HEBREW ACADEMY ORANGE COUNTY
COMMUNITY
Families are Transferring to Jewish Day Schools, Here’s Why Karen Berger | Hebrew Academy Admissions
The past year-plus has added unforeseen twists and turns in many families’ educational journeys, especially during those long months of lock-downs and distance learning. As parents reconsidered their options during the pandemic, an interesting trend became apparent. Seeking community, support, interaction and personal attention from teachers in this time of crisis, more families transferred their students to Jewish day schools. In fact, according to a recent Niche study, public school consideration dropped from 86% in 2020 to 70% in 2021.1 According to Prizmah, Jewish day schools across North America saw a significant increase in enrollment between September 2019 and September 2021, across denominational lines.2 In another study conducted with newly enrolled families, parents shared several reasons for choosing to switch their children to Jewish day schools, including the devoted teachers, the rigorous quality of academic programs, wholesome values and the vibrant range of Jewish experiences.3 When conducting our own internal surveys, Hebrew Academy (HA) found that our families ranked the strength of our academic programs as one of the primary First Grader, Isaiah G. is fully engaged with reasons for choosing HA. Many of his creation in the all new Hebrew Academy our wonderful instructors have MakerSpace. taught multiple generations of scholars. Our students score exceptionally high on standardized tests as well as college board exams, and have a 98% acceptance rate into institutions of higher learning. Families also love the Jewish learning experience at The Hebrew Academy. They are drawn to our uniquely differentiating commitment to values-based and purpose-driven education that supports our students’ academic success while engaging them in their communities. One way we engage our students in the community is through our annual Grand SLAM (Service Learning through Active Mitzvot) projects conducted throughout each school year. Students at every grade level select a non-profit organization. Through research, collaboration and understanding of the organization’s mission, as a class they decide how to support their organization of choice, individually and collectively. This year our students have chosen to support many local and national organizations. To promote literacy, our Kindergarten students will be supporting Reach out and Read. Our third graders have chosen to do projects with Simchat Shabbat, including assembling care packages for hospitalized patients and families in need. Our upper school students plan to complete mitzvah projects for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), which offers educational, cultural, recreational and social services for soldiers protecting Israel and Jews worldwide. (For a complete list of class projects visit: www.HACDS.org/MitzvahDay.) “I’ve seen how the Grand SLAM projects deepen learning for our students,” says Principal Dr. Bryn Harari. “Seamlessly integrating Jewish education and Common Core academics creates meaning and purpose for students. When Dynamic and devoted teachers contribute to students apply academic skills Hebrew Academy’s high success rates. to real-life scenarios they are
motivated, which in turn inspires learning, transforming scholars into leaders.” As Hebrew Academy fifth grade student Sara (Mission Viejo) proudly shared, “A mitzvah is a good deed. If everyone would do one Mitzvah the world would be a better place.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. If you’d like to learn more about the Hebrew Academy and our Grand SLAM mitzvot projects, call 714.898.0051 ext. 284 or email admissions: admissions@hacds.org.
Hebrew Academy Second Graders create Chanukah greeting cards for seniors for their class mitzvah project “Smiles for Seniors.”
1 Niche 2021 Survey of Parents Searching for K-8 Schools. November, 2021. 2 Prizmah Enrollment Pulse Survey Report. October 2021. 3 “Seizing the Moment: Transferring to Jewish Day School During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Prizmah. October 7, 2021.
The MakerSpace and the SLAM program are partially funded by a grant from Jewish Long Beach.
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