The National Jewish Day School Foundation is gifting the 10 elementary day schools in Phoenix and St. Louis a total of $150,000 in “dollar for dollar” matching funds as tuition scholarships for families in financial need. The Foundation was formed by Michael and Carol Dean of Sedona, AZ, to build Jewish identity, values, literacy and community through supporting Jewish day school education. Distributions will be made through the Foundation’s EXCEL (EXcellence in Classroom Education and Learning) Scholarship Fund.

Each of the area elementary day schools will have six months to fulfill the match. The schools then will determine the families which will receive scholarships applied to tuition for the 2010-11 academic year.