24 August 22 • 2019
jn

STACY GITTLEMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER F

ollowing the prophetic biblical 
verse of enlarging the site of one’
s 
tent, several Jewish day schools in 
Metro Detroit welcome back students 
this fall to larger facilities to accommo-
date for 21st-century learning although 
overall school enrollment remains the 
same. 
New this year is an expansion of 
leased space at the Jewish Community 
Center for Frankel Jewish Academy in 
West Bloomfield, a new early childhood 
center wing at Hillel Community Day 
school in Farmington Hills and a new 
building for the girls’
 school at Yeshivah 
Beth Yehudah. Farber Hebrew Day 
School continues its accreditation pro-
cess. 

FRANKEL JEWISH ACADEMY
With a 17,000-square-foot expansion 
of the school in the lower level of the 
Jewish Community Center, FJA also 
announced it has signed a 10-year lease 
to remain at the JCC. 
 FJA Director of Advancement Shana 
Kantor said the school has a “
great, 
long-term” relationship at the JCC. For 
high schoolers, the building — now with 
its new café/lounge area in the main 
entrance, pool, gyms, art studios and 
other amenities — is the perfect setting. 
She said the school, which serves stu-
dents in grades 9-12, will have a student 

body of 160 this year, including about 22 
freshmen. 
“Throughout the entire JCC campus, 
there is so much positive energy here for 
our students to take advantage of and 
contribute to,
” Kantor said. “Whether 
they are doing STEM-related exploration 
in our labs or working in our art studios 
or doing community service visits with 
residents in our Jewish Senior Life resi-
dences, the JCC is a happy, natural fit for 
our students.
”
In its new space on the lower level, 
FJA is using the area occupied by the 
former library and converting it to a 
multi-purpose space, making it accessi-
ble for collaborative study group work 
and as a meeting place for afterschool 

clubs. 
The school is also converting the 
4,550-square-foot-space of the Aaron 
DeRoy Theatre into a black-box theater 
to enhance its performing arts offerings. 
The Jewish Ensemble Theater departed 
the JCC last fall and opened a new loca-
tion in Walled Lake. 
The high school is also changing its 
schedule with a later start time, with 
school days running from 8:30 to 3:15. 
According to many studies on the 
sleep needs of teens, starting one hour 
later has been proven to have positive 
outcomes on the physical and mental 
well-being of teens, who are often too 
sleepy to be focused for early-morning 
classes. And unlike public high schools 

back to school

Day Schools 
Welcome 
Students Back

Jewish day schools in Metro 
Detroit are expanding, both 
physically and academically.

TOP: A student 

concentrates on an art 

project at FJA.

RIGHT: Students stay 

busy at the Hillel EEC.

continued on page 26