Atlanta’s Jewish Day Schools are a cornerstone of our community. The lessons that children learn and the friends they make while attending school will stay with them their whole lives, and their experiences there can make or break their connections to Jewish life. Federation supports our local schools in many ways and aims to give kids the best possible experience while they learn.
Day schools receive an annual allocation from Federation based on enrollment. For the current fiscal year, the total allocation for our community day schools is $1,124,736, which represents 13% of our annual allocations. Additionally, just under $500,000 has been distributed to schools since 2020 from Federation’s Covid Relief Fund to help cover the costs of Covid response and reopening.
Our various initiatives support day schools in other ways, including:
- ALEF Fund provides scholarships to day school students
- The Shinshinim cohort works in 5 of our partner schools and runs activities about Israel, holidays, Jewish culture, culture, and more
- Jewish Abilities Atlanta provides disability inclusion training to day school students and professionals and provides microgrants for inclusion projects (like sensory spaces and flexible seating options)
- Federation’s Community Security Director, Neil Rabinovitz, works with day schools on security assessments to keep our schools safe
- PJ Library partners with some schools on concerts and other programming
- The Atlanta Jewish Foundation manages many schools’ endowments and helps donors direct gifts from their Donor Advised Funds to the schools
Federation and the Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI) are also planning The Partnership 2Gether Educators Seminar in 2023. This trip will take teachers from our local day schools to our partner region in Israel, Yokneam. There will be several learning sessions before their departure in January 2023 coordinated by the Federation. This is a unique educational experience to learn more about the Israeli educational system and explore additional opportunities for connection between Atlanta and Israel. The school twinning programs promote the sense of Jewish Peoplehood and shared responsibility for students in schools in Atlanta, Yokneam and Megido. Students have the chance to meet each other for dynamic conversations around issues such as Jewish Identity and Social Responsibility. Twinning programs, likewise, link educators for professional and personal enrichment.
If you want to support the Jewish Day Schools of Atlanta, you can donate to Federation’s Partner’s Fund. Money from this fun is granted annually to each of our schools and makes a significant impact on the way young Jewish kids experience school.
