Wearing Both Hats - Primary VP and Primary Mom

For many years, I have walked through the doors of Bialik Hebrew Day School with a very specific sense of purpose. Whether as a teacher or in my current role as Primary Division Vice Principal of our Viewmount Branch, my morning routine has been the same: walk the halls, soak in the energy of our staff, students and families, and witness and help spread that famous "Bialik Magic" as our youngest learners embark on the start of their Bialik journey.

Whether I am welcoming a Junior or Senior Kindergarten student at our morning drive-through, or seeing the growth of Grade 1 students as they begin their transition into half-day English and Hebrew, my goal is always to ensure that every student and family feels that magic.

But this year, everything changed.

This year, I walk through those same doors, but I’m wearing a brand-new hat. Alongside my "VP hat," I am now officially getting to wear my “Bialik Mom” hat too. I now walk through these doors with my four-year-old JK daughter, Harvie, who every day enters those same doors as I do with her oversized Bialik-blue backpack bouncing and dragging slightly below her knees.

Being at school with your own child is a unique, multi-layered experience. It has given me a window into our community that I never fully understood from the administrator’s side of the desk.

I see my colleagues, educators I have worked alongside for years, through a completely different lens. I see them now as the friendly faces who wave to Harvie and call her by name, the compassionate souls who step in when I’ve forgotten to pack a lunch or she loses her snow pants, and the steady hands that guide her as she finds new friends to play with outside. I feel the love of our staff in a way that is deeper and more personal than ever before.

We often think of "magic" as the picture-perfect moments: the polished performances, the holiday celebrations, or the excitement of Kabbalat Shabbat. As a VP I spend so much time planning for these events and love leading them. Leading 400 people across four generations, all linking arms and singing Oseh Shalom in unison, is an incomparable experience that I look forward to every time there is an event. I was so excited to now be at these events as a mom as well.

Take our JK Chanukah sing-along earlier this year. As a VP, I love this day. The energy in the gym is electric; parents and grandparents form a massive circle of love around our students. My own parents, in-laws, and husband were all there. I was balancing my roles welcoming families as their VP while beaming as a mom.

Then, my daughter walked in. And she broke down.

She was overwhelmed, crying, and processing a big, new experience in a very public way. In that moment the "Mom" in me felt every bit of her struggle. And right there, in the middle of the tears, I saw the real Bialik Magic shine through a new lens.

The magic wasn't in a perfect song; it was in the way her teacher held her hand and sang along with her. It was in the way the community quietly supported her and me with a smile or thumbs up. It was in the way she ran to me afterward and said, “I am proud of myself” and our whole family joined in a giant hug.

That experience will carry her forward. It taught her that she can do hard things. Both a mom and a VP, it taught me that the truest magic often happens in the tiny, difficult hurdles or moments that build a child’s resilience and character.

Wearing both hats will make me a better Bialik leader moving forward. When I sit down with families now to work through the difficult moments that are inevitably part of growing up, I will remind them that working through these challenges, side-by-side with our staff, is where the real magic happens.

The beauty of Bialik is found in these deep moments and not necessarily the ones that are always "Instagram-ready" or the ones we thought we were waiting to experience. I am so grateful to be part of this community, and I look forward to welcoming many more families as they get sprinkled with the magic of Bialik.

Jennie Kelman
Vice Principal, Primary Division