Meet Angelena: From Classroom to Community Builder
When Angelena May moved to Atlanta three years ago, she brought more than just her California credentials and extensive experience as a mentor teacher at university-based preschools. She arrived with a vision for how early childhood Jewish education could evolve.
"My background is in early childhood education, and I've spent most of my career as a preschool teacher and mentor at university-based programs in California and Georgia," explains Angelena, who holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in Child Development from California State University, Sacramento. "With this role at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, I saw an opportunity to use my experience to support a broader community of educators."
As the Early Childhood Jewish Education Coordinator, Angelena now works with schools across Atlanta to address the big challenges and important opportunities ElevatEd was built to address: teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development.
The Challenge: A Field at a Crossroads
Our recent research into early childhood Jewish education revealed a field with both tremendous challenges and remarkable potential. The study found that while only 32% of early childhood centers nationally were fully staffed in 2023, communities implementing strategic recruitment and professional development initiatives were able to fill over 80% of their educator positions.
The research also highlighted that despite being significantly under-compensated, early childhood Jewish educators demonstrate extraordinary commitment to their profession, with 97% reporting pride in their work.
These findings resonated deeply with what Angelena and her colleagues were seeing in Atlanta. The Federation had conducted its own study with Rosov Consulting. Vice President of Jewish Education, Rabbi Elana Perry, reflects, “The findings of the Rosov study confirmed what we suspected to be true - we have a significant teacher shortage in our Jewish early childhood education programs. It illuminated the fact that there are schools with both empty classrooms AND waiting lists, indicating that if we could attract more teachers to these schools, we could serve more children and families.”
The findings became a call to action.
“While the study highlighted other challenges impacting the field of Jewish early childhood in Atlanta, including schedules that reflect the needs of today's families, affordability, and the need for more Jewish early childhood programs in underserved parts of our community, we determined that focusing on the teacher shortage should be our first priority. Because of their focus on the recruitment, training, and retention of educators, it was a natural fit for our community to work with ElevatEd!"
Atlanta's Approach
Atlanta joined ElevatEd as a Pioneer Community with a commitment to implement evidence-based strategies for strengthening their early childhood Jewish education ecosystem. Through ElevatEd, and with Angelena's coordination, they've seen real success in many key areas.
Building Mentorship Pathways
"I'm especially proud of the Mentor Educator program, which is cultivating leadership from within our schools," Angelena shares. ElevatEd communities show, time and again, that structured mentorship programs significantly improve new teacher retention and professional growth.
Creating Professional Communities
"On a community level, directors and educators feel more connected and supported," notes Angelena. ElevatEd research has shown that 91% of educators in successful programs gained valuable professional networks, creating sustainable support systems that enhance both job satisfaction and teaching quality.
Valuing Educators as Professionals
"For me, the most fulfilling part is seeing teachers and directors feel seen, appreciated, and empowered," Angelena says. Professional growth opportunities can partially mitigate compensation challenges, with nearly 40% of emerging educators in supported settings seeing opportunities for career advancement.
What Makes Atlanta's Approach Distinctive
What drew Angelena to this work was ElevatEd's comprehensive framework, combined with the flexibility to make the local implementation work for her community.
"I was drawn to ElevatEd because it takes a holistic and strategic approach to supporting educators," she explains. "ElevatEd builds meaningful pathways for teachers and directors to grow, from their first days in the classroom to stepping into leadership roles. What sets it apart is the combination of national resources with local implementation. It's tailored, flexible, and grounded in the real needs of the educators and schools we serve."
Measuring Impact: What's Changed in Atlanta
Since implementing these strategic approaches, Atlanta has seen measurable progress in several areas:
Increased educator investment: "Since bringing ElevatEd to Atlanta, we've seen more teachers and directors feel valued and invested in," Angelena reports.
Enhanced leadership development: The mentor program is identifying and nurturing teacher-leaders within schools, creating career pathways that didn't previously exist.
Stronger community connections: Directors and educators across different schools now have structured opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other.
And they’re just getting started.
What’s Next for Atlanta
Angelena's vision for the future of early childhood Jewish education in Atlanta continues to be rooted in research and responsive to community needs:
"I'm hopeful that we can continue to expand the substitute teacher pool and explore even more creative ways to address the staffing crisis," she says, directly addressing one of the most critical challenges ElevatEd has been studying and addressing.
She's also enhancing connections between early childhood programs and later Jewish educational experiences: "I'm excited about strengthening the bridge between Jewish preschools and day schools, helping families see Jewish education as a long-term journey."
High-quality early childhood Jewish education is the gateway. If we want to create lifelong Jewish engagement, the preschool years are the place to start.
The Power of People-Centered Change
Atlanta’s story, like that of every ElevatEd community, is all about the people who make this work possible.
"Working with ElevatEd has reminded me that real change happens when we invest in people," Angelena reflects. "When we support educators, we strengthen not just schools, but entire communities."
Strategic investment in early childhood Jewish education creates ripple effects throughout communities, strengthening Jewish educational and engagement opportunities for families at a critical developmental moment.
As Atlanta continues to implement evidence-based strategies for supporting early childhood Jewish education, Angelena May's leadership offers a model for creating real-world impact, one educator and one community at a time.
