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. 

Yeshivat He'Atid's First Day of School A Resounding Success

Yeshivat He'Atid opens its doors today with 116 students in preK-1st grade! You can feel the excitement just looking at these photos of the classroom set-up. Want to see more? Check out these photos on Facebook, courtesy of the Alvo Institute.

Yeshivat He'Atid in the news: Round-up of recent articles

Yeshivat He'Atid, which opens with 116 students on Tuesday, has been in the Jewish news recently. In case you missed it. here are the most recent articles about Yeshivat He'Atid:

From the Jewish Week: (Aug. 21, 2012)

"The new school, the product of a grass-roots effort led by a group of Bergen County parents, is already inspiring several imitators, all of them Modern or Centrist Orthodox: Tiferet Academy on Long Island and New Roc Torah Academy in Westchester County both plan to open in fall 2013. Other schools with blended learning and low tuition opening this fall include Binah School in Sharon, Mass., and Yeshiva High-Tech in Los Angeles."

Read the entire Jewish Week article here: 

http://www.thejewishweek.com/special-sections/education-careers/new-developments-classroom-and-beyond

From The Jewish Standard (Aug. 31, 2012):

"The idea is to personalize the learning experience, to differentiate the learning,” Rabbi Netanel Gralla, the new school’s principal, said Rabbi Netanel Gralla“Students get to learn at a pace they’re comfortable with and be engaged throughout the day.”

Rather than basing the classroom on a teacher addressing all the students simultaneously, “kids will rotate throughout the day through a number of learning environments in the classroom,” Gralla said...While some students are using the computers, others will be working in small groups with a teacher, and the rest will be working independently.

The key aspect of the computer software, said Gralla, is that it will diagnose what the students do not understand. “Instead of using a pencil and a workbook, kids will be engaged in an engaging activity on the computer which is fun and animated,” Gralla said. 

Meanwhile, “the computer is assessing how well they do it, which points they’re understanding and which they’re not understanding,” he said. “The computer is just a tool to empower the teacher to better understand the student’s strength and weakness,” he said.

“It’s going to empower me as a teacher,” Amanda Pransky said. She is the school’s first-grade teacher for English subjects. Pransky, who lives in Bergen County and taught first grade for three years at the Ramaz School in Manhattan, spent this week training with the Yeshivat He’Atid’s faculty and blended learning consultants.

“Because of the way we’re implementing the technology, the data about the student’s achievement and assessment will all be in one place,” she said.

http://www.jstandard.com/content/item/school_is_back_in_session/24265

Do you shop at Target? Help Yeshivat He'Atid earn 1% on every purchase!

Target will donate 1% of every purchase to Yeshivat He'Atid!

Here’s how it works: Visit Target.com/tcoe or call 1-800-316-6142 to designate our school, then use your REDcard whenever you shop. When you use your REDcard (Target Credit Card, Target Debit Card or Target Visa Credit Card), Target will donate up to 1% of your purchases to the eligible K–12 school of your choice. You can search for He'Atid using our zip code school ID# 152767. 

Stay tuned --we're in the process of signing up Box Tops, Land's End and other fundraising programs.

Yeshivat He'Atid Hosts Family Fun Event

On March 18, Yeshivat He'Atid hosted a fun meet-and-greet event for enrolled students and their families at Space Odyssey in Englewood, N.J. This PTA event gave families the opportunity to meet one another before school started. We want to thank Jenni Levy, PTA President, as well as a team of volunteers, for making the event a resounding success!