The Oasis School will begin classes at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus this fall

ELLEN BRAUNSTEIN

This upcoming fall, a new Jewish high school is opening in Greater Phoenix offering a co-ed education that embraces families from religious to nonreligious backgrounds.

The Oasis School will start in-person classes in fall 2022 at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale.

Jerry Isaak-Shapiro, Oasis’ founding head of school, has relocated from Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked in a similar position for 17 years. He is now developing the school’s curriculum and programming, hiring faculty and administrators and working on getting the word out.

Isaak-Shapiro is excited about starting a new high school in a fast-growing Jewish community that’s getting younger and more affiliated with agencies and synagogues.

The school promises both a rigorous Jewish and college-prep education. “It will be non-denominationally defined and academically rigorous in general studies,” Isaak-Shapiro said. “We will take different Jewish perspectives, and we will reach out to and teach high school students from a variety of backgrounds, affiliations, faith and practice.”

Starting enrollment is expected to be anywhere from eight to 24 ninth-grade students. Grades 10, 11 and 12 will be added over three years.

The tuition for Oasis is $21,500 and the school is partnering with tuition organizations “to make sure there are financial options for our students,” Board President Tobi Rifkind said.

Talks to open a trans-denominational high school began four years ago and a board of trustees was formed that currently includes Rifkind, Elly Bycer, Raquel Schnitzer, Marcia Weisberg, David Weiner and Tomer Rothschild.

Initial discussion revolved around what

Oasis is especially interested in enrolling the more than 250 students attending K-8 Pardes Jewish Day School on the same campus where Oasis will reside. Most Pardes students end up going to non-Jewish schools after eighth grade because the only option has been single-

THE SCHOOL PROMISES BOTH A RIGOROUS JEWISH AND COLLEGE-PREP EDUCATION. “IT WILL BE NON-DENOMINATIONALLY DEFINED AND ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS IN GENERAL STUDIES,” ISAAK-SHAPIRO SAID. “WE WILL TAKE DIFFERENT JEWISH PERSPECTIVES, AND WE WILL REACH OUT TO AND TEACH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM A VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS, AFFILIATIONS, FAITH AND PRACTICE.” type of high school would be the best fit for the community. “As I moved from New Jersey and relocated here, Jewish education became very important to my family and we needed a high school for our children,” Rifkind said. gender Orthodox high schools, board member Bycer said.

“As someone who truly loves this community, and as a parent who believes firmly in serious, life-transforming Jewish education, I know that a truly inclusive school is right for our community’s future,” Rifkind said.

The name for the high school, Oasis, builds on the idea of neve midbar, an oasis in the desert, offering students not only the ability to survive but to thrive.

Oasis will be the second co-educational Jewish high school in Greater Phoenix, following the opening of Nishmat AdinShalhevet Scottsdale in August 2021.

Before the arrival of that school, which is affiliated with Rabbi Pinchas Allouche of Congregation Beth Tefillah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue, Shearim Torah High School for girls and Yeshiva High School of Arizona for boys were the only Jewish high schools in Greater Phoenix, and both are Orthodox.

Isaak-Shapiro said Oasis will have a college preparatory curriculum, possibly with Advanced Placement courses and an International Baccalaureate program. He wants to partner with the community to offer an entrepreneurial program with mentors. In addition, he said the school hopes to have a performing arts and visual arts program.

He finds the pluralistic mission of the school and its focus on Israel to be exciting. “I’m more convinced than ever before that a school that reaches out to and teaches a broad segment of our community is more necessary than ever before,” Isaak-Shapiro said.

Fundraising is ongoing and IsaakShapiro, who works with a paid fundraising consultant, said that “people in the community have been very generous with financial support. There’s a great deal of interest and excitement.”

Rabbi Elana Kanter is connected to Oasis as a supporter and co-rabbi at The New Shul, an independent synagogue in Scottsdale. She was also involved in the co-ed Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School, which closed for economic reasons in 2012.

“I’m very excited about the importance of Jewish high school education,” Kanter said. “It’s a critical piece of the Jewish educational agenda in the American Jewish community.” JN

The Oasis School is accepting applications for its first semester. To find the application and other information, visit theoasisschool.org.