Meet Our Faculty & Staff

Rabbi Tzvi Goldman will be starting his 18th year at the Vancouver Hebrew Academy. He came to Vancouver from Israel where he had been living together with his wife Etti for the previous four years. During those years he completed his Smicha (Rabbinic Ordination), and received his Teacher Certification.

Rabbi Goldman has five children, and his youngest two, Shira and Teheela will be students at our school this year. His older three children Bayla, Nechama and Bentzy, are proud VHA alumni. Rabbi Goldman very much enjoys playing sports and being out in nature. This year he is excited to take on the role of Judaic Principal, as well as teaching the Grade 6/7 Boys. He is looking forward to a fantastic year.

Mrs. Brodie is a mother of two amazing children who loves to travel. She had the opportunity to live and teach in Tokyo, London, Halifax, The Greater Toronto Area, and now Vancouver. Mrs. Brodie enjoys cooking, reading, theatre, and hiking. She is very much looking forward to exploring the trails of her new city and province. Mrs. Brodie is absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to become a member of the VHA community and she is looking forward to meeting, working, and learning with this amazing team!

Israeli born, Dikla Mizrachi served in the IDF as a teacher, and continued to peruse her passion in education at Beit Berl College in Kfar Saba. After immigrating to Canada 18 years ago, she has worked as a Hebrew and pre-school teacher at VHA, at the JCC’s Bagel Club which is a social program for adults with different abilities.

Dikla enjoys hiking and camping with her husband and four kids. Dikla is looking forward to another amazing year with the Daycare team!

With the experience of working with children and families as an Early Childhood Educator for over 20 years, Vida is very excited to be a part of the VHA team. She has taught ECE courses and facilitated practicum students as an ECE college instructor for over 10 years. She has a strong philosophy regarding the importance of a child’s healthy development in their early years and its impact on their life. At the present, Vida is also teaching ECE courses part-time in Vancouver Community College.

Vida has two grown up children, and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, listening to music, and writing poetry in Farsi.

Ms. Stephanie was born and raised in Minnesota, USA. She moved to Canada in 2012 to further her passions in teaching as well as art. She has taught at many different levels including daycare, preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1, 2, and 6 in three different countries.

Ms. Stephanie loves spending time with her kitten, reading books, working on her latest craft, playing games with friends, and exploring new locations. She enjoys teaching and learning with children of all ages and is excited to start her next adventure at VHA.

Mrs. Silberg started working at VHA as student services aid in 2010 and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. Mrs. Silberg returned to VHA to teach Hebrew, as well as grade 3. She feels very fortunate to work in a warm and loving environment. She especially likes the small size of the school because it allows her to know all of the children.

Mrs. Silberg was born in Victoria and grew up in Vancouver. She also spent some time living in Israel as a child and an adult. Mrs. Silberg loves spending time with her family, going to sporting events, and being outdoors.

Mrs. Silberg is currently on maternity leave.

Ms. Wilson is delighted to be a part of the VHA family for her ninth year as the Grade 2 and 3 teacher. After obtaining her Bachelor of Education degree from Brandon University in Manitoba, Ms. Wilson began her teaching career and has done so with great enjoyment for the past twenty-one years. She taught for 9 years in the public school system in Manitoba, then upon moving to B.C. in 2009, she taught at Richmond Jewish Day School for 3 years before joining VHA. Throughout her teaching career she has been on numerous committees at the school, district and provincial level. Ms. Wilson had always wanted to teach ever since she was a young child. Once her own children started school, she took the opportunity to go to university and pursue her desire to become a teacher.

Ms. Wilson resides in Richmond and enjoys reading, walking, biking, crocheting, spending time with  family and friends, and almost anything that involves being outdoors.

Mrs. Altow is thrilled to be the Grade 5 and Physical Education teacher. This is her 12th year at VHA. She also taught at West Point Grey Academy, York House and public school in the states.

She grew up in Bellevue, Washington and got her Psychology and teaching certificate from University of Washington.

She resided in Richmond, BC. She loves to spend time with her husband and and four children, walk and hike, bake, and read.

Mr. Kwan is excited to join the VHA community and eager to work and learn alongside the wonderful students, staff and families. His goal in education is to motivate all children to be engaged and enthusiastic about learning and to become globally-minded citizens. Science, Social Studies and Math are his favourite subjects and he hopes to create hands-on and inquiry-based lessons.

Mr. Kwan has taught in London, Hong Kong and Vancouver. He has experience in kindergarten to Grade 7 and enjoys new challenges. In his free time, Mr. Kwan likes to cook, play video games and discover new music to listen to. He loves eating spicy food and oranges and he aims to read more fiction and tackle more hikes this year.

Daniel Wong has recently joined VHA and is looking forward to supporting students in making personal connections with education and discovering opportunities to demonstrate their ability.

He has had the opportunity to experience many different grade levels; (G3&4) Douglas Road Elementary and (G10-12) Lowell High School, and various offshore schools in China (G10-12) and South Korea (G1-6), which helped inform his philosophy of education: learning is not a one-size-fits-all model, and he strives to give students a sense of agency, and show them that they have a real effect on their education and, conversely, their education has a real effect on them.

When he is not teaching, he likes to keep up with advancements in computer technology; mostly by reading, watching videos, or trying online tutorials. He finds it especially important to be sensitive of information management and safety concepts in order to become acute “netizens,” who are aware of digital rights, digital privacy and who will also understand modern digital businesses, products and practices.

Mrs. Heffes is thrilled to be teaching the Kindergarten class at VHA this year. Mrs. Heffes taught for over 20 years in Mexico City, at an Elementary school as well at a High school. She moved with her family from Mexico to Canada more than ten years ago. Mrs. Heffes graduated with a Masters of Education from the Hebrew University of Mexico. She also has a specialty in New Techniques and Methodology to teach the Tanach in Elementary and High School from the University of Jerusalem. She worked for three years at VHA as a Teacher’s Aid and was the Kindergarten teacher for the last four years. She loves working with children as a group, as well as one-on-one.

Morah Carmela was born and raised in Panama City. She moved to Vancouver in 2016. Carmela has a Business Administration degree. While in Canada, she also obtained her Early Childhood Educator certification.

She enjoys working with children and is looking forward to getting to know each one in a loving, caring, fun and educational environment.

Carmela loves spending time with her family and friends, baking and exploring Vancouver!