Oakland Hebrew Day School is one of only two Jewish day schools in the country to receive a $50,000 national grant from the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge.

The school’s winning proposal was for a beit midrash program that will help students expand their Jewish education through self-directed study and individualized learning. OHDS is a Modern Orthodox K-8 school in the Oakland Hills.

“Education is changing and middle school is the perfect platform to experiment,” said Rabbi Ari Leubitz, head of school at OHDS. “We decided to ask ‘What if’ and see what would happen. We identified this opportunity based on our unique faculty and curriculum and went for it.”

The other grant recipient was the Binah School in Sharon, Mass. The grants are meant to encourage innovation in Jewish education. JEIC is part of the Mayberg Family Charitable Foundation, which focuses on Jewish outreach and education.