Our Staff

Our staff at the Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center includes special education teachers, assistants who have been trained to meet the language and social needs of our students, consulting reading specialists as well as speech and occupational therapists.

Meet some of our staff below and read what they have to say about their role in transforming the lives of our precious students here at Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center.

“After teaching throughout New York and New Jersey, I saw there was an important need for a school that could reach children who might otherwise fall through the cracks. Lots of kids who start out in an environment that overwhelms them socially or academically end up with terrible problems — low self-esteem, depression, and, chas v'shalom, going off the derech. And Monsey and its surrounding areas had nothing for children between kindergarten and 2nd grade, which is the best time to really address problems before they become completely debilitating. Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center was founded in the hope that we can help every child reach his or her potential, despite any challenges big or small he or she may have.”

Sarah Eidlitz MA, Sp. Ed.,
Founder and Director, Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center

“At Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center, we work with the whole child. We integrate social skills throughout the day, and teach children to interact appropriately during all academic subjects. If a child won't make eye contact, for example, we'll make note of it. We have different systems for working with each child's issues. For a child with reading comprehension problems, for example, we'll teach him how to visualize and make predictions and connections. Above all we give our kids a lot of individual attention and focus. We do whatever it takes to make sure each child succeeds.”

Rivka Leah Yablonsky
1st grade teacher

“My first goal is to make sure the kids are emotionally happy and strong. If a child is not emotionally happy, nothing he learns will stay with him. Once he is happy, content and settled, I can take it to the next step, and kids can really grow and learn. I have one student who usually has a hard time remembering and understanding things, but he is so happy here that he's learning much faster, it's amazing. And when children are happy, other children like them, and they become socially accepted also. A happy person is ultimately successful in life, and that's what we hope to create in our students.”

Sarah Block
2nd grade teacher

“I work with a 6-year-old boy with Asperger syndrome, who has a lot of trouble socially. We utilize a variety of methods to teach him self control and the social skills that come naturally to others. We also try to focus much more on the positive rather than the negative, and we give him incentives for doing things that are hard for him. We also work to bring out his strong points in other areas — he's very talented artistically, and we find ways to let him use this talent as often as possible. Above all, we teach him that he is unconditionally loved.”

Chaya Errera
One-on-one teacher for Hebrew and social skills

“Yeshiva Eitz Chaim-The Skill Building Center is very special place — you can really feel the love and concern for each individual student. All the teachers work together to make sure each student gets what he or she needs. We work as a team, collaborating a lot, problem solving, and bumping ideas off of each other. I work in classrooms together with teachers, and they're always very flexible. It's a wonderful place.”

Miriam Maybloom MA CCC\SLP
Speech therapist with the East Ramapo Central School District