Anita Kraus named director of Early Childhood Education at B’nai Amoona

Anita Kraus, a 15-plus year veteran of early childhood education in the St. Louis Jewish community, has been named Director of Early Childhood Education at Congregation B’nai Amoona.

A native of Overland Park, Kan., Kraus began her career locally in Jewish education as a first grade teacher at H.F. Epstein Hebrew Academy.  She followed that position with a 10-year stint as a teacher at the Temple Israel Hebrew School and its Deutsch Early Childhood Center.  During summers, Kraus also served as co-director of the Rabbi Mark and Carol Shook Camps of Temple Israel.

In her most recent position, Kraus served as Director of the Shaare Shalom Religious School, a collaboration of Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel and Shaare Zedek Synagogue (now the religious school of Kol Rinah) for children in grades pre-kindergarten through 10.

“I am truly very lucky now to be a part of the B’nai Amoona educational family,” said Kraus.  “I share the vision of Jennifer Newfeld, Director of Congregational Learning, and other B’nai Amoona educators who believe our goal is to mentor happy and self-confident children that grow and discover something new every day.”

“Anita is a welcome addition to our wonderfully rich Judaic learning environment,” said Newfeld.  “She possesses the energy and excitement needed to help prepare our preschoolers for the formative years that lie ahead.”

Kraus holds a bachelor of arts in education from the University of Kansas. She has been married to Ken Kraus for 25 years and they have two sons, Danny and Ben, students at Miami University in Ohio and Drake University in Iowa, respectively.