Day Schools

The Jewish Education Project works to ensure that the more than 300 day schools in New York achieve academic excellence and financial sustainability. We provide support and assistance to strengthen Jewish schools’ professional and lay leadership in the areas of board development, marketing, and fund-raising. The Jewish Education Project also connects Jewish day schools to government resources and helps enrich general studies.

Learn more about our work with day schools and yeshivot:

• Leadership and Sustainability: The Jewish Education Project assists day school heads, principals, development directors, and executive directors to develop the skills, knowledge, and strategies needed to solve institutional problems and achieve school goals. These include: board creation, growth, and improvement; student recruitment; and resource development.
• Government Resources and General Studies: Through leadership, innovation, professional networks, advocacy, and government relations, The Jewish Education Project leverages hundreds of millions of dollars annually in government funding in order to support and enhance instruction, facilitate student remediation and support programs, acquire classroom materials and technology, and provide professional development to educators.
• Press

Leadership and Sustainability

• Partnerships—The Jewish Education Project works in collaboration with Yeshiva University, PEJE (The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education), the Lookstein Institute of Bar-Ilan University, Torah Umesorah, the Gruss Life Monument Funds, and the AVI CHAI Foundation to enhance day school life in New York.
• Israel Berman Day of Learning—More than 1300 Judaic and general studies elementary school teachers and educational leaders from over forty-five 45 schools are brought together for an annual day of learning, professional networking, and growth.
• Sustainability Consultants—The Jewish Education Project is providing the resources and strategy for the Tri-State Solomon Schechter Consortium’s marketing and branding initiative, as part of its efforts to increase day school enrollment from the non-Orthodox community.
• Online Learning—The Jewish Education Project, in partnership with JESNA (Jewish Education Service of North America) and the AviChai Foundation, launched a new website, DigitalJLearning, created to support North American Jewish Day Schools exploring implementing online learning into their general studies classrooms.
  www.digitalJlearning.org
• Parent to Parent - Parents are the greatest advocates for the value of a day school education. The Jewish Education Project, with support from UJA-Federation of New York, seeks to leverage the powerful voices of parents in day schools and yeshivot to encourage other parents to consider a day school education for their children.  Learn more about Parent to Parent.
• Day School Collaboration Network (DSCN) - Leading administrators from 10 New York day schools are redefining leadership, leveraging new financial resources, and exploring ways to address 21st century opportunities and challenges facing Jewish day school education. Learn more about the DSCN. 

Government Resources and General Studies

• NYC Department of Education Professional Development Contract—The Jewish Education Project staff and consultants provide high-quality, individualized coaching and professional development programs directly to Jewish day school staff. Using a data-driven instruction approach, an instructional improvement plan drives the targeted professional development activities. The program is co-constructed with the school’s educational leaders and is adaptable to meet individual school’s needs.
• New York State Testing—The Jewish Education Project helps make the New York State educational exams more meaningful, seamless, and feasible for Jewish day schools by facilitating access to the NYS student data warehouse; facilitating test taking, marking, and scoring; analyzing the test results for improved instruction; and advocating for government and private resources to reduce costs.
• Project SIR (Success in Reading)—The Jewish Education Project has designed and implemented a research-based pre-reading and early reading instruction and assessment program to enhance early literacy, prevent reading disabilities, and provide remediation for children with true reading disabilities.
• Special Education Resource Guide—The Jewish Education Project provides an annual guide for families seeking to find the appropriate special services for their child within the Jewish day school system. 
  School-Related Services for Jewish Persons with Special Needs.
• Federal and New York State Funded Programs—The Jewish Education Project researches and provides guidance for and access to government-funded educational materials, student support, and professional development.
• Federal, State, and Local Representation and Advocacy—The Jewish Education Project represents and advocates for more than 120,000 Jewish day school students on many government councils including: USDE private school leadership, New York State Education Department Committee of Practitioners, New York State Regents’ Technology Policy and Practices Council, New York State Education Department Mandated-Services Working Group, New York State Education Department Literacy Team, NYC Committee of Nonpublic School Officials, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and NYC Department of Education Committee of Religious School Officials.
• BJE High School Placement Exam—The Jewish Education Project produces and administers a standardized placement exam for Jewish high schools every November in locations throughout the city. More than 2000 eighth graders take the Judaic and general studies multiple-choice exam every year.
  Judaic Studies Sample Test
  Syllabus for Judaic Studies Exam
• Be'ad HaYeled—For schools with 10-25 participants, The Jewish Education Project can provide certification programs for the prevention and intervention of bullying and aggression and for child abuse identification and reporting.  At this time, we cannot accommodate requests for individuals seeking certification.
• Academic Calendars—The Jewish Education Project provides a standard academic calendar for day schools and yeshivot.
  2012-2013 Calendar
  2013-2014 Calendar
  2014-2015 Calendar
  2015-2016 Calendar

Press:

• The Jewish Week—Feeding Frenzy in Brooklyn
• Hamodia—Pilot Program Provides 2,700 Free Kosher Lunches to Children
• The Jewish Voice—Food Truck Provides 2,700 Free Lunches to NYC Children in Underserved Neighborhoods
• 5 Towns Jewish Times—Nassau County Council of Religious and Independent Schools
• The Jewish Week—Students Seen 'Suspicious' Of Israel Education
• The Jewish Week—Day Schools Exploring Online Learning