Staff Bios
Director of Congregational Learning, Fran Pearlman
Director of Congregational Learning
Fran Pearlman (she, her, hers)
Educator@beth-tikvah.org
847-885-4545 x 104
Fran became Director of Congregational Learning in 2022. Fran is responsible for everything educational. She is our Religious School Director, helps our youth committee develop educational programming for all ages, integrates our Early Childhood Center students into our religious school,
supports our Adult Ed Committee with adult programming, and organizes our Beth Tikvah Congregational Retreat.
Beth Tikvah has always held a special place in Fran'sheart. She was married in our congregation and her daughter was named here. She said Rabbi Gamoran lit the spark in her to become a Jewish Educator and his mother, Mamie Gamoran, put her in touch with her first scholarship in the field. She is honored to return to Beth Tilvah and do her part in instilling the love of Judaism and Jewish life into the families of Beth Tikvah.
Fran has a very extensive resume in the field of Jewish education. She has acted as Religious School Director as well as a Director of Learning in congregations of varying sizes. She most recently worked in the Long Island Jewish community. She is an author of several publications as a Behrman House Curriculum Award winner. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Hebrew Secondary Education, and a masters in Jewish Education Administration. Fran has also completed EdD coursework in Special Education in Jewish Education.
Early Childhood Center Director, Ellyn Weisz
Early Childhood Center Director
Ellyn Weisz (she, her, hers)
PreSchool@beth-tikvah.org
847-885-4545 x107
ECC Blog
Ellyn has always known her passion was in teaching young children, and she has happily been teaching in a Jewish preschool setting for her entire teaching career. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in early childhood education at Roosevelt University. She previously taught at Anshe Sholom in Olympia Fields and for the Board of Jewish Education, and has been a part of the Beth Tikvah religious school staff for over 16 years.
In 2012 she took over as the director as well as a teacher, and currently teaches first-grade Judaics and second-grade Bible classes. Ellyn has both a bachelor's and master's degree in Early Childhood Education. The Weisz family has been members of Beth Tikvah for over 24 years.
In 2021, Ellyn was chosen as the 2021 recipient of the Sue Pinsky Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, as featured in November 2021 issue of JUF Magazine. She is also a member of JUF Jewish Early Childhood Directors and Chicago Jewish Director's Council.
She can be reached via email or phone: 847-885-4545 x107.