“Some might suggest that Jewish day schools are just like independent schools, except Jewish. Day schools are often encouraged to think about their similarities with independent schools and draw on the governance, fundraising, and administrative practices of independent schools.

But my dissertation research suggests that a Jewish day school is something quite different than a “Jewish independent school.” For a year, I conducted ethnographic research at a Jewish day school, a Catholic school, and a secular independent school, exploring how parents were involved in each of the three schools. I interviewed administrators, teachers, and parents, and attended parent events. What I found was that the terms of the relationship between parents and administration were qualitatively different across the schools.

What do I mean by this? At all three schools, parents were concerned about their children’s academic success: They attended parent conferences and back-to-school nights, helped their children with homework, and spoke to teachers and administrators when they had a concern about their children’s learning. But at “Jewish Day”[*] and “St. Cornelius,” parents had a more robust relationship with the school.

How could I tell this? One fascinating piece of evidence was that parents at Jewish Day and St. Cornelius had much more to say about their schools. My conversations with parents at “College Prep” (the independent school) centered around the fact that the school was a good fit academically and socially for their child. Most parents were not looking to build community around the school, and those who were interested reported that others families were often “busy.”

In contrast, parents at Jewish Day and St. Cornelius also spoke about the fact that these schools were a good fit academically and socially for their children, and how meaningful it was to support and be involved with a community institution; how they celebrated religious holidays with other families from the school; how families supported one another in times of need; and how they trusted the other families to help them raise their children.  When I interviewed parents at each of the three schools, I asked the same questions, but the interviews with Jewish Day and St. Cornelius consistently took longer, because these parents had many more ways of connecting with the school.

It may not be surprising that families connected to a Jewish or Catholic school had more to talk about than academics. But what was a little more surprising was that this different kind of relationship helped to buffer conflict between administrators and parents when it inevitably occurred. For example, when several students at College Prep were reported to have fallen behind, parents were angry, some to the point of being litigious. In contrast, when students at Jewish Day were reported to have not met curricular standards, parents were also angry, but they worked with the school to find solutions and improve teaching and learning.

So a Jewish day school can be more than a Jewish independent school; parents’ emotional investment in the school may be deeper and exist on many more levels. At a time of thinking about how to strengthen Jewish day schools financially, the impact and importance of this emotional investment should be carefully considered.”

Here are two compelling examples of outstanding day school alumni.

One is Josh Tyrangiel, who was recently appointed editor of BusinessWeek magazine and attended Beth Tfiloh Day School (see New York Times article).

The other is Rebecca Gillette, who is a Jewish activist as President of Harvard Hillel, and graduated from Krieger Schechter Day School and Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community High School (see article with links to CNN and The Jerusalem Post).

One of the first steps a family should take in selecting a school is to visit the school, tour the facility, and meet with the Admission Director. This is an opportunity for you to learn more about the school and its program and to give the school an overview of your child’s interests and background. Schools also host Open Houses, which provide an opportunity to learn about the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and student life from various members of the school’s administration and faculty, and to meet curent students and their parents. Most schools provide an opportunity for prospective parents and students to observe classes and meet current students.

Each school has its own criteria for making admission decisions, but all share the goal of making sure that there is a good match between the child’s ability and needs and the school’s philosophy, culture and student body.

The final admission decision is made by an admission committee, based on the application, test results, prior school record, evaluations and parent and student interviews.

For more information, see the AIMS website.

A PEJE Day School Fact Sheet states as follows:

A 2007 study of day school alumni in college found that they excel academically no less

than private and public school alumni (using grade point averages as the basis of

comparison).

Graduates of day school choose their majors in roughly the same diversity as graduates of

private and public schools. They also pursue terminal degrees at about the same rate as

other students.

College students with any amount of day school education tend to be more involved with

political and social action groups than those without. They participate in athletics, the

performing arts, student government, and student media at roughly the same rates as

those without a day school background, are much more likely to be active in Hillel, and

are less likely to join fraternities and sororities.

For a list of college acceptances by graduates of Baltimore Jewish Day schools, see the listings by Beth Tfiloh and the Cardin School.