Metro
Becoming A Mentsh
Metro Detroit's youngest Orthodox day school strives to combine scholarship with
community service.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
Special to the Jewish News
B
y the time their children are
grown, Chava and Dr. Eliyahu
Hurvitz of Oak Park hope to
have attended eight graduations at
Yeshivas Darchei Torah.
Their two eldest daughters, the first
to graduate, each studied in Israel for a
year before returning to the U.S. to
continue their speech pathology edu-
cation in all-female programs.
"They were both accepted at highly
competitive seminaries in Israel,” their
mother says. "The seminaries have
three different levels of classes, and
they were in the highest."
Yeshivas Darchei Torah is a fairly
new school. Founded in 1987 by edu-
cator Sara Kahn and her husband,
Rabbi Dovid Kahn, the Orthodox day
school became a constituent agency of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit three years ago.
The school, housed in the former
United Hebrew Schools building on 12
Mile Road near Lahser in Southfield,
has an enrollment of about 320. Girls'
classes run from kindergarten through
12th grade, while the boys' division
provides a K-8 education. Another 25
preschoolers are enrolled. Rabbi and
Mrs. Kahn serve as school principals
while Hindy Levine and Ahron Baruch
are assistant principals.
Darchei Torah receives an annual
Federation allocation of $100,200.
Another $42,250 in funding ear-
marked for scholarships comes from
the Shiffman Family Tuition
Assistance Fund, which includes a
match from Federation.
Teachers at Darchei Torah are dedi-
cated to bringing out each child's
potential, says Chava Hurvitz. "I am
very impressed with the way Mrs. Kahn
personally works with the teachers to
develop individual plans, especially if
the child has a learning problem.
"There's great parent-principal-
teacher communication. The teachers
are not shy to call a professional from
the outside for extra help.
"I've been a very satisfied parent," she
says. "I have no negative impressions."
„DT
1/20
2005
24
n Chasie Bakst's
classroom, first grade
girls are eager to learn.
Learning Plus Compassion
According to Rabbi Tzvi Jacobson, the
school's development director, Darchei
Torah's philosophy of education is that
"every child is created as an individual."
"It's almost a contradiction," says
Rabbi Jacobson, who also teaches the
third-grade boys class. "The school has
a comfortable, enjoyable atmosphere
but also rigorous academic standards."
The school day at Darchei Torah starts
at 8:50 a.m. and ends at 4 or 5 p.m.
Mondays through Thursdays, depending
on age. On Fridays, school closes at 1:15
p.m., but students return to class every
Sunday for another half day. Mornings
are devoted to religious studies and after-
noons to secular studies.
"In both, the level is quite high and
students do quite well," Rabbi
Jacobson says.
After eighth grade, most boys go
from Darchei Torah to Yeshiva
Gedolah. Rabbi Jacobson's oldest son,
Dov, 15, goes there now and, his
father says, "It's a perfect fit."
Rabbi Tzvi Jacobson works with third-grader Chaim Hurvitz, 9, of Oak Park.