Supporting English Language Learners in Jewish Day Schools

There are over 30,000 children in Jewish Day Schools in New York who do not speak English as their first or primary language.  These children come from families where the language spoken at home is Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, or Bucharian. The federal government, through Title 3, provides funding to the schools that educate these children so that they can purchase software, training materials and special English language consultants.  The Jewish Education Project facilitates 160 Jewish Day Schools to receive $4 Million worth of goods and services from that allocation.  This week, we held a Title 3 Vendor Fair as the culmination of this process.  We worked with the schools to identify their needs and matched them to appropriate vendors that provide the right solutions for their students, such as Readers Theater, an interactive audio technology and print program that engages students in learning to read English through plays and acting.  Through this work, The Jewish Education Project is helping to ensure that all Jewish children receive the tools that they need to succeed academically.