Recipient: Rose Ellen Rubinoff

Number of years teaching: 11

School: Eitz Chaim—Patricia Campus

Grades: grade 4 boys

Inspiration/Motivation for being a Teacher of Excellence:

Rose Ellen enjoys watching her students’ growth—not the day-to-day changes but the gradual seeing of change as the students take what has been taught and actually use it.  Achieving response from her students motivates her.

Rose Ellen’s desire is to educate these Jewish, religious boys.  She desires to give them the best secular education possible at this grade level.  She frames her secular lessons with religious purpose whenever she can. 

A parent of one of her students nominated Rose Ellen.  She wrote:

Mrs. Rubinoff is new to Eitz Chaim Patricia Campus and has done a wonderful job adapting to the boys.  She teaches in a relaxed, comfortable way such that my son, who has a learning disability, does not realize that he is learning.  When the quantity of work is too much or too hard, she adapts the expectation in a way that does not affect his self-esteem.  An example of this is during the “spelling bee”.  My son is proud to be the scorekeeper.  Rose Ellen is aware that he does not have to be embarrassed in front of his friends with respect to his spelling skills.  Rose Ellen, in collaboration with the Special Education Department has made it possible for my son to stay in the Jewish Day School system.