Stanford University – MA Wharton School – BS University of Pennsylvania – BA Michael has worked in California independent schools since 1992. In that time, he has taught US History, AP US History and AP Economics, helped run outdoor education programs, coached varsity sports, chaired a History Department and worked for 10 years as a College Counselor. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Michael earned a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School and a B.A. in Urban Studies through the College of Arts and Sciences. Michael earned an M.A. in Educational Administration from Stanford University School of Education and he is a National Board Certified Teacher in Social Studies-History as well as a Klingenstein Summer Institute alum. From 2000-2015, Michael was a consultant for the College Board and ETS on the AP Economics program. In addition to overseeing the scoring of AP Exams, Michael served a five-year term as the co-Chair of the AP Microeconomics Test Development Committee, presented at AP Annual Conferences, and taught professional development workshops for teachers in the western US, China and the Middle East. The co-author of two blended learning Economics textbooks, Essential Micro and Essential Macro, Michael is also a featured educator in Davidson Next’s AP Macroeconomics MOOC. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and two sons where he tries to spend as much time as possible outside, hiking, climbing and working on his beach glass collection. He aspires to be a better guitarist.

Mount Holyoke College – BA
Northeastern University – MEd

Lauren has close to three decades of experience in college admission counseling developing relationships with colleges, universities, and individual families engaged in the college admission process. Prior to her role at JCHS, Lauren served as an Associate Dean of Admission at Mount Holyoke College, a selective residential liberal arts college for women in Western Massachusetts.

Lauren is an active member of the National and Western Associations for College Admission Counseling (NACAC, WACAC), the Bay Area Independent School College Counselor (BAISCC) consortium, and the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS). She served as WACAC President in 2019-2020, is a member of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and Northwestern University Counselor Advisory Boards, is a frequent contributor to NACAC publications, and is an occasional commentator on college admission for ABC7 News Bay Area.

Bryn Mawr College – AB

Mary Ellen has been a part of the professional community at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay since 2003. She has worked in the Admissions office, consulted on the report for JCHS’ initial WASC accreditation, and served as Development Associate in the fundraising office, before taking the helm of the Marketing Department. She is constantly inspired by the creativity, warmth, and authenticity of JCHS students and colleagues, who make working at the school a joy.
A native New Yorker, Mary Ellen Hunt has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997. Mary Ellen trained as a classical dancer, later going on to work professionally with Feld Ballets/NY and Dance Theatre of Harlem. She earned her undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from Bryn Mawr College before entering the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Arizona.

Avidly interested in science and science education, Mary Ellen was a research associate for Sheila Tobias on the revised edition of her landmark book Overcoming Math Anxiety, and worked for several years in the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Center for Teaching and Learning, Tactile Dome and later in the Public Relations office. She has also taught physics, math and astronomy for the Summer Science Program, an intensive course of study for gifted teenagers sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Her extensive background in the arts has served her well as a freelance writer and arts critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Contra Costa Times, Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Studio Life, South Bay Accent, and Diablo Magazine.

Hebrew Union College – Rabbinic Ordination and MAHL

University of California Hastings College of Law – JD

University of California, Berkeley – BA

Howard Ruben joined JCHS in 2008 after having served as the senior rabbi for nearly a decade at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, Ohio, an 1,800-family Reform congregation in a suburb of Cleveland. He previously served as the executive director of Cincinnati’s Bureau of Jewish Education. In these roles, Rabbi Ruben particularly enjoyed helping Jewish teens find their path to spiritual and ethical learning as well as their love of Judaism and growth as adults.

Rabbi Ruben has deep roots in the Bay Area Jewish and secular communities. Prior to entering the rabbinate, he served as a partner in the law firm of Severson & Werson in San Francisco, and held lay leader positions on the boards of the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. He also held several leadership positions at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo. His work with Jewish teens dates to his time as the assistant director of UAHC (now URJ) Camp Swig Institute in Saratoga.

Rabbi Ruben graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with honors; the University of California, Hastings College of Law, in San Francisco; and Hebrew Union College, in Cincinnati and Jerusalem, where he studied as a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He also was in the inaugural class of Rabbinic Fellows of the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

San Francisco State University – BME

Julie Vlcek-Burke, CFRE has led development at JCHS since 2010 and has been part of the school’s advancement work since 2003. With more than 20 years of experience in fundraising and community engagement, she has helped shape and sustain every aspect of JCHS’s advancement program. Julie is deeply connected to the school’s 800+ alumni and continues to partner with many of the community leaders who built JCHS. She looks for every opportunity to connect supporters with what is most special about the school and its students. A CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive), she is also an active member of the Association of Bay Area Development Officers (ABADO) and the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS).

Julie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education/Tuba from San Francisco State University. She now works remotely from Providence, RI, where she lives with her wife and younger daughter, while her oldest daughter is in college. She continues to perform as a musician, playing euphonium with the Brown University Medical Orchestra, an ensemble of medical students and doctors, where she proudly serves as a “ringer.”