by Dan Perla The results of MATCH 4[1] are in and the numbers are impressive. Consider the following statistics: 119 Jewish day schools have received $9.7 million of gifts, including approximately $2.8 million of matching funds from the AVI CHAI and Kohelet foundations. The 235 schools that submitted a MATCH application came from a wide range of denominations and geographies. Cumulatively, these schools have a $1.4 billion annual operating budget and serve over 72,000 students. This suggests an average per student cost of approximately $19,000. Nearly 200 individual donors or family foundations have made new or dramatically increased gifts to a Jewish day school. With parents of a currently enrolled Jewish day school student ineligible to participate in MATCH 4, the majority of gifts … [Read more...]
MATCH 4 Helps Jewish Day Schools Raise Nearly $10 Million In Donor Funding
The Cross-Pollination of Ideas
by Deborah Fishman In February 2013, more than 900 day school professional and lay leaders gathered at the annual North American Jewish Day School Conference to network and explore new ideas around 21st century education and leadership. It was, as always, a chance to look at the day school field’s challenges and opportunities through a lens of shared optimism, excitement and innovation. Three months later, as we continue to reflect on the messages and ideas shaped and shared at the conference, we realize that day school leaders have much to share with the broader Jewish community with respect to their thinking, experimentation and lessons learned - most notably in leadership, educational technologies and sustainability. In the interest of cross-pollination and with the goal of generating … [Read more...]
WarGames: Matthew Broderick Wished He Got a Badge
by Sarah Blattner In the 1983 film WarGames, Matthew Broderick stars as David, a precocious teen, who has computer skills beyond most of his contemporaries and adults in his life. David hacks into a military computer system named Joshua, where he is challenged to play a nuclear war game. America and Russia go head-to-head as the real military system begins to launch a countdown to start World War 3. It was fun rewatching this film with my own children recently, where they were confused that a computer system took up the space of an entire room. As an educator contemplating learning in the digital age, I noticed the subplot. The audience gets acquainted with David’s student profile, a kid who blows off school and finds himself pretty bored in general. At first, he pings the computer system, … [Read more...]
Can Jewish Organizations Really Work Collaboratively? Early Lessons from Nadiv
by Josh Miller, Steven Green, Leah Nadich Meir and Joel Einleger Collaboration and partnership have become the buzzwords of our time. The business world as well as the nonprofit sector heralds the advantages of collaboration: sharing resources, bringing multiple perspectives to address difficult issues, eliminating duplication, learning from one another and pooling assets. … [Read more...]
Reflections on Jewish Leadership and an Expression of Hakarat Hatov
by Mem Bernstein [Ms. Mem Bernstein delivered this address to AVI CHAI trustees and staff to mark her first meeting of the Board of Trustees serving as Chairman of AVI CHAI. Ms. Bernstein has been a member of the AVI CHAI Board of Trustees and a member of the Foundation’s Executive Committee for the past 14 years. From 1999 through 2012, after the passing of Zalman Bernstein z”l, Arthur W. Fried served as AVI CHAI’s Chairman. Mr. Fried had been one of AVI CHAI’s founding Trustees and led AVI CHAI through a substantial growth in its funding, the development of a philanthropic portfolio in the former Soviet Union, the construction and opening of Beit AVI CHAI in Jerusalem, and the beginning of AVI CHAI’s spend-down planning. Mr. Fried will continue as an active Trustee and member of … [Read more...]
Pardes Achieves Success in Training and Retaining Judaic Studies Teachers
A just-released evaluation by the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Israel shows the achievements of its teacher training and retention programs, and demonstrates the importance of an active support system for new Judaic Studies teachers. The study, conducted by Research Success Technologies, details findings from two separate research engagements. One, commissioned by the Jim Joseph Foundation, evaluated the Pardes Educators Alumni Support Program (PEASP), while the other, commissioned by The AVI CHAI Foundation, studied the field’s impression of graduates of the Pardes Educators Program (PEP). The two-year PEP, which opened in 2000 and is funded by The Avi Chai Foundation, recruits and trains Judaic studies teachers and helps place them in North American day schools. In 2008, the Jim … [Read more...]
