Jewish Day Schools Raised More Than $61 Million in Endowment Funds
Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 11, 2015 -- The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) has announced that its groundbreaking endowment-building program, Generations, which enabled Jewish day schools across North America to secure a record $61 million in endowment funds, has launched its final cohorts.
Funded in part by the AVI CHAI Foundation, 17 schools have been selected to participate in the final cohorts: Generations National, Cohort 1: The Akiva School, Montreal, Canada; The Lerner School, Durham, NC; Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago, Skokie, IL; Solomon Schechter of Bergen County, New Milford, NJ; Generations LA: Bais Chaya Mushka, Los Angeles, CA; Brawerman Elementary School of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA; Emek Hebrew Academy Teichman Family Torah Center, Sherman Oaks, CA; Wise School, Los Angeles, CA; Generations National, Cohort 2: Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Chicago, IL; Columbus Torah Academy; Columbus, OH; The Epstein School, Solomon Schechter of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA; Hebrew High School of New England, West Hartford, CT; Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital, Washington, DC; Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill, NJ; Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, St. Louis, MO; Striar Hebrew Academy; Sharon, MA; Torah Day School of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA.
"PEJE strengthens the Jewish future by creating thriving day schools. The results that Generations schools are achieving give us great confidence that these newest schools will excite even more philanthropists to invest in their schools. We look forward to working with another group of schools to support their long-term sustainability. Endowment-building is one piece of the affordability puzzle and ensures that the grandchildren of today's youngest students will benefit from a vibrant Jewish day school education long into the future," said Jill Goldenberg, Executive Director of PEJE.
Betty Winn, Director of the Center for Excellence in Day School Education at BJE in Los Angeles, states, “Our community has partnered with PEJE for a third group of Generations schools because we understand that our investment today will pay dividends for future generations of day school families.”
Generations launched in 2011 with the expressed goal of enabling participating Jewish day schools to include endowment, a new income stream to many, in their strategic development plans. Selected schools commit to raising endowment funds of at least $4,000 per enrolled student by the end of the three-year program, comprising a mix of cash gifts and legacy gifts. Additionally, schools are eligible to receive incentive funds upon successfully achieving key dollar benchmarks thanks to the generous funding from The AVI CHAI Foundation, and Robin and Brad Klatt, leaders in day school endowment giving.
“We reinvested in Generations because of its proven track record, as measured by the endowment dollars raised by schools. Based just on the funds raised to date, an amount equal to AVI CHAI’s total investment in the first Generations program ($3.1 million) will be received annually by participating schools, providing them with greater financial security. This is just the beginning, as the endowments of schools in PEJE’s program continue to grow for decades to come,” said Yossi Prager, Executive Director for North America of The AVI CHAI Foundation.
About PEJE
Founded 18 years ago, the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) believes that day schools are essential for advancing an engaged Jewish people and for providing an enduring Jewish future. PEJE works on the national and local levels to advocate for Jewish day schools, to connect and empower schools and communities, and to offer unparalleled knowledge and resources to foster financial sustainability and affordability.
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Jim Blankstein, PEJE, http://www.peje.org, +1 857-415-3771, [email protected]
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