By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews
The wandering school has settled down again. The Seattle Jewish Community School, which has occupied four sites during its 11-year history, is now enjoying comfortable new quarters at Temple Beth Am.
The growing school, which educates 95 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, has needed to move every few years as it added new grades and more students. There are no plans to go beyond fifth grade, but Principal Joyce Shane says the SJCS community hopes one day to make room for more than one class in each grade. Currently, SJCS must turn away interested students each year because they don’t have enough space to accommodate them and the school is committed to keeping classes small.
The entire community school moved into the Temple Beth Am classrooms this past September after two years of having the school split in half — kindergarten through second grade at the temple and third through fifth grades in its building on N.E. 35th Street. This move was made possible, in part, because the temple’s next-door neighbor, University Prep, had completed its construction project and no longer needed the classrooms now occupied by SJCS’ lower grades.
Encouragement from Temple Beth Am also influenced the decision to move, Shane said. “Temple Beth Am has always been accommodating and welcoming. It has been a pleasure to work with their administration. They invited us and then expanded the relationship,” Shane said.
Rabbi Jonathan Singer is equally enthusiastic about the sharing of space. One morning, as the sounds of children playing outside were drowned out by the noise of adults learning in Melton classes, Singer spoke of his dreams of a vibrant Northend Seattle Jewish campus, filled with activity.
“The whole idea of making maximum use of the facility makes me pleased. We’re glad to have the Jewish community be vibrant,” he said. The sound of children’s laughter adds to the beauty of the synagogue and makes it a nice place to be, he added. And having his own children nearby — students at SJCS — is an added bonus.
Temple Beth Am uses the same classrooms for its religious school, much in the same way Temple B’nai Torah and the Jewish Day School in Bellevue share space. In both relationships, the schools also use temple space, such as the sanctuaries for services and other spaces like the social halls, meeting rooms or music rooms.
SJCS students use the Temple Beth Am social hall for dance and Jazzercize. Recess is held outside in the various courtyards and the older kids are bused to Seattle gymnastics for additional physical education time. This new arrangement is a big improvement over gym class in the front hall and outside in a small courtyard at the building on N.E. 35th Street. Shane said the school’s “play space” has probably quadrupled.
SJCS still hasn’t figured out how to make room for a real library in the new facility. The library books are displayed in bookcases outside the principal’s office. As long as visits to her office remain a pleasant interlude, this arrangement should be adequate for now. The school’s administrative offices also have been split in two, with the main office near the school’s new “front door,” and the principaland development director’s offices near the kindergarten.
The move into Temple Beth Am cost SJCS about $250,000, paid for by individual donors, the Jewish Federation and the Samis Foundation.
Shane says the school’s staff and parents are happy to have some time when they don’t need to focus on finding a place for the school and packing and moving. “We’re able to concentrate on our program,” Shane said, adding that all indications are that the program is exceptional. “Our children leave here and go on to other schools and are doing very well.” Children taking the WASL and Iowa basic skills test are performing admirably, she said.
An evaluation of the school paid for by the Samis Foundation and conducted by Independent School Management gave SJCS high marks. “You are on an incredible, successful path — and have the potential to become a national model,” the assessors wrote in their report. Highlights they noted included parent enthusiasm, low teacher turnover, a joyful music program, a strong Jewish studies program and success at really being a “community school” serving children from across the Jewish spectrum.
Shane expects the student population to reach 100 by next year, but she expects the issue of turning children away because there isn’t enough space will become more and more frustrating.
“It’s heartbreaking to have to turn families away…our mission and our passion is to make this education available to Jewish families who want this kind of education,” said Shane, who has been school principal for seven years.
So families will continue to sit on waiting lists, at least for the immediate future.
“Even if there were 30 families [wanting to enroll a kindergarten student], we couldn’t have two kindergartens because we don’t have the space. The long-term plan is to have a facility that can accommodate more children,” Shane said. And SJCS may have to pack its bags and move again, unless Temple Beth Am decides it’s time to grow as well.
The 2000 community demographic study showed that Seattle’s Northend Jewish community is growing rapidly. Shane and Rabbi Singer both believe this fact will lead the community to grow its facilities as well.