The five-figure cost of a Jewish education may be taking a bite out of parents’ savings, but it isn’t thinning the ranks much in local day school classes.
Officials at Bay Area Jewish schools report little drop in enrollment this fall despite a weak economy that has put some of their parents out of work.
But while hundreds of students return this week and next to Jewish day schools from San Rafael to San Jose, administrators say monetary issues are weighing heavily on their minds.
Some schools went without tuition hikes while others reported making minimal increases for fear that families were already stretched to their financial limit. At the same time, many administrators report an increased demand for scholarship assistance.
“We bit the bullet,” said Avi Schochet, headmaster at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School in Sunnyvale, which inched annual tuition up slightly to $9,995. “We have parents out of work, parents who have lost their jobs.”
At the school, with 275 students in preschool through eighth grade, board members feared that any bigger increase might have sent some families packing, Schochet said.
Enrollment is holding steady at the 30-year-old school, which attracts children of many high-tech workers in the hard-hit Silicon Valley. Roughly 45 students are receiving scholarships, a figure that is up slightly, Schochet said.
Bob Sherman, executive director of the S.F.-based Bureau of Jewish Education, observed that while local day schools may not yet be experiencing an enrollment drop witnessed elsewhere in the country, “everyone is concerned about the fact that they may need to offer more financial aid.”
At Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito, Steve Tabak, head of school, wasn’t aware of any families who had left because they no longer could afford tuition, which rose nearly 5 percent this year.
“There may be families who chose not to come in the first place, but I’m not aware of anyone leaving for that reason,” he said.
Tuition ranges from $11,500 in kindergarten through $12,900 in middle school.
Tehiyah’s enrollment is down by five students, with 340 expected to arrive when classes start on Tuesday.
At the twin-campus Brandeis Hillel Day School, enrollment is topping 550, making it the largest ever, according to Rabbi Henry Shreibman, head of school.
At the same time, the school is offering financial assistance to about a third of its students in San Francisco and San Rafael, he said. Tuition runs from $14,700 to $15,700, lower than many independent private schools in the area, according to Shreibman.
The S.F.-based Jewish Community High School of the Bay will start its third year with “109 students and climbing,” said spokeswoman Jan Reicher. Last year, enrollment was 57.
Thanks to a grant from Keren Keshet/The Rainbow Foundation, tuition costs of $20,500 are underwritten for freshmen and sophomores for the first three entering classes.
This coming year “is really going to be our year that’s much more telling,” Reicher said.
At the Jewish Day School of the North Peninsula, the addition of a seventh-grade class has pushed enrollment up to 190.
Principal Mervyn Danker said the school, which will move in January to a new Foster City campus, is offering financial aid to 15 to 18 percent of its families. “If a family loses a job, the school will come to their assistance,” he said.
The newly named Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto opens Tuesday with 356 students, down three from last year.
Kehillah Jewish High School in San Jose is starting its second year with 50 students. Twenty ninth-graders will join 30 in 10th grade.
“I definitely feel the economy made a difference in our second year,” said Amy Sporer Schiff, director of admissions. Students are receiving grants of $9,000 in their first year and $7,000 in the second year from the Levine Lent Foundation to defray the $19,000 yearly tuition costs.
Elsewhere, Eitz Chaim Academy in Los Gatos, Yavneh Day School in San Jose and Torah Academy in Palo Alto were seeing either stable enrollment or a slight increase this year.
At the Hebrew Academy in San Francisco, Rabbi Pinchas Lipner reported a 20 percent surge in enrollment. School started Monday with 180 in kindergarten through 12th grades, up from 150 last year.
“About 80 percent of the students receive some kind of a scholarship, which means we have to raise substantial money to finance them,” said Lipner.
Oakland Hebrew Day School will open Tuesday in a new building in the Oakland hills. Enrollment is up by three students, for a total of 112.
In Lafayette, the Contra Costa Jewish Day School started its third year of operations yesterday with 50 students, up nine from last year.
In Fremont, Atid Jewish Day School was forced to close in June after three years of operation.