Mr. Shimon Shushan is the Jewish Life Director and a Judaic Studies teacher in the Heritage Academy Middle School. He received his B.A. from Michlala Jerusalem College of Education, and an M.A. in Bible from the Herzog Institute. In addition, he was granted School Principal Certification from Bar Ilan University.

For twelve years Shimon taught Junior High School and High School students in Yeshivat Bnei Akiva Nechalim; Talmud, Bible, Holydays, Jewish Philosophy, Biblical Touring Coordinator and all Judaic Studies. He was an instructor in Talmud and Jewish Thought in Neot David Torah Elementary School, Petach Tikva. For six years Mr. Shushan served as administrator and designer of Talmud Studies Programs used by more than 50 Schools in Israel. In his town, Neve Tzuf, he served as the Chairman of the Education Committee and Chairman of the Religious Committee. Mr. Shushan was sent by the Israel Foreign Ministry and Jewish Agency on four missions to the FSU (Former Soviet Union). 

Shimon has been married to Idit, also a teacher at Heritage Academy, for 10 years and they have four children, two of whom attend Heritage Academy, and one in the pre-school program at the JCC-Springfield.

Lara Temkin-Pisani is the Admissions and Marketing Director at Heritage Academy.  She attended SUNY Binghamton and graduated from The University of Massachusetts. She is a Sulamot Family Initiative trained Family Educator and worked as Programming Director and Family Educator for Temple Beth El, Springfield. She was also the Family Educator for B’nai Israel in Northampton and The Jewish Community of Amherst where she also worked as a religious school teacher in the 3rd, 6th and 7th grades. In addition, she has worked in the fields of marketing and development for non-profit organizations and in human resources.

Lara is a recipient of The Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Teaching excellence and has attended the Whizin Institute.

“As Admissions Director I introduce new families to the rich, unique, and extraordinary value of a Heritage education and I get to remind our current families and the community around us of the wonderful things happening each and every day at Heritage. What could be better”?

Lara lives with her husband Kirk in Belchertown, MA. They have two children both of whom attend Heritage Academy. Her outside hobbies include gardening, interior decorating, and photography.

Lynne Aronson earned a B.A. in Spanish, from Mount Holyoke College. Lynne has a depth of experience that spans multiple disciplines. Early in her career, Lynne was employed by Nordstrom, where she was recognized as an exceptional contributor. During her employment at Nordstrom she served as a Purchasing Agent, Administrative Assistant, Human Resource and Payroll Manager for 3 stores, and Assistant to the Merchandise Manager for the So. California Region. Lynne subsequently worked for Milton Bradley and LEGO Corporations, where she contributed to the growth of these operations. In her roles as Executive Secretary, Administrative Assistant, and ultimately Latin America Sales Coordinator, Lynne was responsible for establishing and maintaining processes and procedures to ensure efficient operations.

Lynne looks forward to greeting the parents, students, and visitors when they enter Heritage Academy.

Christine Heath attended and graduated from Towson State Teacher's College. She received a B.S. degree in Elementary Education with a major in history. She taught in the Baltimore County school system for many years. Christine has been a middle school teacher for over 20 years and has taught English, Literature, Geography, Religion and History. Christine has a special interest in the Holocaust, and world religions. She has attended graduate courses at St. Michael's in Winooski, Vermont and the University in Maine, in Orono. These courses concentrated on the Holocaust and Children's Literature. She has taken courses and continues to study with Rabbi Sternberg at the JCC to further her knowledge on the Holocaust.

In 2005, she was awarded a teaching grant to travel to Poland to the major concentration camps with 124 other American teachers, to further expand her knowledge on this period of history. She says "The "March for the Living" convinced me even more that this subject area must continuously be taught, so that lessons for future generations will never allow an event such as this to reoccur." Christine says she is "privileged to be working as a teacher at Heritage Academy. The support of staff, student and parents have made my transition from a school where I taught for so many years, so much easier"

Christine is married to Father Thomas Heath.  They have three children, two girls and a boy, as well as eight grandchildren, who she fondly calls "My Great 8".

Aileen Kramer has been a teacher at Heritage Academy since 1989.  Aileen attended Ohio State University and graduated from Long Island University (C.W.Post campus). She began her teaching career in Rhode Island, then spent many years raising her 3 children. Mrs. Kramer returned to teaching in 1989.  Aileen has taught 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade at Heritage Academy and has also been an assistant resource room teacher and librarian.

In 2002 she was the recipient of the Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education as well as the recipient of the National Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Education.

Aileen and her husband Cliff reside in Longmeadow, MA. They have 2 sons and a daughter.  Aileen has three grandchildren.

Fran Ochs is a veteran teacher of more than 25 years, and she has been at Heritage Academy since 2001.  She has taken on many roles, first as a substitute teacher in both secular and Judaic studies, then as a teaching assistant in grades 1 and 2.  After that she taught second grade, and since 1996 has been the Kindergarten secular studies teacher.  Ms. Fran, as her students affectionately call her, has spent her career teaching in a Jewish setting.  She taught Hebrew in supplementary schools for many years, and has written curriculum in both Judaic and secular studies.  

Her education was at Boston State College where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She is also a graduate of the Hebrew Prozdor High School in Brookline, MA.  In 1999, Mrs. Ochs was a recipient of The Harold Grinspoon Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education.

She and her husband Jeffrey, a physician, reside in Longmeadow, MA.  They are the parents of 2 grown daughters.

Marsha Rothschild received her Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Ithaca College.  Marsha has twenty-eight years experience as a school speech pathologist.  The last seventeen years, Marsha worked as a speech/language pathologist for the Town of Agawam, retiring in June 2004.  Marsha resides in Longmeadow with her husband Paul, an attorney in Springfield.  Marsha has 2 children.

Claire (Frankel) Sholes graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota with a BA in English.   She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology of Gifted and Talented from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and has also taken coursework at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Assumption College.  She has been teaching in regular classrooms and in gifted programs since 1987, and has worked in public and private schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Flagstaff, Arizona.  

Claire served six years on the Gifted Education Advisory Board to the Massachusetts Department of Education and has conducted a number of professional development workshops on differentiation for high-end learners and other topics.  She has worked as a volunteer with the Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination problem-solving programs for many yeas.

Claire has been working, part-time, at Heritage Academy as the Elementary Enrichment Coordinator since the 2005-2006 school year.  Some of her time is spent working directly with students providing enrichment, but she is also responsible for serving as a resource for staff, providing professional development, developing curriculum, and identifying students in need of enrichment services.

She has lived in Rutland, MA with her husband, Owen, since 1979.  They have one son, Colin. 

Idit Shushan has been a teacher for 10 years in Israel before coming to the U.S. to teach at Heritage Academy in 2005. She was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hebrew Language, Political Science, and International Relations from Bar Ilan University. In addition, she earned her Senior Certified Teacher’s Certificate from Bar Ilan and has a Tenured Teaching Certificate from the State of Israel, Department of Education.

For the ten years prior to coming to Heritage, Idit was a Hebrew Language Arts & Judaic Studies teacher as well as a Preparatory Instructor for the Israeli Matriculation Exams (Bagrut) in three locations: Ulpanat Bnei Akiva Tzfira High School in Moshav Tzfira; Naor High School in Petach Tikva; and Amit High School in Petach Tikva. Idit has been trained in computers, Judaic Studies, Bible, Jewish Philosophy and teaching Hebrew as a second language. 

Idit has been married to Shimon for 10 years and they have four children, two of whom are students at Heritage Academy, and one who is in preschool at the JCC-Springfield.

Mrs. Smith is our Special Education Resource Coordinator and our Special Education Teacher.  She received her undergraduate education from Skidmore College and American University.  Mrs. Smith’s Master of Education was obtained in 1994 at American International College with a specialty in the Young Child with Special Needs.  She is licensed to teach in the fields of Special Education for grades k-8, Special Education for the Young Child, and k-8 Regular Education.  Mrs. Smith has more than 37 years of experience in Special Education, Regular Education, and private tutoring.  She has taught at Heritage for 10 years.

In her role as our Special Education Resource Coordinator, Mrs. Smith provides supervision to our Speech and Language Teacher, our School Counselor, and our Teacher tutors.   As Special Education Resource Teacher at Heritage, she works with those students with Learning Disabilities, ADD, ADHD, organization challenges, reading/math difficulties, and enrichment needs.  She also works closely with our teachers in developing plans to meet the individual needs of our students.  Mrs. Smith coordinates outside testing when needed and meets with parents to discuss the results and recommendations.  She is a past winner of the Harold Grinspoon Award for Jewish Educator of the Year in 1998.

Mrs. Smith resides in Longmeadow with Sherman, her husband of 35 years. They have a daughter.

Christine Stokes holds a Master’s degree in Education from Cambridge College, a B.A. in Communications, with a minor in Music, from Central Connecticut State University. She has 4 years of teaching experience (in grades 5-8), in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In her words, “The staff and students at Heritage Academy have welcomed me and embraced my heart.” Ms. Stokes resides in Windsor Locks, CT. Her interests include: spending time with family, singing, running, and reading.

Rachel Wesley was born in Israel, and lived there for more than 30 years.  She always wanted to be a teacher.  Rachel graduated from Beit-Berl College, where she majored in Biology and Chemistry for Middle School.  She taught Science for 13 years in different grade levels.  Rachel married her husband Steve in February 1993, and moved with her family to Atlanta in 1996.  Rachel taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies at The Epstein Solomon Schecter School of Atlanta. Rachel and her family relocated to Connecticut in the fall of 2000.  She has three children two of whom attend Heritage Academy.  Rachel’s interests include spending time with her family, Israeli dancing, cooking, reading and listening to music.