INGRID GOLDFEIN

Ingrid joined the Beit Rabban family in 2018 bringing with her many years of Jewish Day School experience in schools in NY, MA and NJ. She was privileged to teach in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle School grades. While in Massachusetts, Ingrid was trained as a Mentor Teacher through the DeLet program at Brandeis. Most recently, Ingrid served as the International Baccalaureate Coordinator at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County where she helped the school through a rigorous three year process to transition their middle school to becoming an authorized IB World School. Ingrid completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and received her MA from the Bank Street College of Education.

What was the best class you took in college?
Social Reform Movements of the 1800s.

Tell us something interesting about your family’s Jewish roots.
My father's family came from Bialystok Poland, and our family name was Aarons. When my great-grandfather was helping to build the Bialystoker synagogue on the Lower East Side, his boss told him that it wasn't a good Jewish name, and so he changed our name to Goldfein.

What was your proudest accomplishment as a child?
Playing the piano (performing) at a women's composer festival in Boston, in front of a live audience that included the composer!

Which elementary school teacher had the biggest impact on you and why?
Mr. Medville, my first grade teacher, impacted me because he was so kind, and I felt safe in his classroom.

Who or what inspired you to be a teacher?
I was first inspired to become a teacher when I was an 8th grade student and I took the Facing History and Ourselves Holocaust and Human Behavior course. I was so blown away by how much the course challenged me to think about humanity. Later, when I was in my youth group, Young Judaea, I was incredibly inspired by a number of brilliant informal educators who were role models for me.

What do you love most about teaching the age you teach?
I love teaching all ages - including teachers!!!

What brings you the most joy as a teacher?
I love it when students struggle with something and then learn to do something they did not think possible. I also LOVE it when people feel they can be totally themselves, feel safe, and can be vulnerable.