Move in S ecials to
our
atilt
i t.
different movements.
In the wake of what is now recog-
nized as a tuition crisis in the day
school movement, many of the col-
laborations focused on finding new
sources of funding.
"The cost of Jewish education has
been growing faster than income
for a very long time said Nathan
Lindenbaum, a trustee at the Moriah
School in Englewood, N.J., and
Yeshivat Noam in Paramus, N.J., dur-
ing a first-day session on community
collaboration. "We believe the current
model is not sustainable. It's impact-
ing across denominations."
Matter Of Funding
Lindenbaum introduced session
participants to Jewish Education For
Generations, a group of northern New
Jersey rabbis and educators represent-
ing the Orthodox and Conservative
day schools in the area who banded
together to create alternative funding.
One result is Northern New Jersey
Kehillot Investing in Day Schools,
commonly referred to as the Kehillah
Fund.
The group collects donations through
its Web site, nnjkids.org . It has made
one distribution to each of the area's
eight elementary day schools and
intends to continue distributing funds
quarterly.
"Our fundamental belief is there is
nothing wrong with our educational
model: Lindenbaum said. "Our edu-
cational model is wonderful. What's
wrong is our funding model."
Working Together
Also on the panel were Uri Cohen,
director of development at the
Solomon Schechter School Manhattan,
and Elaine Suchow, director of
development and coordinator of the
Tri-State Consortium at the Solomon
Schechter School of Queens. The
consortium brought together area
Schechter schools for a joint brand-
ing campaign, the first such effort at
cooperation.
"In the landscape of day schools,
collaboration is not assumed:' Cohen
said. "There's not an expectation that
the schools work together, so any col-
laborations at any level is a step in the
right direction."
The tuition crisis was the "subtext"
for the entire conference, said Moriah
School principal Elliot Prager, but
the event should become a model for
future collaboration among the move-
ments. The day school community as a
whole has shifted its focus in the past
two years from innovation to simply
remaining viable, he added, and that is
a major challenge for everyone.
"Each movement may have its own
visions and its own priorities;' he said,
"but ultimately we're all guided by the
same goal and ideal of ensuring the
future of the Jewish people."
"Working across the denominations
is a wonderful success and break-
through:' Rabbi Jonathan Knapp, prin-
cipal of Yavneh Academy in Paramus,
told The Jewish Standard. "We are all
jointly invested in Jewish continu-
ity. It's exciting [to have everybody
together]."
Others echoed Knapp's sentiments.
"It's incredible that we have all
these different networks coming
together:' said Susan Weintrob, head
of school of the Ronald C. Wornick
Jewish Day School in Foster City,
Calif. "We find we have a lot of com-
mon ground. We have a diversity of
ideas."
Scope Of Sharing
Ariella Allen, Judaic coordinator at
Yeshiva Atlanta, said that upon her
return, she would begin looking into
new technologies she learned about at
the conference, such as video confer-
encing between classrooms in differ-
ent regions.
The conference was "a great oppor-
tunity to learn from one another;' she
said. "We have excellent educators all
over the field. People have been more
than willing to put aside their differ-
ences and gain from what everyone
has to offer."
Nellie Harris, upper school prin-
cipal of the Solomon Schechter Day
School of Westchester in New York,
said she was particularly interested
in the conference's theme of how
Jewish education will adapt to the
21st century. She called the confer-
ence "a balance between theory and
practice as educators figure out how
to move forward.
"There was an opportunity for us
to not only talk about those skills, but
also what is unique about Jewish day
schools:' she said.
A decision on whether to repeat the
conference is still far off, Kramer said,
adding, "We are leaving open the door
to all the possibilities."
Renee Salzberg of the Hebrew Day
Institute in Baltimore said she hoped
the conference would lead to more col-
laboration.
"It's a great beginning;' she said. El
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