Mina Lopato Nursery School blows out 65 candles

There’s something about Mina Lopato Nursery School that seems to stay with people. Mention the school to someone in Johannesburg and more often than not, a story follows. Perhaps they went there themselves, their children, or their parents did. Decades later, many still remember the teachers who welcomed them through its doors. 

That sense of history was celebrated on 6 August, when past pupils, parents, and staff gathered to mark 65 years since the school’s foundation stone was laid. 

For principal Marissa Koffler, the anniversary was a reminder of just how many lives the school has touched. “Every time I mention that I’m the principal of Mina Lopato, someone will say, ‘Oh, I went there, my parents went there, or my grandparents went there.’ It’s got a lot of history,” she said. 

The school began at the Emmarentia Shul and moved to Greenside Shul 55 years later. In 2024, Koffler was contacted about the school’s original foundation stone. “The foundation stone had been removed [in Emmarentia] and they asked, ‘Do we want it?’  I said, ‘Definitely.’” 

Isaac Lopato, who founded the school and named it after his late wife, Mina, had laid the foundation in 1961. When one of the parents realised that 2026 would mark 65 years since it was laid, the idea of a reunion began to take shape. 

 “We weren’t sure what it was going to be like because obviously a nursery school reunion is very different from a high school reunion,” Koffler said.  

The response exceeded expectations. “It was actually really amazing,” she said. “We got in touch with a lot of people and many of those who couldn’t make it sent beautiful messages and donations.” 

Felicity Klawansky, who spent 25 years teaching at Mina Lopato before retiring at the end of 2025, was at the celebration and saw the emotional response first-hand. “I was just mind-boggled by it because I was seeing people from 20 years ago who had come to this evening,” she said. “It was just with such delight and smiles and happiness to see each other from a nursery school. It was really a special evening.” 

The event also launched the Mina Lopato Alumni Foundation, giving former pupils, parents, and others connected to the school a way to remain involved.  

“The aim of this celebration/reunion was twofold,” Koffler said. “Number one, to bring people back to celebrate the start of the school, the laying of the foundation stone, and the impact that it’s made on people’s lives and the community.” 

The other aim is to look ahead. “We essentially want to launch the next 65 years,” she said.  

That future is already taking shape. The school, which caters for children from 12 months to six years old, has undergone a number of upgrades this year, including a new Curiosity Cabin in the older children’s playground. 

“It’s not your usual jungle gym,” Koffler said. “It’s something connected to our ethos and the way that we teach.” The Reggio-inspired space allows children to work with tools, microscopes, and other materials, developing creativity and problem-solving skills. “Children are so stuck to screens these days and they don’t have the opportunity to think and problem solve,” Koffler said. “This comes with a whole curriculum, and it actually gets them to think out of the box and to problem solve and invent.” 

But while the school continues to evolve, Koffler believes its greatest strength is something that cannot be renovated. “This celebration reinforces the idea that there is something so unique about Mina Lopato in that it gives such a sense of family and community,” she said. 

That sense of family is something Klawansky experienced throughout her years at the school. Although she never formally studied nursery-school teaching, she came to the profession with years of experience working with young children. “When I came back to South Africa I had only experience, many years of experience, but not any qualification,” she said. “So I really could work only as a playschool teacher.” 

What began out of necessity became her passion. “I loved that age group,” she said. “I loved that time of receiving children from the parents, being the first port of call in a nursery school, and just starting them on their road to their nursery school years.” 

For Klawansky, the job was also about building relationships with families. “You’re looking after very, very small, very young, often first children in a family,” she said. “Building that trust with the family, with the mother, who’s going to leave her child with you for those many hours of every day, is a big thing.” 

That relationship extends beyond the classroom. Mina Lopato is a Jewish school, but one that has always welcomed families from different backgrounds. “It’s a unique school because it’s a Jewish school,” Koffler said. “We do all of the Jewish learning and the chaggim and everything. We celebrate it all. But at the same time, it’s always attracted diversity. 

“Anyone can come,” she said. “Anyone who enters these doors and signs up is embraced, loved, and is part of the family.”  

Klawansky remembers that inclusivity as a defining aspect of the school. “There were always black kids there, Indian kids , Muslim kids,” she said. “We promoted it as inclusive and accommodating everybody.”  

For Koffler, that openness has allowed Mina Lopato to remain relevant for 65 years. “We don’t just embrace the children, we embrace the family as a whole,” she said. “They really just feel so held,  so supported. It’s so personal.” 

Klawansky has found it difficult to stay away. “I’ve been retired for about seven months. I can’t keep away. I like popping in to visit every other week. It’s just a lovely space.” 

For Koffler, the legacy of Mina Lopato can ultimately be summed up in one word. “Love.” 

A nursery school is often the first school a child attends and the first time a parent entrusts their child to others. Koffler believes it should be somewhere families feel safe. “You want it to feel like home. You want it to feel like it’s a family place, that when you walk through the doors, you can leave all your troubles behind. 

“And we’ve got you, we’re holding you, and we’ve got your kids.” 

After 65 years, Mina Lopato is not simply celebrating how long it’s existed, but the generations of families who made it what it is.