Ode to the “Joykie” who built KDVP Pre-Primary School

When a school closes, it’s never only the walls that fall silent but the sound of beginnings – voices filled with joy, hope, and the first lessons of Jewish life. Nowhere was this experienced more deeply than at King David Pre-Primary School Victory Park. For nearly four decades under the spirited and devoted leadership of Joy Rubin, it was where generations of Jewish children first discovered belonging.

It was a place of firsts: the first goodbye at the classroom door; the first Shabbat song; the first friendship formed without a parent’s hand nearby. These small beginnings mattered. They gave families across Johannesburg assurance that their children were safe, rooted in Jewish tradition, and nurtured in love. For many, KDVP Pre-Primary wasn’t simply the start of school but the heart’s beginning.

At the very centre stood Joy. For almost 40 years, she was the nursery’s anchor and spark, leading with warmth, humour, and unmistakable chutzpah. She grew the school to more than 230 children, knew each by name, and had the rare gift of making every child and parent feel seen. Her leadership was steady, spirited, and human. She was, in truth, the nursery’s heartbeat.

Joy’s own story is bound to the King David legacy. She began her schooling in 1948 as one of the first pupils at King David Linksfield. After matriculating, she trained in nursery education and, remarkably, was appointed acting principal at just 20 years old at Clara Patley Hebrew Nursery. She later joined Mina Lopato Nursery School, before finding her lifelong home in 1966, joining the King David “family” at Victory Park’s Pre-Primary. Over the next 39 years, as principal from 1995 until her retirement in 2008, Rubin shaped the school into a cornerstone of Jewish early childhood education.

“Joykie”, as she was affectionately known, built an environment alive with warmth and progressive thinking, infused with Jewish values at every turn. Her personality filled the school with fun and creativity alongside care and structure. Staff turnover was rare; colleagues stayed for decades, inspired by her example. The beautiful garden on campus, aptly named the “Garden of Joy”, remains a living tribute to her devotion and the joy she poured into her work.

The story of King David Pre-Primary School Victory Park is inseparable from Joy Rubin. For nearly 40 years, she gave our community a place where Jewish identity began in the smallest of hands and hearts.

Though its name may not have echoed loudly in the broader tributes marking the campus’s closure, KDVP Pre-Primary School’s light cannot be dimmed. The friendships and the Jewish values planted there remain alive in every generation that passed through its doors.