Yeshivat He'Atid Opens in Bergenfield, NJ, with 116 students
Yeshivat He’Atid Opens in Bergen County with 116 Students, Paving the Way for a Crop of Jewish “Blended” Schools
Yeshivat He’Atid opened Sept. 4 with Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade. The 21st Century educational model provides the Jewish community with affordable excellence – at a 40 percent cost savings to Jewish day school parents.
This September, Yeshivat He’Atid is providing Jewish communities nationwide with a groundbreaking new model for high quality, affordable Jewish day school education. The Blended Learning model combines traditional, face-to-face instruction with online learning to maximize meaningful teacher-student interaction and promote the use of data to enhance the quality of education. Opened Sept. 4 with 116 students in its first year, Yeshivat He’Atid is re-imagining the Jewish day school classroom of the 21st Century.
“We have hired a team of dedicated teachers, all of whom are passionate about the opportunity to be trained in this innovative educational model and be on the forefront of Jewish education,” said Rabbi Netanel Gralla, Head of School at Yeshivat He’Atid.
The school has renovated a school building on South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, N.J., and put in place the tools and curriculum to support its blended learning model.
The blended learning model provides students with personalized instruction to create a more efficient classroom and reduce the need for resources outside the classroom. As a result, Yeshivat He’Atid will save the community an astonishing $600,000 this year alone. When fully built out, Yeshivat He’Atid is estimated to save the community $5 million annually.
The school’s impact transcends this community. Lay leaders and educators across the country are watching Yeshivat He’Atid’s progress with much enthusiasm. There are two local Yeshivat He’Atid-style Jewish schools (in the Five Towns and in Westchester) that are in the planning phases, as well as several others that are embracing blended learning in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Boston.
“Yeshivat He’Atid’s goal has always been to see its model replicated in other Jewish communities,” said Gershon Distenfeld, one of the founding board members of Yeshivat He’Atid who recently spoke at a parlor meeting for Tiferet Academy, a school in planning stages in the Five Towns “We are in close contact with other lay leaders who are interested in bringing the Yeshivat He’Atid model to their communities.”
Yeshivat He’Atid’s efforts attracted the attention of the Affordable Jewish Education Project (AJE), a non-profit founded by a group of philanthropists whose mission is to help provide affordable, high-quality education for any Jewish family who seeks it. The AJE embraces the blended learning model as the paradigm for sustainable Jewish education, and works with Jewish schools across the country to adopt this model.
Jeff Kiderman, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the AJE, praised Yeshivat He’Atid’s leadership in the national movement for revamping Jewish education. “We are very excited by Yeshivat He’Atid’s role in spearheading the growing national movement for high-quality, affordable Jewish education. We will continue to work closely with Yeshivat He’Atid, along with other schools and communities, as we pursue the goal of enabling every Jewish family to afford a high-quality education.”
To date, Yeshivat He’Atid has raised more than $1.3 million to cover one-time start-up costs and scholarship needs. The Affordable Jewish Education Project and the AVI CHAI Foundation have been integral partners in Yeshivat He’Atid’s success, providing funding and critical support needed to hire blended learning experts to develop the school’s blended educational model. In addition, the Orthodox Union provided seed funding to develop blended learning Judaic studies curricula.
“AVI CHAI is pleased to support Yeshivat He’atid as one of a series of experiments with new schools as well as established schools to test the opportunity of using technology to deliver better education at a lower price,” said Eli Kannai, AVI CHAI's chief educational technology officer. “We hope that in the long run these pilots will positively impact the day school field at large."
For more information about Yeshivat He’Atid and its innovative educational model, please visitwww.yeshivatheatid.org.