February may be the shortest month, but this year it was certainly not short on productivity. Five Jewish media organizations—JTA, the Forward, eJewishPhilanthropy, Jewcy, and Jewschool—partnered with self-described Jewish community activist Daniel Sieradski and JFNAto unleash the ultimate brainstorming session upon the Jewish blogosphere. These suggestions, designed to “change the Jewish future,” were called 28 Days, 28 Ideas, and I was struck by the variety, scope, and originality of the offerings.
I highly encourage you to take some time and read all 28 in full, but for the next few hundred words, I’ll be focusing on the seven that I think connect to Jewish day schools. They range from curricular to big-picture, from thought experiments to action items. read more…
The following is a guest post from Renee Rubin Ross, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University. If you would like to learn more about her research, she is leading a webinar on April 14.
Some might suggest that Jewish day schools are just like independent schools, except Jewish. Day schools are often encouraged to think about their similarities with independent schools and draw on the governance, fundraising, and administrative practices of independent schools.
But my dissertation research suggests that a Jewish day school is something quite different than a “Jewish independent school.” For a year, I conducted ethnographic research at a Jewish day school, a Catholic school, and a secular independent school, exploring how parents were involved in each of the three schools. I interviewed administrators, teachers, and parents, and attended parent events. What I found was that the terms of the relationship between parents and administration were qualitatively different across the schools. read more…
In preparation for our upcoming governance program, Build Your Own Board, I’ve had many conversations with school leaders across the country, and I’ve found that we don’t all have the same definition of a Committee on Trustees. Or we’re using different words to describe it. Sometimes it feels like we’re all saying the same thing in different languages.
Here are some names for a Committee on Trustees that I’ve encountered in the past few months:
- Nominating Committee
- Governance Committee
- Institutional Advancement Committee
- Board Development Committee
In addition to having many names for the Committee on Trustees, Jewish day schools across North America have different board structures. Some schools have one committee charged with completing the functions of a Committee on Trustees, and some schools split the work up into a few different committees. The 10 crucial functions of a Committee on Trustees are listed below with a quick explanation of what we at PEJE mean when we talk about board functions: read more…
Recently I was visiting a Jewish day school and walking the grounds with a newly hired development associate. We ran into the principal of the elementary school who had not yet met the associate. When I introduced the employee and gave her title as “development associate,” the principal asked, “What exactly will you be developing?”
Although I chuckled to myself, it made me think about a how seasoned educator and professional such as this principal could have no idea why the development associate was hired. What was she going to be developing?
As I tried to answer the question in my head, I came up with the following: read more…
This past weekend, I noticed something basic about the Hebrew calendar that I had overlooked; in the Torah’s counting, Nisan is the first month of the year, which means that Adar is the very last month. I never really thought of Adar as the end of the year. When I think of year’s end, I think of conclusions, possibly coupled with some anxiety and apprehension about whether I met my goals set at the beginning of the year. However, that is not the message of Adar at all. With Purim at the center of this month, we begin to experience a time of joy and increased happiness. This caboose of months shows itself to be a time of transition, with a happy “ending.” What is the message for us who work in the day school field?
Let’s first take a look at the Megillah. Based on the text, we see that in Adar, the Jews of Persia suffered a capricious and horrific reversal of fortune. One moment things were wonderful, and the next, everything suddenly became so very precarious. In the midst of these dire circumstances, our people stayed together, with great solidarity and fortitude, and their resolve helped to bring about the transition to a new day of light and joy. Each person harnessed his or her inner strength to weather the crisis, thereby collectively augmenting the joy and happiness.
As we fast forward to our contemporary realities, we can thankfully say that we in North America have not known the depth of fear and vulnerability that the Jews of Persia experienced. And yet, we have weathered a changing and challenging economy – and we continue to be challenged. Our day schools are sensitive enterprises that can easily experience both ups and downs. What can help us continue to navigate successfully through these waters? I offer three responses. read more…
