SOUTHFIELD:
AT RISK?
The changing face of Southfield schools.
STILL STRONG,
MORE INTEGRATED
G
Ellen Schlussel
grew up in
Southfield. Her
parents, Mark
and RoseLynn,
still live there.
Now she
teaches first-
graders at
Leonard
Elementary
School.
28
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1991
all Gales was running a
few minutes late this Fri-
day morning.
She made a quick stop at
the audio visual room to
copy some handouts for her
first-hour Hebrew class at
Southfield-Lathrup High
School.
As the final bell rang, she
noticed a group of students
standing in the hallway.
She wondered why they
were all late for class.
A teacher explained to
Mrs. Gales that the students
were going on a field trip for
black college recruitment.
More students than ever are
graduating from Southfield
schools and going to college.
Twenty years ago, when
S-L was predominantly
white and boasted of a
large Jewish presence, the
school wouldn't have sent
such a large group of black
students on this field trip.
Yet today, the school
system is more black than
white, and Jewish families
are moving out of the
district more quickly than
they are moving in.
Many Jewish families
living in Southfield send
their children to Orthodox
day schools, or to Hillel
Day School and other pri-
vate schools. Others reside
in Southfield within the
Birmingham school district
boundaries.
Mrs. Gales, who also
teaches English, is ques-
tioning the future of a Jew-
ish Southfield, and she
wonders whether Hebrew
class will survive in a
school system in which the
numbers of Jews are fewer
than ever.
Forty-three students are
enrolled in all sections of
Hebrew. At one time, Heb-
rew students numbered
100. Today, some classes
attract fewer than 15. Heb-
rew I has 16. Hebrew II has
seven.
"In three years, the pro-
gram could be over," Mrs.
Gales said. "All Jewish
kids don't take Hebrew.
Some parents are even say-
ing, 'What if my kid starts
Hebrew and then we
leave?' So they don't sign
up.
"I can tell you which kids
have left," Mrs. Gales said.
"I can't make a value
judgment. It's just too bad
that we're losing these
students. S-L is still in the
top 10 schools around
here."
FRIENDS ARE
MOVING AWAY
"A lot of my friends have
moved," said Marc Wasser,
14, an S-L student whose
parents, Paul and Varda
Wasser, have lived in
Southfield for 20 years.
"There is really nothing
wrong with Southfield.
Most of them say they want
a better neighborhood.
Southfield is not a bad
neighborhood. People just
think it is."
"This is a good neighbor-
hood and this is a good
school," he said.
With Hebrew, the district
hoped to better service its
Jewish community.
So.uthfield remains the
only public school district
in Michigan that offers it.
Southfield also was among
the first districts to close
school on the High Holy
Days of Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur.
S-L senior Joe Abraham
lived briefly in Farmington
Hills with his parents,
Kathy and Albert, after they
moved to the Detroit area
about a year ago from
Arizona.
The Abrahams moved to
Southfield because "we
wanted to be closer to the
Jewish community." _
Joe Abraham was enroll-
ed at Harrison High School
in Farmington, where he
said he had few Jewish
friends. He is happier in
Southfield, where he
knows "a lot Of kids."
Julian Azaryavev , son of
Yeva and Levy, also re-
cently moved to Southfield.
His family, from the Soviet
Union, is one of 200
families that Jewish Reset-
tlement Service has helped
house in Southfield since
1988.
Julian could only speak
.