In communities across North America where there is no PARDeS (Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools) School, the Community Day School is the logical home for families who identify themselves as Reform Jews.
The first step necessary to reach out to the Reform community is for the school to recognize that there is a need to review its goals in recruiting students. The school needs a plan to reach a wide variety of families. The school should have a mission statement that speaks to inclusion of all of Judaism’s ideologies. Parents who identify with the liberal spectrum are looking for the same things for their children as all other parents. They seek a quality secular education, enhanced, but not compromised by the addition of Judaic Studies and Hebrew language. They value an environment that is gender inclusive, with an egalitarian worship experience. Reform families look for acceptance of the authenticity of Reform Judaism.
Once a Community Day School can assure Reform families and clergy within the community that they are “Reform friendly”, the issue becomes one of marketing the school and its programs. Advertisements placed in local newspapers should offer direct appeal to Reform families.
The Head of School must work to establish a positive relationship with all rabbinic and synagogue leadership. The Head should visit and/or worship at various synagogues within the community. The Head should provide ideas and recommendations for the involvement of day school students in the life of the synagogue and stress that the school does not replace the synagogue as the important center of Jewish life for the family. The day school needs to cultivate rabbinic involvement in day school life as resources for school programs and celebrations.
Reform families already in the school should be encouraged to act as exemplars to other families and assist in recruiting other Reform families. Day school students should be featured in programs at their Reform synagogue for holiday celebrations and programs.
The Community Day School should review their requirements for admission. Is the definition of who is a Jew inclusive? Many families who do not fit the traditional definition of “who is a Jew” would choose a day school education for their children if they were welcomed as authentic whether by patrilineal or matrilineal descent.
The Executive Committee should review the composition of the Board of Trustees. Is there representation from all of Judaism’s ideologies? This is necessary to appeal to all the elements of the community. What materials are used as support for the Judaic Studies and/or Hebrew programs? Are they appropriate for students from Reform families? The Judaic Studies Director or Head of School should review the excellent books and materials available from Union for Reform Judaism both for Hebrew and Judaic Studies to see if they fit the curriculum.
A school that makes an effort to appeal to Reform families in their community by reviewing policies, curriculum, and their outreach will find themselves successful in marketing to an important growing segment of the Jewish community.
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