Prizmah, the network for jewish day schools across north america, surveyed 110 schools across the united states and canada (99 in the US, 11 in Canada), between the beginning of the war through december 8th, in order to determine the Impact of the Israel-Hamas war on Jewish day school enrollment in North America. The results are extraordinary:
“Ninety-five percent of (jewish day) schools reported receiving inquiries and/or enrollment from temporary Israeli students interested in transferring on a short term basis to a Jewish day school, and over 1,000 temporary Israeli students enrolled in the schools that responded to the survey…Nearly half (49%) of schools reported not charging tuition to these temporary students. The remainder of schools reported charging a prorated tuition, made decisions on a case by case basis, and free for the first month with steep discounts afterwards.”
These are vast amounts of students, substantially larger than usual in recent years, and the help and financial consideration coming from the schools makes the shift in enrollment possible.
The amount of inquiries coming from public school students is far larger than usual as well:
“39% of (Jewish day) schools, representing 42 schools, reported inquiries and/or enrollment from public school students interested in transferring mid-year… 146 inquiries and a total of 24 public school transfer students already enrolled in 13 schools.”
What are the reasons for this wave of enrollment to Jewish day schools?
According to Prizmah’s survey, responses to this question include fear of antisemitism in the school or community and dissatisfaction with the response from the children’s current schools around the war in Israel. However, the leading response (73%) is “Wanting their child(ren) to be in a Jewish environment.”
Increasingly, Jewish parents across North America are realizing, in light of the war, just how important a Jewish education can be for identity formation. More and more children will benefit from this realization by receiving a Jewish education in a safer environment.
To read the full Prizmah report-
https://prizmah.org/sites/default/files/2023-12/Enrollment%20Trend%20Report.pdf
To respond-
tgnovick3@gmail.com
