After receiving news that her Jewish Day school would be leaving her children with 17 days off during the summer, blogger and mother, Tamar Snyder, found herself scrambling with a way to make Jewish day school work with her family.
Like many working parents, 17 days off is out of the question and finding quality child care can be hard to find and expensive.
This not only creates stress for parents, but presents Jewish day schools as indifferent to working parents needs.
But there is good news! In a recent article from eJewish Philanthropy, Jewish day schools are listening and responding to challenges that have been affecting working parents.
Here are some examples of ways Jewish day schools are changing:
Longer School Days - A growing number of schools are beginning to start their days as early as 7 a.m. and also provide a variety of aftercare options.
Use the Weekend - Some Jewish day schools have changed their calendar so that siddur and Bible parties are held on the weekends rather than during the week.
Livestreaming - Last year, Yeshivat Noam, in Paramus, NJ started livestreaming many of it's programs and events helping parents participate in important milestones without having to take time off from work.
Less Time Off - After accounting for Jewish holidays, breaks and snow days, many day schools don't meet the 180 days of school that are required. Because of this, some schools have started to offer an extra hours of aftercare from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. at no additional cost.
Talking Openly - To make day schools work for working parents it is necessary for the school to acknowledge the help that working parents need. Yavneh Academy in Paramus, NJ has recently convened a working parents subcommittee to ensure that parents needs are met in their congregation's decisions.
Although changes are being made to benefit working parents, there are still many changes to be made. To read the full article and see how your day school can make changes to encourage working parents, click here.
Are you working in a congregational school? How have you made changes to suit working parents' needs? We would love to share your tips with your colleagues. Share your idea here!
