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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E205-E206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING NAOMI REEM
_____
HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
of the district of columbia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of
Representatives to join me in recognizing Naomi Reem, an extraordinary
woman and a leader in the Washington, D.C. Jewish community, who has,
for 15 years, served as Head of School for the only Jewish day school
in the District, the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's
Capital.
The Jewish community of Washington, D.C. is one of the fastest
growing and largest in the nation. Indeed, according to a February 2018
article in The Washington Post, the D.C.-metro area is now home to the
third largest population of Jewish people in the country after New York
and Los Angeles. As we all know, a critical part of building strong
community is access to good education, and Ms. Reem has made it her
personal mission over the past decade and a half to ensure that a
vibrant Jewish education is available to families in and around the
city.
Founded in 1988, Milton, formerly known as JPDS-NC, has had just two
heads of school in its 31-year history. Under Ms. Reem's leadership,
the school received its first independent school accreditation; grew
from under 200 to over 450 students; opened a second, early childhood
education campus in the District; and launched the first Jewish middle
school program in D.C. in over 40 years.
Ms. Reem is an expert educator with a teaching degree from the Agnon
Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a bachelor's degree from Hebrew
University in Jerusalem, and a master's degree in Jewish Education from
Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. She has led Milton to adopt
numerous curricular initiatives in General Studies and Hebrew and
Judaic Studies, which have earned the school a solid reputation,
locally and nationally, as a forward-looking institution, excellent in
all academic areas. Milton's reputation has attracted major
philanthropic support, totaling well over $55 million since Ms. Reem
joined the school.
Prior to coming to Milton, Ms. Reem was Head of School at Sinai
Academy of the Berkshires, a day school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
for seven years. Previously, she worked at the Gordon Day School in
Miami, Florida and in several educational settings in Argentina, Israel
and the United States.
Ms. Reem has served on the Board of the Association of Independent
Maryland and D.C. Schools, where she previously chaired two
accreditation teams for other independent schools. She has also served
as a mentor at the Day School Leadership Training Institute, a program
sponsored by the AVICHAI Foundation and the Jewish Theological Seminary
to train new and aspiring heads of schools. Additionally, Ms. Reem is a
member of the Executives Council for the Jewish Federation of Greater
Washington and served as its co-chair for three years.
Ms. Reem is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and left her
hometown in Argentina when she was 22 years old. She became a citizen
of the United States on February 2, 2017.
Ms. Reem's long career in education--from her early years teaching
through her tenure at
[[Page E206]]
the helm of one of the most successful Jewish day schools in the
country--illustrates how much can be achieved when one is dedicated to
a cause and a community.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to
join me in honoring Naomi Reem for her work and service and in wishing
her and her school continued success.
____________________