About Us

Gail Baker, Principal and Head of School – Gail Baker received her Honours B.A. and B.Ed. from York University and M.Ed. from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in curriculum development. In addition to certification in dramatic arts, Gail completed a course in “Teaching for Understanding” at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Gail also completed the Jewish Day School Principal Certification Programme offered jointly by York and the UJA Federation Board of Jewish Education. She has co-authored the text book called “Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations” the first of a series under production. Gail served as the Chair of the Principals Association of the Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education from September 2006 to September 2008.

Ellen Kessler – Ellen Kessler received her B.A. from the University of Toronto and her B.Ed. from York University, specializing in environmental science. A charismatic, child-oriented teacher, Ellen is a nature lover and interpreter of natural phenomena to students. She shares Rabbi Heschel’s vision of radical amazement – the ability to see miracles in nature every day. Under her leadership, the School’s nature study and ecological literacy programme has won several awards and honourable mentions from JNF, the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario.

Judith Leitner -  Judith Leitner is the Director of Arts, a co-founder and Visual Arts teacher at The Toronto Heschel School. She values the Arts as essential teaching tools and essential for the development of artful thinking. Judith works with teams of teachers and administrators in the creation of integrative, arts-based curricula.

Judith has taught Visual Arts at public and private schools, including Toronto’s Harbourfront School By The Water and Kaleidoscope Project. In 1990 Judith was awarded a 3-year grant from The Canadian Jewish Congress to establish an Integrated Arts Programme at She’arim Hebrew Day School. In 2008-2009, during a Sabbatical year, Judith wrote The Judaic Arts Compendium for the Lola Stein Institute; at that time she also lectured in Spain and China on the subject of artful thinking and arts-based education.

Judith is an active artist, and has exhibited her photographs in Israel and Canada. Her most recent exhibitions are ‘Rosa: A Story of Love and Memory’ and ‘Tefillat Ha’Derech: A Traveller’s Prayer At Ground Zero’.
 

Otto Baruch Rand – Baruch Rand was the founding principal of The Toronto Heschel School and remained principal until his retirement in 2001. He directed Jewish schools and school systems for twenty-five years. He was the Principal of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in Manhattan, Director of the Board of Jewish Education in Toledo, Ohio and Superintendent of Jewish Schools in Winnipeg. Baruch received his B.A. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and M.A. from the University of Toronto. He underwent intensive training in Accelerated-Integrative Learning and from 1990-1992, operated the R.E.A.L. Education Institute in New York, working in several school districts. Baruch Rand is writing a series of textbooks "The Story of Civilizations for Young People", the first volume of which was co-authored with Gail Baker.

Rachael Turkienicz - Rachael Turkienicz was the Founding Judaic Studies Director at The Toronto Heschel School. Rachael is the Director of Rachael's Centre, a non-affiliated educational centre that focuses on Jewish text. Rachael received her Honours B.A. and B.Ed. from York and her M.A. and PhD. In Talmudic and Midrashic literature from Brandeis University. She writes a monthly column for the Canadian Jewish News, is heard twice weekly on CHIN radio and hosts a weekly television show on issues of spirituality. Rachael is a Governor with the Canadian International Peace Project and is a national officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, chairing the Holocaust Remembrance Committee. She is also a certified dance teacher.