metro
Multi-Grade from page 8
Chidon Hatanach (Bible Contest), with
Akiva students having qualified for
national finals in New York City.
Educational support services provide
for academic needs for students with
special needs. An enrichment program
allows gifted and talented students to
attend sessions in math and language
arts.
The Beit Midrash Akiva program is
being developed for students, parents
and community members and will
include courses and short series led
by Klugerman and Akiva teachers on
topics including Talmud study and
Halachah. A similar after-school pro-
gram will be offered to middle school
and high school students.
6881 Orchard Lake Rd
on the Boardwal
(248) 851-5030
KETER TORAH
SYNAGOGUE
OF WEST BLOOMFIELD
Invites the community for the
HIGH HOLIDAYS 2013 — 5774 - rimm
with
Rabbi/Hazzan
Sasson Natan
September 4th — 5th 2013
5774 7"Inrerr 4ntrn
77:1U rTMV
for schedule/ticket/membership information
please contact Andree Nordan
248-682-9621
Who's In Class?
This past year's graduating class of 26
students was made up of a combina-
tion of seniors and those who had
been in the junior class.
"We had a very small junior class
last year, maybe three or four stu-
dents:' Klugerman said. "During the
summer before I arrived, we identified
what they would need to do for their
diplomas. In an accelerated design,
they were given extra work and stud-
ied over the summer to graduate.
"Our high school is very warm; all
the grades interact and the juniors
knew the seniors. The downside is
there is no senior class this year."
There are 13 freshmen, 13 sopho-
mores and 24 juniors in this year's high
school. Overall, students are still being
enrolled for the upcoming school year.
"When Akiva moved into its current
building, the school's enrollment was
240 students:' said Sidney Katz, Akiva's
former executive director who now is
involved in the school's current Lead
the Way Campaign that fundraises for
student scholarships.
"In the 12 years since then, the
school has seen enrollment increase
to on average 300 students per year.
Numbers for the 2013-2014 school
enrollment are not final; however, with
its large graduating class from last year,
Akiva anticipates a slight decrease in
enrollment this year.
"Yet with the revitalization of Metro
Detroit and an influx of new young
families in the communities that serve
as Akiva's primary feeders, Akiva antic-
ipates long-term growth:' Katz said.
"Detroit has become the new place
for young families to live. This growth
will not only benefit Akiva, but all of
our Jewish day schools and the entire
Metro Detroit Jewish community.
"On a weekly basis, there are calls
inquiring about an Akiva educa-
tion from families hoping to move to
Detroit from cities throughout the U.S.,
Canada and Israel."
In addition, Klugerman said,
"Jordana Wolfson is forging out to
Ann Arbor and other areas where day
schools end at grades 6 and 8. In fact,
some from Ann Arbor have already
reached out to us. We are looking to
build our high school."
A few of Akiva's students choose to
go to the Frankel Jewish Academy in
West Bloomfield for high school.
"Each school offers a very different
program and families choose what
appeals to them more Klugerman
said. "It is a handful of students who
go any given year. The overwhelming
majority of our students choose to stay
with Akiva for what Akiva provides
and go on to great year programs in
Israel and then colleges and universi-
ties here and abroad.
"Over the past six years, we have
a 96 percent acceptance rate at U-M
Ann Arbor. We have had students go to
Ivy League colleges and the top year-
programs in Israel. That is what we
provide. And that is why the majority
of our students stay with us through
high school."
Seventeen staff members left at the
end of the last school year.
"Turnover in teaching staff is charac-
teristic of any school that is undergoing
curricular changes," Klugerman said.
"Teachers retire, or go to other jobs.
We are fully staffed for this year:'
Of those who left, only six were full
time, according to Akiva's new execu-
tive director, Scott Cranis. "The others
were part time, including seven who
taught only one class a week. Some of
their courses have been consolidated
into other teacher's schedules:'
Needing More Space
"We are constantly looking to expand
and grow:' Klugerman said. "The house
next door, to the west of the school, has
been demolished and the land is now
Akiva's. We also have land behind the
current parking lot.
"We have drawn two sets of plans,
either for expansion or new construc-
tion, and are considering how to
finance this growth:"
Founded in 1964, the school has
been at its present location for the past
12 years and stands on the Schostak
Family Campus.
The facility was originally a church,
which was purchased by Congregation
Beth Achim and expanded.
"The Jewish Foundation, the bank-
ing and real estate arm for the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
purchased the building and leases it
to Akiva for less than market rate,"
said Eugene Sherizen, an Akiva board
member and parent, and head of the
school's physical plant committee.
Multi-Grade
10 August 22 • 2013
JN
on page 12