Arlene Remz, Executive Director of Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, began her work in special education as a counselor in the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England after graduating from college.  Arlene, who holds an M.Ed. from Columbia University in Technology in Education and an M.A. in Special Education from New York University, spent her early career as a special education teacher in Massachusetts and New York. She worked for Education Development Center (EDC) for 15 years, on a series of research, curriculum development, and dissemination projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. 

Throughout the years that she was working professionally in the field of special education, Arlene was an active lay leader in the Jewish Community, primarily at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. She chaired the school’s first committee on Addressing the Needs of Diverse Learners, served as Vice President for Educational Policy, and then served as the President of the Board of Directors.

In 2002, Arlene became the Executive Director of Etgar L’Noar, a small grass-roots organization that provided a Jewish education program for children with moderate to severe disabilities. In 2006, she led the merger of Etgar L'Noar with the Jewish Special Education Collaborative (JSEC) to form Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, whose mission is to provide high quality special education services, expertise and support to enable students with diverse learning needs to succeed in Jewish educational settings and participate meaningfully in Jewish life.  Gateways is now the central agency of Jewish special education in Boston and a core partner of Combined Jewish Philanthropies. The Gateways Day School Program provides on-site special education support and services to students with a range of learning needs in 10 Boston-area Jewish day schools.  Arlene is also part of the leadership team of the B’Yadenu project, a collaboration between Gateways, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, and the Yeshiva University Institute for University-School Partnership, funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation.