Nat’l day school parley marked by local flavor

MetroWest delegates lead and learn during three-day PEJE event

Educators from MetroWest both learned and led sessions at the recent PEJE Assembly in Boston

Educators from MetroWest both learned and led sessions at the recent PEJE Assembly in Boston. Photos courtesy PEJE

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Other presentations featuring MetroWest speakers

Special to the NJJN

April 17, 2008

Paula Gottesman of Morristown, one of the first donors in the nation to create a grant program to help middle-income families afford Jewish day school tuition, told a rapt audience at a national conference last week that she had never studied the issue before funding it.

“We just saw a problem and decided to do something about it. It was like if you bring me a hungry child, I am going to feed that child,” Gottesman said, referring to the Base Grant program at the Nathan Bohrer-Abraham Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County in Randolph. The tuition grant program, founded by Gottesman and her husband, Jerry, in 1998, has become a national model that has helped to spur the development of similar “middle income tuition subvention” programs in Boston and other communities.

Gottesman presented the HAMC program at a packed session titled “Tackling Middle Class Squeeze” at the national Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education Assembly in Boston, April 6-8.

The PEJE Assembly — the nation’s premier Jewish day school gathering — attracted more than 1,200 attendees representing 265 schools from across the United States and Canada.

Paula Gottesman and her husband, Jerry, right

Paula Gottesman and her husband, Jerry, right, were among 35 day school professional and lay leaders from MetroWest who attended the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education’s Assembly for Jewish Day School Education, held April 6-8 in Boston.

Thirty-five day school professional and lay leaders from MetroWest attended the conference, including the Gottesmans and Brad and Robin Klatt of Livingston. Both couples are “PEJE Partners,” or members of the national PEJE board.

In addition to Gottesman’s talk, MetroWest programs and initiatives were highlighted at numerous assembly sessions.

The MetroWest Day School Campaign, a $50 million community-wide initiative to ensure affordability and academic excellence in the community’s three Jewish day schools, was highlighted at a session on day school funding. Brad Klatt, one of the founding donors of the local campaign, and Kim Hirsh, development officer for the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest and the day school campaign coordinator, presented at that session with representatives from Boston and a Southern New England consortium.

  • “Beyond Press Releases: New Ideas in Media Relations” featuring Barrie Archer, a board member at the Hebrew Academy of Morris County; Donna Oshri, director of marketing at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union; Linda Lewinter, a board member of the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School. It was moderated by NJJN editor-in-chief Andrew Silow-Carroll.
  • “Linking to Israel through Curriculum” featuring SSDSEU head of school Dr. Joyce Raynor
  • “More Effective Board Meetings: The Power of Using a Coach” featuring SSDSEU president Mark Lederman
  • “Coming Back from the Brink” on day school success stories, featuring HAMC president Arlyn Rayfield
  • “Hear it Firsthand: Donors Talk about Stewardship” featuring Beena Levy, an HAMC executive board member and day school benefactor in MetroWest.
  • “10 Years of Believing in Day School Education” featuring Jonathan Woocher, Chief Ideas Officer of the Jewish Education Service of North America and a member of the MetroWest Day School Advisory Council.

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