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efore rushing headlong into the new school 
year, now is a good time to pause and take 
stock of the trends, transitions and changes 
that are facing Jewish education in Metro Detroit. 
Buffeted by our changing demographics, digital 
culture and a community in tran-
sition, Jewish education in Metro 
Detroit is both reacting to and 
innovating toward better meeting 
the needs of 21st-century learners.

WHAT WE KNOW FROM 
THE 2018 DETROIT JEWISH 
POPULATION STUDY
There are 12,000 Jewish children 
being raised Jewish in Metro Detroit. 
• 63 percent of Jewish children age 0-5 who 
attend a preschool or child-care program attend a 
program that is Jewish.
• 82 percent of Jewish children age 13-17 have 
received some formal Jewish education, including 
43 percent at a Jewish day school.
• 31 percent of Jewish children age 13-17 regu-
larly participated in a Jewish teenage youth group 
in the past year.
• 33 percent of respondents would very much 
prefer Jewish-sponsored afterschool care, with an 
additional 20 percent who would somewhat prefer 
Jewish-sponsored after school care.

WHAT WE KNOW FROM THE 
ANNUAL JEWISH SCHOOL CENSUS
As part of its role in serving as the community’
s 
central agency for Jewish education, the Jewish 
Community Center works closely with the Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to maintain an 
annual census of Jewish school enrollment.

TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS
Though early childhood enrollment has remained 
flat at about 1,100 children for the last 15 years, 
opportunity exists for the community to see sig-
nificant growth in this demographic. Most of the 
10 Jewish early childhood programs are at or near 
capacity. Both Hillel Day School and Temple Israel 
are adding early childhood classrooms. Orthodox 
day schools are also experiencing a significant 
growth in their early childhood programs. A 
challenge that the community faces is that there 
are insufficient Jewish infant care and early child-
hood programs in the Woodward corridor. New 
programs in this area could attract many children 
who are going elsewhere.
Day school enrollment, which has held steady at 
2,000 children for the last 20 years, is now enjoy-
ing an increase due to the growth in Orthodox day 
schools. Schools that once had one or two classes 
per grade now need three classes to meet demand. 
The question from a financial perspective will be 
how to sustain this growth.
Congregational schools have been hardest hit by 
demographic trends. For the past 10 years, there 
has averaged an annual decline of congregational 
school enrollment by 100 students per year. This 
year, there will be more children enrolled in day 
schools than in congregational schools. Last year, 
there were 700 fewer students enrolled in congre-
gational schools than in 2013-14. This decline in 
enrollment has placed a stress on congregations, 
causing schools to close and, in some cases, cre-
atively combine with other congregations.
Reasons for the decline in congregational 
schools have to do both with decline in congre-

gational membership and families enrolling their 
children for fewer years. Where 10 years ago more 
families enrolled their children in congregational 
school from first-10th grade (with a significant 
drop off after seventh grade), today’
s families are 
waiting longer to enroll their children (fourth or 
fifth grade) and the drop off after seventh grade 
has become even more pronounced. Based on data 
from the Jewish population study and school cen-
sus, while only 58 percent of eligible second-grad-
ers are enrolled in either a congregational or day 
school, more than 75 percent of sixth-graders are 
in enrolled in one of these two programs.

OPPORTUNITIES
Despite (or because of) the above demograph-
ic changes, Metro Detroit is now blessed with a 
cornucopia of opportunities for tweaking how we 
conceptualize, frame and deliver Jewish learning 
for 21st-century learners. These opportunities 
include:
• Rethinking our traditional goal of Jewish edu-
cation from surviving to thriving.
• Working collectively to provide our students 
with year-round formal and informal Jewish learn-
ing experiences in a manner which no single orga-
nization can provide on its own.
• Focusing on the needs of today’
s learners (see 
above afterschool Jewish-sponsored day care data).
• Willingness to let go of the past and rethink 
the future. ■

Jeffrey Lasday is the chief operating officer of the Jewish 
Community Center. Data for this article was researched by the 
JCC’
s summer JOIN intern Ari Nitzkin.

guest column
Jewish Education by the Numbers: 
Trends, Transitions and Opportunities

8 August 22 • 2019
jn

Jeffrey Lasday

2018-2019 K-12th Grade 
Jewish School 
Enrollment

2018-2019 Jewish School 
Enrollment by Denomination
Total: 5,343

Jewish School Enrollment Trends
6 Year Comparison

