Section archive - Education & Administration

Funded by the Avi Chai Foundation and local federations and foundations, YU’s Benchmarking and Financial Reengineering Project is working with 29 day schools across the country to improve their bottom line by helping them overhaul the business side of their institutions. As schools across the country fight to keep tuition affordable for families still struggling from the 2008 recession, the Benchmarking Program is a closely watched experiment in the day school community because of its unique approach. While there are many programs offering grants to help schools lower tuition, YU is taking more of a “teach a man to fish” approach, working closely with the schools in such areas as cost-cutting, fundraising and student recruitment.

Where have all the Jewish primary school headteachers gone? As the headteacher at Britain’s largest Jewish primary, it saddens me to say that we are facing a silent crisis in Jewish education. There are currently six Jewish primaries in the UK without a substantive head running their schools. Where are all the leaders? The headteacher is the leader of the school. They establish – or at least are responsible for implementing the vision of the governing body.

The Covenant Foundation announced $1.6 million in new grants today as part of its mission to support and advance excellence and impact in Jewish education. From schools to synagogues and beyond, the new round of grants underscores a commitment to initiatives across the landscape of Jewish educational settings, experiences and audiences. Innovative work in technology, new media, the arts, youth and family engagement, and community building are each part of a re-imagined toolkit propelling the field of Jewish education forward.

Beit Rabban Day School is offering a substantial discount to parents who enroll multiple children for the 2014-15 school year through its Tuition Affordability Initiative. The Upper West Side NY school, which serves preschoolers through fifth graders and is planning for a middle school, will allow families to cap their tuition at 15 percent of the household’s adjusted gross income, regardless of how many children are enrolled.