Jewish After School: The Jewish Education Option Modern Families Need
The numbers are in. We have a solution. It’s time to act.
The April 2023 A Census of Jewish Supplementary Schools in North America 2019-2020 from The Jewish Education Project reported that Jewish supplementary school enrollment decreased by 45% between 2006 and 2020. During the same time, the number of Jewish supplementary schools dropped by 27%.
The 2019/2020 big picture of the two primary school-year Jewish education options for non-Orthodox Jewish American children in grades 1-12 is equally startling to see:
14% attend Jewish day school
26% participate in supplementary Jewish education
60% do not receive any formal Jewish education at all
What’s more, these numbers are from four years, a worldwide pandemic, and a surge in antisemitism ago. Today’s numbers are likely more bleak.
TLDR: It’s time for a new Jewish educational option that addresses the needs of the modern Jewish family.
Jewish After School combines the essential weekday afternoon childcare modern families need with the Jewish learning and friendship families want.
It’s time for Jewish After School.
Modern family life is busy, and Jewish families are more diverse than ever. Jewish parents are juggling work, school, homework, family time, sports, activities, and daily household chores. Many of today’s families include single parents or two working parents who are overwhelmed with the demands of modern life. 72% of non-Orthodox Jews who have married since 2010 are intermarried. With all of this in mind, it’s more important than ever for Jewish organizations to provide youth engagement opportunities that are flexible, convenient, accessible, and welcoming.
Infusing Jewish content into essential services families with young children already rely on, like after-school childcare, makes it easy for families to prioritize Jewish education.
Jewish After School benefits families and students with:
Transportation from school
Homework assistance
Healthy snacks
Neighborhood Jewish friends
Fun, accessible, welcoming, camp-style Jewish education up to five days a week
A safe, nurturing home-away-from-home while parents finish the workday
Synagogues and other Jewish organizations that run after-school programs:
Establish a new entry point for families
Benefit from a new revenue stream
Strengthen Jewish connections with a new engagement option
Gain visibility in the local community
However, most communities don’t offer Jewish after-school programs. In fact, Jewish Kids Groups is one of a very small group of providers that run successful Jewish after-school programs. Others include MoEd in D.C., Makom Community in Philadelphia, Jewish Enrichment Center in Chicago, and Edah in Berkeley.
But just imagine the possibilities if existing Jewish organizations did offer Jewish after-school programs. Jewish elementary school students who would otherwise attend after-school programs at the YMCA or Boys and Girls Clubs would instead fill the halls of underused Jewish spaces and spend their weekday afternoons playing, learning, and connecting with Jewish friends and teachers. More young children would develop a love for Judaism early in their lives making them far more likely to pursue additional opportunities as they grow.
Unfortunately, launching new programs can be daunting and expensive for Jewish organizations that lack the resources, expertise, and start-up capital to achieve success…until now.
Enter The Jewish After School Accelerator
In early 2023, Jewish Kids Groups was awarded a seed grant from The Marcus Foundation and early support from the Zalik Foundation to launch the Jewish After School Accelerator (JASA) to help synagogues and other Jewish organizations across the U.S. launch their own Jewish after-school programs.
Since then, the Jewish After School Accelerator has helped 11 synagogues to develop and launch their own Jewish after-school programs.
Participating organizations receive guidance from experts and collaborate with other cohort members to:
Recruit, train, and retain staff
Structure transportation plans
Set up and manage the program’s budget
Customize the student curriculum Market the program to families
Set up classrooms and activity spaces
Establish daily schedules
Understand students’ developmental needs
Build strong relationships through effective parent communication
Accelerator participants also receive matching grants of up to $100,000 over three years to offset start-up costs.
More than 50 Jewish organizations from 32 U.S cities applied to participate in the first two JASA cohorts. Participating synagogues include:
Cohort 1: After-school programs opened fall 2023
Temple Sinai of North Dade in Miami, FL
Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati, OH
Temple B'nai Abraham in Livingston, NJ
Cohort 2: After-school programs open fall 2024
Congregation Anshai Torah in Plano, TX
Hamakom in Woodland Hills, CA
Temple Beth Sholom in San Leandro, CA
Temple Judea in Coral Gables, FL
Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, FL
Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, MA
Temple Shalom in Naples, FL
Temple Sinai in Oakland, CA
Applications for Cohort 3 are open from May 15 through June 30, 2024. Synagogues selected for this cohort will open after-school programs in the fall of 2025.
The need is clear. The JASA program is strong. The time is now.
The Jewish After School Accelerator needs additional philanthropic partners to bring Jewish after-school programs to more communities nationwide. Funders who want to make Jewish education accessible to modern families may contact Ana Robbins at ana@jewishkidsgroups.com.
About Jewish Kids Groups
Jewish Kids Groups (JKG) leads the Jewish After School Accelerator which helps organizations across the U.S. start their own Jewish after-school programs. JKG’s Atlanta-based Afterschool, B Mitzvah, and Teen Leadership Academy programs deliver camp-style Jewish learning, connection, and friendship to kids in kindergarten through 10th grade. The organization, which was founded in 2012, provides an accessible and welcoming experience to the increasingly diverse Jewish family. Learn more: www.jewishafterschools.com and www.jewishkidsgroups.com.