Fran Trachtenberg was executive VP of Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford (SSDS) when it moved from Mohegan Drive to Buena Vista Road. She later served as the school’s president. Today, Trachtenberg lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Stephen. Here, in her own words, is her recollection of the school’s transition from the basement of Emanuel to its own home.

When my oldest son began attending SSDS, it was housed in the basement of The Emanuel Synagogue. Both my sons attended pre-school at the JCC and when it was time for the older one, Adam, to start kindergarten, I looked at our options. West Hartford public schools did not offer all-day kindergarten and SSDS did: that gave Schechter an advantage in my book! The second “plus” was that the Neiditz kids went there and I had great trust in Arlene’s judgment.
What began as a kindergarten solution turned into many years of positive educational experiences.
[In the ’80s,] due to shifting populations around neighborhoods, both in number of people living in certain areas and the ages of the people in those areas, the town of West Hartford had at least one, perhaps two surplus schools on the market. Moshe Zwang was the principal of SSDS at the time, and I think he was one person who identified the Buena Vista site, then the home of Bridlepath Elementary School, as a possibility for SSDS.
Blanche Savin Goldenberg was president of the school then and I was executive VP. Blanche arranged for financing for the purchase, and a contract was written up with the town for purchase (with the town’s right to buy it back at two separate dates far off in the future).
I was “in charge” of the re-location – that is to say, organizing the move itself from The Emanuel to Bridle Path and seeing that the Buena Vista building was in proper condition for us to move in. The town had not used it for a while and there were several code issues we addressed, including access. Blanche Goldenberg was the magic spirit that got things done. If I identified a need (curb cuts, paving a parking lot, etc.), Blanche made it happen and happen it did, almost instantly. Without her, the move would not have taken place.
I remember the relocation as intense and harmonious. What I mean is that it was a major undertaking – with lots to accomplish, a short time to do it, but throughout there was great teamwork on the part of the Board and the staff of SSDS.
Going from the lower level of Emanuel to our own building was a monumental adjustment and the school began to grow in several directions. There were soon additional classes for each grade, and the grades expanded upwards.
The cramped quarters of Emanuel gave the school the feeling of being an intimate family, and now with the move to Bridle Path, we were a more fully mature place of learning. The new location and the “permanent” structure of the building (it was after all, a “real” school) brought in many new families who previously were a bit apprehensive at the “make-shift” conditions of the basement.
We now had a full-sized gym, room for science labs, a cafeteria, an auditorium that served as a sanctuary when needed, and lots of outdoor play space.
I followed Blanche as president and served in that position for several years and in my final year on the board, 1987-88, I was treasurer.
We had moved to West Hartford from Boston in 1977 when my husband Stephen became president of the University of Hartford, but my son was only two years old at the time. We became a SSDS family three years later, in 1980 at the start of kindergarten. My second son was born in Hartford in 1978 and both sons attended the school up to the time we moved to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1988, when Stephen took over as president of The George Washington University.
We’ve kept up with many friends from Hartford – and with families from our days at SSDS.