Frankel from page 13

using a special stylus, and have sound and
distribution features.
The FJA media center is approximately
1,400 square feet in size, with state-of-
the-art equipment available to students
throughout the day. The chapel, or Beit
Midrash, measures 18,000 square feet.
Used for daily minyan and other services
and celebrations, it includes a contem-
porary-style wooden ark and houses the
school's Judaic studies collection. The FJA
holds as many as 10 different types of
minyan every morning, at different sites
both within and outside the school.
"We loved the old school so this is a bit-
tersweet change said FJA student Lauren
Kepes of Bloomfield Township, who will
be in the 11th grade this year.
Rena Bergman of Southfield, also an
11th-grader, said she appreciated the
informal areas, complete with sofas for
students to hang out between classes. The
main student commons is 1,900 square
feet in size. "They really paid attention to
what kids want:' Bergman said.
Students will continue to use the JCC's
athletic facilities, the Jewish Ensemble
Theatre and other areas of the West
Bloomfield building on the Eugene and

Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community
Campus. The areas also will be open to
JCC members during the school day; the
FJA will not have reserved times to use the
facilities except during scheduled com-
petitive athletic, arts or dramatic events,
said Dr. Marc Borovoy of West Bloomfield,
FJA president.
Rosalie Cohen, the school's academic
dean, said the new larger facilities, "with
more bells and whistles:' would improve
the quality of school life.
"But education isn't about buildings:'
Cohen added. "It's about teachers and
students, and how they interact with one
another. The purpose of having great
facilities is to enhance the relationship
between teachers and students."

New At The JCC
In addition to renovating existing space,
the new construction has enclosed about
three-quarters of the JCC's center court-
yard, which had been entirely outdoors.
The school uses the third level of that
newly enclosed space, now known as the
tower, while the middle level is a five-room
conference suite. The 4,300-square-foot
space is already in use by the JCC and

Daniel Cohen Arcamore and C.J. Apel look over the book selection.

The Frankel Connection

T

he Frankel family's corn-
mitment to the school that
now bears their name first
became public in 2002 with the
announcement of a $20 million grant.
The exact size of the grant is contin-
gent on community support, explained
Dr. Marc Borovoy of West Bloomfield,
FJA president.
"If we raise $800,000 per year,
they will match $500,000 of it, for a
maximum of 20 years," Borovoy said.
"If we raise $4 million by 2009, they
will match us two to one. So there's a
potential of another $8 million from
the Frankel family."
So far, the community has respond-
ed with more than the $800,000
annually.
This is not surprising to Rabbi
Joshua Elkin, executive director of the
Boston-based PEJE (Partnership for
Excellence in Jewish Education), which
has provided grants and other forms of
assistance to the school since before
it opened.
"People give to organizations that
have a compelling vision and a compel-
ling mission," Rabbi Elkin said. "The
Frankel Jewish Academy started with

14

August 23 ® 2007

a very bold vision — what it planned to
do in providing a halachically based,
multi-denominational school — and it
delivered on that vision.
"Donors, when they see a school
delivering on its visions, are prepared
to respond."
Contributions to the FJA have come
both from members of the school
community and from others who see
the school as crucial to the continued
vitality of a Jewish future in Metro
Detroit, Borovoy said.
"The key for the com-
munity to understand is
that, without the com-
munity's support, we
will not be able to real-
ize the full $20 million,"
he said. "The Frankel
family is challenging us
to make that happen."

Since Federation is primarily respon-
sible for fund-raising for the commu-
nity, Aronson said he's seen firsthand
that donors are more willing to lend
financial support to a school with a
track record of academic excellence.
"From day one, the Academy under
Rabbi Buckman, recruited the very
best faculty money can buy," Aronson
said. "When they're looking at high
schools, parents look at where kids
have been accepted. Right from the

"The entire Frankel family believes
in the continuity of the Jewish people.
And education is absolutely crucial to
the survival of the Jewish people. You
can't do better than to invest in quality
Jewish education."
Other community, such as Cleveland,
started multi-denominational Jewish
day high schools at the same time as
Detroit, Aronson pointed out, but they
failed.
"They did not have the professional

"The key for the community to understand is that, with-
out the community's support, we will not be able to real-
ize the full $20 million," he said. "The Fran kel fa mily is
challenging us to make that happen."

- Dr. Marc Barmy, Frankel Academy president

Federation
Partners

From its earliest days, the FJA and
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit have had a unique collabora-
tion, said Robert Aronson, JFMD chief
executive officer.

first year, virtually all the graduates
have been accepted at the University
of Michigan."
"Of course, none of this would have
happened without the Frankels, espe-
cially Jean and Sam," Aronson added.

leadership we have," Aronson said.
"And, of course, they did not have
the Frankel family that we are blessed
with." LI

