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Bernard Weinger Jewish Community Center

Just minutes away from the Lake Cook exit off Route 41, tucked away at the wooded end of a business park on Revere Drive in Northbrook, sits the Bernard Weinger Jewish Community Center. As part of the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Campus, the Bernard Weinger JCC is bustling with activity, serving infants through seniors. The vibrant atmosphere, manicured grounds and sunny indoor pool are the perfect setting for year-round activities ranging from preschool and full-day childcare to sports and leagues, adult fitness and learning, and everything in between.

As you walk down the halls, be careful to not get run down by a trolley of six infants going outside for their morning stroll or a band of children heading off from their classroom to Red Cross swim class.

You can’t help but be amazed by the variety of activities listed on the many flyers available on desks, walls and bulletin boards highlighting everything from Got Shabbat and Me and My Dad to Adult Jewish Learning and International Travel.

As an educational, social and community service provider, the facility serves its members and the community at-large. While the Bernard Weinger JCC is a hub and gathering place for the Jewish community on the North Shore, it welcomes people of all religious affiliations within and outside of Judaism. With programs offered on site as well as at neighboring synagogues and nearby places of interest such as the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Bernard Weinger JCC brings Jewish values to life throughout all of its programming.

Childhood Education and Enrichment Programs –
A variety of offerings to suit family needs
With the summer over and everyone settling back into a new school year, the Bernard Weinger JCC sparkles with the expectant eyes of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children. The year-round full-day childcare program is in full-swing, serving children from six weeks to five-years-old, while preschoolers ages two, three and four are settling into their new classrooms and kindergarteners are enjoying creative and academic learning.

The Bernard Weinger JCC Early Childhood Program is NAEYC and Kehillah accredited with a focus on preparing children for grade school. Their program has a strong academic emphasis and uses Creative Curriculum®. They instill Jewish values through activities and play. Additionally, the Jewish calendar is used to connect learning, socialization and fun to seasons, traditions, holidays and celebrations. Social workers and psychologists are on site and actively engaged in supporting families and the social, emotional, developmental and physical well-being of the students.

Backup childcare and Vacation Day programs offer the community a safe, secure and nurturing environment to care for children ages six weeks through five years. Backup childcare is staffed by dedicated, specially-trained professionals and provides a solution for families that need half-day or full-day care on an as-needed basis. When elementary school is closed, Vacation Days for kindergartners through sixth graders are jam-packed with exciting field trips, sports and swimming — offering much more than a typical babysitter would provide.

After School Recreation, a new program serving surrounding schools from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. five days a week, is a productive time of learning, growth and fun. Students swim, socialize and engage in a multitude of educational and creative activities. Certified teachers assist students with homework and answer questions, leaving evenings free for family time.

Camp at the JCC
Apachi Village at the Bernard Weinger JCC is the only big day camp experience tailored specifically for younger campers on the North Shore. Serving three-, four- and five-year-olds, Apachi Village lives up to its excellent reputation by bringing all of the excitement of traditional day camping to the preschool set without busses or field trips that may overwhelm younger campers. The intimate atmosphere, outstanding staff, and great indoor and outdoor facilities all contribute to long-lasting memories and readiness to go on to JCC’s “Z” Frank Apachi Day Camp or “ZFA,” as it is known in the community.

ZFA offers children a premier day camping experience with a Jewish flair. Jewish values, like cooperation, responsibility and repairing the world are infused through everyday camp experiences such as climbing walls, fine arts, swimming, sports and recreation, as well as the lively Shabbat observance. For campers and their parents, ZFA is an unmatched experience filled with friends and memories lasting a lifetime.

With 20 years of ZFA camping experience, JCC of Chicago is opening the JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp (EFA) in summer 2008. Located on Old McHenry Road near Route 22 in Lake Zurich, EFA will serve the flourishing Jewish population of the northwest suburbs in Cook, Lake, McHenry, and Kane counties.

JCC’s Camp Chi offers overnight camping sessions for children who are ready for an experience beyond day camping. The camp, which sits on 600 beautiful acres in the Wisconsin Dells, creates an intimate environment for campers by dividing itself into small single-gender villages. Campers come together for meals, age-appropriate social events and specialty activities. Independence, respect and cooperation are a few of the Jewish values campers learn while experiencing village life, discovering new skills and overcoming challenges in a safe and nurturing environment.

Family and Group Getaways, plus Exotic Travel
Also located in the Wisconsin Dells, the Perlstein Resort and Conference Center is available for facility rental and hosts a number of popular family camps during New Year’s, 4th of July and at the end of the summer. L’Dor Vador (grandparent/grandchild weekends) and Women’s Weekend are among the special events held during the year.

The Elderhostel organization offers various programs for adults through this JCC that inspire and dazzle the savviest travelers in and around the Chicago area. People seeking more exotic travel opportunities will be amazed by the variety of travel options available. Surprisingly, this facility houses a fully staffed travel team, arranging group travel to destinations such as Cuba, Israel, China, Turkey, Greece and exotic cruise excursions.

Adult Education and Recreation
In the area of adult education, classes in computers, digital photography, art appreciation, and music appreciation supplement the cultural and spiritual programs led by local Jewish cultural icons such as Joyce Schrager and JCC’s Rabbi Nina Mizrahi.

In addition to stimulating the mind, the Bernard Weinger JCC offers facilities and services to improve the body. With a fully-equipped fitness suite and private trainers available, the workout room is a great destination for parents who have children in JCC programs or for fitness enthusiasts who manage to slice out time for themselves. The Fitness Department also offers the Personal Best program, which provides rehabilitation therapy for those concerned about pain avoidance or who may be recovering from surgery or injuries.

The Pool
The swimming pool at the Bernard Weinger JCC is used throughout the day for everything from Red Cross swim classes to social swimming. Men Enjoying Leisure (MEL) is a retired men’s social group that meets weekly for intramural swimming and water volleyball. Throughout the year, children can be seen playing and learning to swim after school, during vacations, while enrolled in camp and on weekends. Locally-respected instructors can be seen through the windows surrounding the pool teaching both private and semi-private classes to children as well as adults.

Experience the Bernard Weinger JCC
Check out the Bernard Weinger JCC at gojcc.org, stop by 300 Revere Drive in Northbrook, or call Judy Miller, director of Member Services at 847.412.4207 for more information. You can also get specific information for each department by dialing the main number at 847.205.9480.