Opening
Ceremonies
Marc Borovoy
Rosalie Cohen
Rabbi Buckman
by affiliated groups, such as the Institute
for Retired Professionals (IRP) and the
Melton Adult Mini-School. The public may
rent conference rooms. The largest room
can accommodate 200 people seated the-
ater-style.
The tower's lower level (on the same
level as the dance studio and the JET)
houses the JCC administrative staff,
the Maccabi Club of Greater Detroit,
the Jewish Parents Institute and Jewish
Life and Learning, which encompasses
Book Fair, Music Festival, travel services
and other JCC programs. The day camp
offices are now located on the lower level
opposite the administrative offices; BBYO
offices are on the JCC's main level, near
Handleman Hall; and JVS is outside the
inline hockey facility. The JCC is still
exploring uses for the former Holocaust
Mark Lit
Patti Shayne
Memorial Center outside the main
entrance.
"Part of the capital campaign itself
provided new space for the programs we
displaced': Borovoy said.
Teaming Up
The Frankel Jewish Academy has a 15-
year lease agreement with the JCC for
the new facilities, subject to periodic
review. Neither Borovoy nor Mark Lit, JCC
executive director, would discuss the exact
terms of the lease agreement.
"We really think of it as a partnership,"
Borovoy said.
"Having the Academy on the site cer-
tainly helps the long-term prospects
for the Center;' Lit said. However, that
advantage is not merely financial, he
emphasized, stating that the JCC has just
experienced two years in a row of budget
surplus.
"Every JCC in the country has, as a
major priority, getting teens into the
building:' Lit said. "Now we'll have some
230 teens in our building, five days a
week."
To further assure the JCC as a site for
the next generation, Lit said the Center is
working to promote the relationship with
BBYO, and is looking into building its own
teen lounge and expanding after-school
activities. In addition, Temple Israel, near-
by on Walnut Lake Road at Drake, will be
renting facilities for about 500 students at
the West Bloomfield JCC every Sunday.
"We don't want kids to say the JCC is
where my grandparents go;' Lit said. "We
want them to say, `The JCC is where I grew
up.
Frankel Jewish Academy
F
fifty-one freshmen and soph-
omores.
That was the total enroll-
ment of the Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit in August 2000,
when the school opened for busi-
ness. Eight years later, the school
has been renamed the Jean and
Samuel Frankel Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit in honor of its
major benefactors. And opening day
enrollment, in grades 9-12, stands at
about 224.
Rabbi Lee Buckman, head of
school, said he was not surprised
by the FJA's success. However, the
extent of that success is surprising
— and heartening.
"I don't think I expected the school
to grow as rapidly as it has," Rabbi
Buckman said.
"We have experienced double-digit
growth each year. For a community
our size — with an aging population,
at that — these statistics are remark-
able," he said.
In addition, the number of students
who attend the FJA from secular pub-
lic or private schools has exceeded
his expectations.
"We have about 40 percent who
come to us from secular public of pri-
vate schools," Rabbi Buckman said.
"Normal for this type of school is 15-
20 percent."
Of this year's total enrollment,
about 60 percent are affiliated with
the Conservative movement. Twenty-
five percent identify as Orthodox and
15 percent as Reform.
Tuition at the FJA is approximately
$17,000 for 2007-08. About 35
percent of students receive some
sort of financial assistance, said Dr.
Marc Borovoy, FJA president. "Over
the past three years, we have raised
more then $800,000 per year; about
85 percent of that goes to tuition
assistance," he said.
Academy Life
Rabbi Buckman defined the FJA as
"a non-denominational Jewish day
school that's open to the community,
to families with any Jewish affiliation
or who are non-affiliated."
Despite their personal religious
beliefs, students who are accepted
at the school must be what he called
"mission-appropriate — students and
—
T
he 2007-08 school year
begins at the Jean and
Samuel Frankel Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan Detroit on
Monday, Aug. 27.
Opening ceremonies have been
planned, which will involve students
and staff, parents, grandparents,
alumni and board members only. In
addition, some community leaders
and dignitaries have been invited.
Included will be a mezuzah hanging
on the front door, blowing the shofar,
singing the She'hechianu prayer, cut-
ting the ribbon and tours.
On Oct 10, the school will hold a
second celebration. This will be a
dedication ceremony honoring all
the donors to the capital campaign
and recognizing those individuals
who helped make the new school
facility a reality. More information
will be available soon on this second
event.
An Overview
families who understand what kind of
school we are."
It's a school with an extremely rig-
orous academic and Judaic Studies
curriculum, a school whose graduates
have been accepted - and excelled at
- many of the top universities in the
United States. The eight-hour school
day includes a minimum of seven aca-
demic classes, including four to five
in the secular studies department
and three in the areas of Hebrew lan-
guage and Judaic Studies.
Students must attend minyan daily
and dress conservatively; kashrut
and other traditional practices are
stressed; male students are expected
to wear head coverings while in
school. However, female students
may wear pants; and all performing
groups are open to boys and girls
alike.
The school ethic stresses love
and honor for family, for the United
States and the State of Israel, and
for Jews of all beliefs. Of last year's
graduating class, 40 percent — 20 of
50 — deferred college admission to
spend time in Israel. Five members
of the class of '07 attend Israeli
yeshivot; six are in programs of
Young Judaea; and nine are in other
programs, including Army service.
These include Rabbi Buckman's old-
est son, who is serving in the Israeli
Army before attending the University
of Michigan. The rabbi's other three
sons currently attend the FJA.
FJA president Borovoy is the parent
of two FJA graduates and the uncle
of numerous graduates, current and
prospective students.
"I think we have a major ability to
influence our future's Jews, though
the education they receive at the
Frankel Jewish Academy," he said.
Borovoy said Jewish education
must be continued throughout life.
"I think we have seen throughout
history that education by itself is not
enough," he said. "Great societies
have not always done great things.
The strength of the FJA is that it bal-
ances education with moral and ethi-
cal character.
"We've been lucky enough to send
our kids here — they have gotten that
education." I I
August 23 • 2007
15