A professional in special education for over 30 years, Dr. Sandy Miller-Jacobs has joined Hebrew College as Director of Jewish Special Education Programs. Most recently the Director of Special Education Services for the Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) of Greater Boston, she will guide the expansion of special education programs at HC and teach courses as part of the Jewish special education certificate program.

Miller-Jacobs’ position is funded by a grant from Philadelphia philanthropist Bernard J. Korman to enhance HC’s role as a national center for preparing Jewish special educators—meeting a growing need in Jewish educational settings.

“I’ve been a teacher most of my life,” says Miller-Jacobs, who has served on HC’s adjunct faculty and is now Professor of Special Education. “This position pulls together my love of teaching and special education, and lets me give back to the Jewish community.”

“I was thrilled that Sandy was interested in directing the program,” says Dr. Scott M. Sokol, founding director of the certificate program in Jewish special education and Dean of the Jewish Music Institute. “She is a first-rate educator, a seasoned academic and an experienced administrator of special education programs. There is no better choice than Sandy.”

As an undergraduate student at Queens College, City University of New York, in the late 1960s, Miller-Jacobs wanted to be an elementary school teacher. During her student teaching experiences, she saw that students with special needs did not get the attention they deserved in the classroom. So, she decided to return to school for an MEd in special education and graduated from Boston University in 1971, later earning her EdD in special education from Boston College in 1979.

Miller-Jacobs taught for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation from 1969 to 1973, then joined the faculty of Fitchburg State College, where she served as a professor in the Special Education Department for 28 years, including six years as Department Chair and two years as the College’s Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs. In 2001 she moved to the BJE, where she initiated and expanded programs for children with special needs in Jewish congregational, day and pre-schools.

“Her reputation is phenomenal,” says Marion Gribetz, Associate Dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education. “She has been instrumental in making the special education agenda important in the Jewish world, and has played a central role in launching and nurturing Jewish special education here in Boston.”

As Miller-Jacobs implemented programs in Boston-area Jewish schools, she discovered a great need for qualified teachers with both a Jewish and special education background. One of her main priorities in her new role at HC is to strengthen the certificate program in Jewish special education with a practical teaching focus, so that students can graduate with the appropriate tools and a concrete plan of how to teach Hebrew to students with special needs.

Among Miller-Jacobs’ other priorities, she hopes to promote disability awareness, particularly within the Rabbinical School and Cantor-Educator Program. She also aims to ensure that HC has sufficient supports for its own students with disabilities.

“Hebrew College is unique in that students can learn Judaic and special education content simultaneously,” says Miller-Jacobs. “It is very powerful when the Jewish community can respond to those in need with teachers and professionals well-trained in Jewish special education.”

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