Accessibility & Inclusion Workshops with Matan

Online

How to Actively Support and Include Neurodivergent Children in Your Learning Spaces

Starting this fall, Jewish LearningWorks will host 5 workshops to support Bay Area educators, lay leaders, and other Jewish communal professionals working toward systemic inclusion in their learning spaces and communities. We are pleased to partner with Matan, a national leader in creating inclusive Jewish communities, to explore differentiated instruction, understanding autism, anxiety in children, and more.

  • Dates: From October 2025 to March 2026.
  • Format: Drop-in, Live Online Workshops.

Supporting every learner in Jewish educational settings

We are coming together to learn about best practices, advancements in the field, and meaningful actions that foster accessibility and inclusion in a variety of Jewish learning spaces, and in our communities.

  • Aimed at: All Jewish educators, lay leaders, and communal professionals across educational settings.
  • Structure: 5 distinct, 90-minute, live online sessions. You may attend one, more or all.
  • Facilitated by: Matan in partnership with Jewish LearningWorks.

Each of these 5 workshops will offer hands-on practice and tools to support educators in feeling more confident in supporting all learners in their classrooms whether it is a day school, congregational school, ECE setting, or informal education spaces.

Program Details & Topics

Dates: From October 2025 to March 2026.

  1. Tuesday, October 21, 2025: Empowering Teachers and Differentiating Instruction. Led by Michelle Steinhart, Program Manager at Matan. Learn More & Register >>
  2. Thursday, November 6, 2025: Reach and Teach All Learners. Tips for Congregational Schools. Led by Meredith Polsky, Founder & Executive Director at Matan. Learn More & Register >>
  3. Thursday, January 8, 2026: Understanding Needs in an Early Childhood Education classroom. Led by Meredith Polsky, Founder & Executive Director at Matan. Learn More & Register >>
  4. Tuesday, February 10, 2026: Anxiety in Children. Led by Meredith Polsky, Founder & Executive Director at Matan. Learn More & Register >>
  5. Tuesday, March 10, 2026: Understanding Autism. Led by Michelle Steinhart, Program Manager at Matan. Learn More & Register >>

Time: From 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Pacific Time.

Location: Online. Zoom link provided upon registration.

Participant Fee

Each workshop is $36 per person.

All trainings at Jewish LearningWorks are subsidized by our generous donors. If the cost is a barrier to your participation, do not hesitate to contact Ellen Lefkowitz at ellen@jewishlearning.works.

Questions

Please contact Ellen Lefkowitz, Senior Educator, at ellen@jewishlearning.works for any questions or more information.

About Our Facilitators

Meredith Polsky, Founder & Executive Director at Matan, is a nationally sought-after speaker on Jewish Disability Inclusion and is often called upon as an expert voice in the field. A 2017 Covenant Award winner, Meredith has published articles in various print and online publications and teaches courses in Jewish Special Education at Gratz College and American Jewish University. She is a licensed clinical social worker and special educator, and co-author of the award-winning I Have a Question children’s book series (Jessica Kingsley Publishers), helping children with disabilities (and all children!) grapple with difficult topics.

Michelle Steinhart, Program Manager at Matan, has worked in Jewish education and Jewish Special Education for over 30 years, in both formal and informal settings. In addition to her work at Matan, Michelle serves as the Director of Learning and Inclusion at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, NY.

Michelle holds a Master of Arts in Special Education and was a 2002 recipient of the Grinspoon Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.

In Collaboration With