The Jewish day school has become an established and accepted institution in virtually every Jewish community – even communities of only modest Jewish population. In fact, within the last two decades, many communities are able to boast multiple day schools representing a wide variety of affiliations and orientations. Though 75% of day school enrollment is to be found in schools of Orthodox affiliation, it is significant that the approximately 50,000 non-Orthodox children in day schools represent a doubling within the last twenty years.

Given these remarkable numbers and the wider and wider respect and acceptance that day schools enjoy today within their communities, it is challenging to imagine a time when this was not the case. Furthermore, how does one explain what has led to the rapid and extensive expansion in the number of day schools?

Imagine the decades during which most Jews reached the United States. They came in record numbers – approximately 3.5 million. Though many were very observant, they did not establish full-day Jewish schools. The dominant prevailing ethos within the United States was characterized by an emphasis on Americanization. The image of the melting pot gained ascendancy, as an increasingly diverse society attempted to cope with the creation of a cohesive community. The key institution supporting the melting pot was the public school system, to which Jews flocked. Any other choice was considered anti-American. The Jewish educational institutions of choice became those that functioned after public school hours – often quite intensively – 10-12 hours per week.

A second reality of the growing Jewish community in the early decades of the last century was the establishment of concentrated Jewish neighborhoods throughout the country. These neighborhoods helped to shape Jewish identity by fostering extensive social, cultural, and religious contacts and experiences beyond the school or workday.

As powerful as the forces of Americanization were, the vitality of organic Jewish communities and neighborhoods served to enhance Jewish life in profound and sustaining ways.

One can conclude that the internal forces shaped by Jewish neighborhood, coupled with the external dominant ethos of Americanization and the melting pot, combined to render day schools neither needed nor acceptable.

For the most part (though there were some notable exceptions), these internal and external forces remained dominant even until the mid-1950s.

The growth of suburbia represents one of the most profound changes to take place in the United States. The rise of these new tracts of settlement swept the country during the decade following World War II. The Jewish community embraced this trend, and, as a result, the population density within the larger Jewish communities dropped. The concentrated Jewish neighborhoods began to give way to suburban sprawl. Though synagogues and JCCs sprang up rapidly to adjust to this spreading out of population (and, in some cases, to actually propel it forward), the neighborhood density that existed in the first half of the century was noticeably eroded.

Simultaneously with these new realities of internal Jewish life and community came a dramatic shift in the prevailing ethos of American society – a shift from the melting pot to an embracing of cultural and religious diversity. The failure of differences to “melt,” as well as a rise in the free expression of varying identities, propelled a new view of what made the United States unique. The celebration of differences and their increasing acceptance laid the foundation for the Jewish community to embrace boldly its roots, its heritage, and its uniqueness.

The demise of the melting pot ethos and the decline of Jewish neighborhoods fueled by suburbanization set the stage for the establishment of a very large number of day schools between the years of 1955 and 1975. It was now acceptable to open sectarian schools, and the establishment of such schools was seen as a powerful way to shape a more cohesive Jewish environment – a neighborhood, if you will, to help parents and children recreate an organic sense of Jewish community. The Orthodox, the Conservative, and the community or non-denominational schools all experienced rapid growth in number of students and number of schools. By the end of the 1970’s, Reform Jews also were beginning to open schools. American Jewry’s attachment to and pride in the State of Israel -- as well as the sense of vulnerability created by the Holocaust and by the traumas of the 1956, 1967, and 1973 Middle East Wars -- undoubtedly contributed to the intensity of activity focused on the building and growing of Jewish day schools. (Note: Because Canada never had a melting pot ethos, those Jews who emigrated to Canada were free to create all-day Jewish day schools immediately upon arrival, hence the more established and larger schools which have existed in Canada for decades – schools which can collectively boast a solid majority of the Jewish children in attendance at any point in time.)

The story since 1975 has been one of consistent growth. The internal search for community and the external embracing of pluralism continued to intensify and, thereby, to perpetuate the ripe circumstances for a continued rise in the number of schools and students. Parents have sought out these schools in record numbers, both because of their high quality as well as because of their capacity to nurture moral citizens possessing solid Judaic literacy and identity. In fact, the 1990s witnessed the opening of an unprecedented number of new Jewish day schools, including a record number of community high schools, appealing primarily to the non-Orthodox community. The groundedness that Jewish day school graduates feel in their tradition has enabled them to move on through high school, college, and beyond as confident and involved Jews. Though more systematic research on day school graduates must be done, the completed research and anecdotal evidence point unmistakably to the critical role that day schools are playing and will continue to play in forging an inspiring, literate, and active Jewish community in the years ahead. Jewish communal leadership, on many levels, is increasingly embracing the critical role day schools are playing, as are philanthropists and funders, who are making unprecedented financial commitments to help provide vital resources for annual and capital needs.

The rapid growth of day schools could not have been possible without the dedication and talent of at least two generations of teachers, administrators, and lay leaders serving on day school Boards of Directors. The commitment of schools and their leadership to make day school education accessible through tuition assistance programs has been outstanding. The establishment and growth of the day school umbrella organizations has contributed significantly to cross-school learning and collaboration, which has, in turn, fostered an evolving excellence within each individual school. The partnership of federations, BJEs, synagogues, and JCCs has also figured prominently in the unfolding of the day school story in many communities across the continent.

If 1975 – 2000 represented the years of rapid growth, the next twenty-five years must be the years for creating and institutionalizing an infrastructure to support the excellence and vitality of these critical institutions for the future. What are the key challenges which must be addressed if day schools are to realize their fullest potential?

Broad Advocacy Campaign Despite the impressive growth of the day school movement, over two-thirds of the non-Orthodox community remain untouched by and unknowledgeable about Jewish day schools. The joy, excitement, and excellence of these schools remain unknown to so many. The day school story is not being told widely enough. Those familiar with the benefits of a day school education must take it upon themselves to introduce others to the reality of the Jewish day school experience. Nothing can take the place of a first-hand visit to a school so that preconceived notions can be dispelled, while the energy and engagement is experienced first-hand. Over time, a broad-based advocacy effort will lead to an increase in enrollment and funding that will enable day schools to touch the lives of more and more students and their families.

Envisioning the Future The American Jewish community must devote more energy to envisioning and imagining the institutions and Jewish communities of the future. We cannot live merely from year to year without losing the vital creativity and inspiration which comes from looking beyond the immediate. Such visioning efforts must happen on multiple levels: the individual school, multiple day schools working together, day school-synagogue-JCC, total community, and Israel-Diaspora. Such efforts by lay and professional leadership will help to answer such questions as:

• Who is the ideal day school graduate?
• What should be the proper relationship among Jewish preschools, synagogue schools, day schools, youth groups, and summer camps?
• What is the relationship between day school students and the general society, and what does it mean to support Jewish day school education and public education at the same time?
• How should day schools and their constituencies relate to the State of Israel?

Leadership Jewish day schools are the most complex, intensive, and expensive institutions within the contemporary Jewish community. As such, they require lay and professional leadership (administrators, teachers) of the highest caliber. While some important efforts are already underway to address these needs, much more needs to be done. Systematic recruitment of high-quality professionals for teaching and administrative positions must become the norm. Day school nominating committees must assume year-long responsibility to identify, cultivate, orient, and develop the best day school Board members from the ranks of both current day school parents and non-parents. The day school board room must become one of the most honored and valued places to be, and day school board performance must become increasingly sophisticated and efficient.

A Culture of Expertise and Excellence The rapid establishment and maturation of day schools has created high expectations for these schools, and rightly so. In many cases, these schools are relatively young, and hence lack the traditions of excellence and the knowledge of best practices distilled from decades of experience. To help consolidate day school growth and to ease the next challenges, access to high-level expertise must become a regular feature of day school practice. Knowledgeable and experienced experts exist in virtually every field. Schools must connect with them in an increasing number of areas of school practice so that the institution’s learning curve can be shortened. Routine opportunities for reflection and evaluation will add significantly to the capacity of the day schools to be continually improving.

Financial Resources Though successful advocacy leads to increased financial capacity, the fiscal needs of day schools warrant separate consideration. These needs span annual, capital, and endowment. They relate to the challenges of raising teacher salaries to remain competitive, building state-of-the-art facilities to respond to record high enrollments, and establishing permanent endowments to help provide badly needed tuition assistance, and even across-the-board tuition stabilization support. Schools must learn the sophisticated skills of resource development, including the respective roles for the lay and professional leadership.

As exciting as the last twenty-five years have been for day schools in North America, the next quarter century holds out great promise for the continued growth and deepening of the day school movement and the day school experience. Many of the building blocks are in place. While challenges remain, the future growth and positive contributions of the Jewish day schools will be a key part of the increased vibrancy of the North American Jewish community.

Rabbi Joshua Elkin is the Executive Director of The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), a collaborative initiative of major philanthropic partners, designed to strengthen Jewish day school education in North America.