Our Staff

_{Preschool Director -- Elynn Finston}

Elynn M. Finston brought impressive credentials and deep experience to her position as director of the Shomrei Emunah preschool.

Elynn has taught in Jewish and secular preschools here in the metropolitan area and in the Midwest. She was the director of one of the first Head Start programs in West Virginia, and was president of the board of directors of one of the original Head Start programs in California.

At Resources for Family Development Inc., a member of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, she headed the referral department, counseling parents on child-care issues and providing training for family child-care providers, and wrote extensively on child care and parenting.

She also taught child-development courses at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., training young teachers for careers in the early-childhood profession.

Elynn received a B.A. in early-childhood education from Queens College of the City University of New York. She earned her master’s in early-childhood education and a certificate of advanced studies in educational administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also studied Jewish educational pedagogy at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Here in New Jersey, she has served as director of both synagogue and secular preschools. Before coming to Shomrei Emunah, she was executive director of the Neighborhood Association in Millburn, a more than 100-year-old nonprofit community group that runs an acclaimed preschool.

Elynn lives in Springfield, N.J., with her husband, Martin. They have one grown son.

Email: shomreipreschooldirector@gmail.com
Tel: (973) 746-5031, ext. 4