By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent
For 2012, there’s an extra $25,000 in each of the coffers of the Seattle Jewish Community School and the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle to buoy them through the new year.
The two day schools were chosen, as were 23 other institutions, from 127 schools in the U.S. that applied for the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education 2011 Challenge Award. Both schools won for implementing creative new revenue streams in their schools to strengthen Jewish education and Jewish community, which is PEJE’s mission.
“Providing a high-quality Jewish day school education to current and future generations of Jewish children is vital to a vibrant and enduring Jewish future,” said PEJE’s director of marketing and communications Donna Woonteiler in the organization’s December 2011 award announcement. “And in today’s economic climate, attaining sustainability and affordability for our day schools is the most essential factor in meeting this goal.”
Both schools submitted applications for the prize, and according to PEJE the applications received multiple reviews before winners were selected.
Studies have repeatedly shown that the number-one promoter of Jewish identity and the best antidote to Jewish assimilation in the U.S. is a full-time Jewish day school education. The research reveals that it grounds children, creating strong Jewish connections. Day schools also provide enterprising adult education programs that engage parents in lifelong learning.
“This list gives us a national picture, not of crisis, but of hope, hard work, innovation, and resiliency,” said PEJE board chair Diane Troderman in the same announcement referring to the award winners,
Thirteen of the winning schools were community and multi-denominational schools — both JDS and SJCS fall into that category — seven were from Orthodox communities. Another six schools won from the Conservative movement, and one school from the Reform community received the award.
Fourteen small schools, defined by a student body of 200 students or less, of which SJCS is one, won the award. In total, the PEJE gave $625,000 in Challenge Award money to Jewish schools across the country.
PEJE is a leading resource organization focused on keeping Jewish education affordable and ongoing by fostering initiatives that help schools boost revenue through annual campaigns, legacies, and endowments.
Last year, SJCS embarked on a strategy to market its new “brand” as a “multi-use community hub and a gateway for Jewish families,” Deborah Frockt, director of advancement at the Northend community school, told JTNews. This year, the school is celebrating its 20-year anniversary, marking its sixth year since it moved into the expansive location in North Seattle. The school, which offers a K-5 general and Judaic curriculum, was housed in temporary digs for the first 15 years of its existence.
“We’re utilizing what we know parents want from our research, looking at what our community does not yet have, and proceeding with the notion that SJCS can be a community in different ways for different families,” explained Frockt. “Some will have a casual and occasional relationship with us…. Some will have a deeper and longer connection directly with us by enrolling children in our school. Whatever the particular journey of an individual family, SJCS can be the community gateway for this geographic area.”
Currently, SJCS collaborates in partnership with the Seattle Jewish Cooperative Playschool, the Stroum Jewish Community Center, and the PJ Library, a national program with local offices throughout the country that mails, Jewish children’s literature and music to families across the country each month.
The Jewish Day School’s head of school, Maria Erlitz, said that the preschool—8th grade non-denominational Jewish day school will apply the award money toward beefing up its Discovery Grant program, which helps families with tuition using monies from community donors. The award money will also provide ongoing funding for the school’s learning-based inquiry program, which encourages learning beyond the classroom.
“JDS believes it is our responsibility to offer an exceptional education that empowers our children to be wise and compassionate human beings committed to life-long learning, and making a positive difference in the world and their community,” Erlitz said. “JDS is also launching an enhanced differentiated learning program focused on gifted children to offer expanded programming opportunities for local Jewish students to further excel in school.”