Jewish Community Center

Programs: Early childhood education - the jcc early childhood center, in partnership with our families, is committed to providing quality care and education that embraces the development of children's mind, body and soul. We stimulate the minds of young children through an innovative and individualized curriculum implemented by a well-trained staff in a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environment. Children develop their bodies and are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyle habits through a physical education program that utilizes the best of the jcc's resources in fitness, recreation, and aquatics. The soul is nurtured through living jewish values and jewish experiences in an environment that appreciates and respects the diversity of the children and their families participating in our program. In 2016, the early childhood center served over 250 children between both jcc locations. Recognizing that not all families can afford high quality care and education for their children, the jcc provided over $293,000 in financial assistance to our families. Both facilities are accredited by missouri voluntary accrediation and utilize the project construct curriculum.

camp sabra - camp sabra is the premier jewish resident camp in north america building upon our rich traditions which began in 1938. Sabra is a magical community that fosters life-long friendships, jewish identity, and encourages social and physical growth. Sabra accomplishes this by employing highly qualified, well-trained staff who utilize our unique facilities to provide these experiences. Our families continue to tell us through surveys which benchmark our performance against other camps that our programming (outdoor adventure/education, cultural programming, water and land sports) and staff quality is superior to other camps. In 2016, camp sabra served nearly 620 children from 19 different states across the country and 4 foreign countries. Recognizing the importance of a camp experience for all children, regardless of economic resources - the jcc provided over $44,000 in financial assistance to make the sabra experience more accessible to everyone. Camp sabra continues to work with community partners such as the university of missouri and the missouri children's burn camp to provide meaningful experiences not just for summer campers, but for the community at large as well. Camp sabra is accredited by the american camping association.

health and wellness - the jcc fitness department serves a population as diverse as st louis itself. We have all ages, religions, ethnicities represented in a common goal of self improvement and fostering a stronger community. Whether participating in the 850 plus group exercise classes that we offer every month, group personal training, or the privacy of a one-on-one personal training session; the jcc excels at providing a relevant, comfortable, and cutting edge environment. We serve over 15 thousand members, and average over 35 thousand scans per month. While we cater to many clients, we emphasize individuality through our private consultations for every member, our personalized attention we provide through our online tools, and individiaul fitness tracking achieved through our jcc myzone heart rate tracking program. We have friendly responsive staff that cares about your experience. We also make sure that our member's kids have a great time in our kid's zone or game zone areas, and even offer a much welcomed opportunity for parents to get out with our saturday night party zone events. We affect so many lives on a daily basis. This can be witnessed daily in the fitness center where you will see young and old, physically challenged and the physical elite, rich and poor, training side by side working towards the common goal of a healthier, happier individual. The jewish arts & soul project features jewish-themed art, spiritual, health and wellness workshops for men and women in their 20s through 50s.

all other programs including jewish community life, senior adult services, day camp, and cultural arts. The mission of the j day camps is to provide a fun, safe, and inclusive community for all campers and staff. Through innovative programming our expert staff promotes physical and emotional development and imparts universal jewish values. The j day camps' enriching experience allows its participants to develop valuable skills, meaningful friendships and lifelong memories. In 2016, the j day camps served nearly 1000 children ages 3-15 between both of our facilities in chesterfield and creve coeur. We offer traditional day camps, sports camps, arts camps, preschool camps, stem camps and other specialty camps. Each summer, the jcc (with assistance from the productive living board of st. Louis county) is able to provide shadow counselors at no additional cost to parents so that children with developmental and physical disabilities can participate in our programs. Consistent with the jcc mission, we also allocate over $50,000 in financial assistance to make the day camp experience more accessible to everyone. The j day camps are one of a handful of day camps in the st. Louis community accredited by the american camping association. The jcc has a rich tradition in bringing jewish cultural opportunities to its members and the st. Louis community. In maintaining that long standing tradition, the focus of the roswell and wilma messing cultural arts department has been on theatre, film and literature. The st. Louis jewish book festival allows prominent authors to showcase their latest works and lets the readers get up close and personal. Over thirty-five authors visit the festival throughout the year with a concentration during jewish book month, a ten day period. It is one the largest attended jewish book festivals in the country with audiences of more than 6000 annually. Our new jewish theatre has won twelve kevin kline awards and five theater circle awards (recognizing outstanding achievement in professional theatre in the greater st. Louis area) -- capturing many high honor awards such as outstanding actress, outstanding supporting actor and outstanding director of a play. This program produces a full season of five shows annually which are seen by more than 5000 audience members. The st. Louis jewish film festival brings poignant films and filmmakers, as they relate to jewish values, culture and/or history and is attended by over 2500 annually. The j's youth theatre program introduces the fun of performing in front of a live audience while teaching st. Louis children all about drama, costuming and theatrics. Theatre unlimited, a program designed for adults with disabilities, has brought the excitement of theatrical performing to life! Participants act, sing, dance and shine on center stage, all in a barrier-free setting. The gesher music festival of emerging artists is a cultural offering of chamber music. The jcc also provides jewish educational and outreach programs through its ruth & harold sher center of jewish life and nishmah: the st. Louis jewish women's project which enrich souls, minds and spirits to thousands more community members annually.