unsure at first quickly figured out the monkey swings, and we’re seeing more turn-taking, offering help, and shared problem-solving. These small shifts are already deepening relationships and expanding what children can do- with their bodies and with one another.

We’ll keep making "little big" changes in our school environment that give children agency, invite collaboration, and let learning unfold through play.