NORTHERN NEW JERSEY KEHILLOT INVESTING IN DAY SCHOOLS

NNJKIDS is a crucial first step in a broader long-term initiative to assure access to a high quality dual curriculum and to make day schools affordable for Jewish families.

The key to making day schools affordable for all in our community lies in a united communal approach.  The focus of this effort is as much about attaining 100% community-wide participation as it is about the amount of each individual contributes.  By going to the donation page on this website and signing on to contribute to the best of your ability, you are doing your part to ensure the continued availability of a top quality Jewish education for children now and for future generations.

Over the past few years, day school affordability has reached crisis proportions in our community. Parents are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their obligations to our schools, scholarship needs are rising dramatically and some are considering sending their children to public school or significantly limiting their family size. During the 2008-09 school year, our elementary schools provided over $7 million in scholarship assistance to approximately 900 students (about 25% of the total school population).  Today’s funding model is no longer sustainable.  To maintain high quality education that is accessible to children, Jewish education must be viewed as a communal obligation that is supported by the entire community-not just day school parents.

Regardless of whether you currently send children to a local day school and irrespective of whether you have any direct connection to a day local day school, every Jewish individual, as a member of a Jewish community, benefits from the existence high quality local day schools.  Day schools are a key ingredient of Jewish survival, providing a foundation for vibrant Jewish communities, which, in turn, nurture a spectrum of religious congregations.   The day school movement provides crucial support to Israel, sending its high school graduates to study there, advocating on its behalf and supporting it financially and through a network of organizations.  Sustaining our day schools is critical to sustaining Jewish life.

The proceeds of NNJKIDS will help mitigate tuition increases and provide critical assistance to meet our burgeoning scholarship needs which are currently in excess of $7 million dollars. NNJKIDS is a unified effort that includes day schools of all denominations in the Northern New Jersey area. Orthodox synagogues and schools are launching this program initially but we hope other denominations will soon follow. To strengthen the synagogue to school affiliation, funds collected from the members of synagogues will be allocated to schools in that denomination, unless otherwise indicated by donor. Funds will be allocated on a per capita basis, based on the number of preK-8 students in each school residing in Northern New Jersey. Distribution will occur quarterly.

It is only by recognizing that this is a community venture that we can work towards an enduring solution to the crippling financial situation faced by so many families.

Our local effort is part of what is fast becoming a national movement backed by communities across the country.  Unity at the local level will ultimately translate into unity among Jewish communities nationwide and imbue us with the strength that is inherent in the cumulative effect of individuals standing together, committed to Jewish education for generations.