Meet the Middle School Zoning Committee: Co-Chair Rob Zucker
April 19, 2016
I’m a native of South Orange, New Jersey and graduate of Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union (now Golda Och Academy). I moved to Washington in 1994 to follow a lifelong interest in politics. I worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill in the House and Senate for nine years, before becoming a lobbyist at Winning Strategies Washington where I’m a partner and have worked for almost 13 years.
My wife Shana and I are the parents of three boys at JPDS-NC, Jacob in fifth grade, Elan in third grade, and Lior in kindergarten. Living in Cleveland Park, attending Adas Israel and the Gan, we wanted our children to continue experiencing the warmth and joy of Jewish learning while receiving a strong overall education. JPDS-NC fit the bill perfectly.
I first volunteered for the school as a member of the External Affairs Committee, where I was able to help JPDS-NC through outreach to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) related to zoning and approvals for creating our South Campus. I regarded this as an opportunity to contribute in my own way to the school and its mission of providing all the families in the area with a high quality Jewish education for their children.
Attending ANC and local civic association meetings, I got to know our elected officials and neighbors and have worked to keep the lines of communication open with the school throughout the approvals process. With a tremendous partner in Helaine Greenfeld, the generous parent volunteers who have come to public meetings, our strong team of architects and lawyers and the school’s leadership, the Zoning Committee has sought to expedite the permitting and approval process to the greatest extent possible to ensure that the middle school opens on time in 2018. As construction gets underway our panel will be active in keeping our neighbors and the ANC apprised of all development and maintain a dialogue to ensure that we maintain the good reputation and relationships that the schools has worked to build for years.
