Mack Belson Early Intervention Program of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is the key to the Mack Belson Early Intervention Program, which has been operating at the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre since 2000. Many teachers and administrators have expressed to the educators involved in the program that this early support has, in small or large measure, been responsible for maintaining children in the Jewish day school system. Since its inception, through the Early Intervention Program close to 4,000 kindergarten students have been assessed and some 800 have benefited from ongoing interventions.

Over the years, almost every elementary school in our system has been served by this program. Through it, every student enrolled in Kindergarten (some 400 to 500 students per year) is assessed for academic readiness, making sure that they have the foundational skills that they will need to succeed in Grade 1 and beyond. Reading serves as the gateway to all learning tasks. As parents and teachers can attest, children who struggle to read will continue to lag behind in all, if not most of their academic subjects.

The program is comprised of three phases: initial screenings of all kindergarten children, classroom interventions to provide teachers with tools to enable them to provide remediation to children identified as being at risk in their academic success and re-evaluations of the progress of the children who have received interventions. In addition, three years ago the Mack Belson Reading Camp was launched – a three-week intensive summer reading program for children with reading challenges, or those showing signs of potential challenges.

This program makes a significant impact on students in Jewish schools every year. Parents of children who have been helped through this program have stated that their children’s confidence and abilities increased noticeably over the school year. “My son can’t wait to read another book to anyone in the family. His skills have improved and his self-confidence is soaring. It is the best investment for any child who needs a boost in reading skills,” remarked one mother.

The program is named in memory of Mackenzie Belson, a child with special needs who died in a tragic accident when he was just 4 years old. His parents wanted to keep Mack’s memory alive and help other children with learning challenges because Mack had been diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder. They created the Mack Belson Foundation and each year, they work tirelessly to raise the funds needed to support the Early Intervention Program.

The program could not run without the support of a grant from Federation CJA’s Special Needs envelope and generous funding from the Mack Belson Foundation, which holds several fundraising events each year for this program. The program has touched and improved the lives of many children, parents, teachers, and administrators in the Jewish community and is a powerful testimony to the changes that can be brought about by working together in unison.