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June 15, 2001
Students have a choice
Two high schools offer different Jewish philosophies.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
As noted in last week's Bulletin, there are dramatic new
developments in the field of Jewish education in the Lower Mainland.
This week, we look at the diverging paths of secondary education.
Over the years, Vancouver's only Jewish high school has struggled
for
community support and met with only lukewarm enthusiasm from
potential students. Most students graduating from the local Jewish
elementary schools chose to enter the public education system.
Recognizing these difficulties, the leaders of Jewish education
in
the Lower Mainland got together and decided on a potential solution:
unify the current high school with an elementary school and start
a
second high school. It might seem counterproductive, but leaders
of
both schools say it will benefit the community - and the cause of
Jewish education - in the long run.
Rabbi Mordechai Loiterman, principal of Vancouver Hebrew Academy
elementary school, said a decision was made in a meeting with other
educators, including Vancouver Talmud Torah representatives, to
form
two complementary high schools.
For its part, Talmud Torah is forging ahead with a unification
plan
between the Talmud Torah elementary school and Talmud Torah high
school (formerly called Vancouver Jewish High School).
Meanwhile, Hebrew Academy is beginning only with a Grade 8 class.
They will judge the year's success before considering carrying on
to
Grade 12.
The creation of two schools is an acceptance that one school cannot
be all things to all people, said Loiterman. Vancouver Jewish High
School (which succeeded Maimonides high school) has suffered from
the
perception which potential students had of the facility. At times,
Maimonides was viewed by some graduating Grade 7 students and their
parents as being too religious. On the other hand, it was viewed
as
insufficiently observant by some graduates of Hebrew Academy. For
that reason, the high school has suffered from perpetually low
enrolment.
Among the differences between the elementary schools, Loiterman
explained, is that Hebrew Academy students attend mandatory prayer
sessions at 7:30 a.m. and boys and girls attend separate classes.
Religious instruction also focuses on the Orthodox tradition, he
added.
Instead of attempting to be all things to all people, the decision
was made to have the existing high school ally itself with Talmud
Torah while Hebrew Academy attempted to continue its programs into
Grade 8 and, if successful, beyond to graduation.
Loiterman acknowledged that he has felt some negativity in the
community toward his plan to expand secondary education.
"We've gotten criticized in the community for creating a new
burden
on the community," Loiterman said. This is unfair, he said,
because
it was a mutual decision to create two schools. Moreover, he
insisted, the charge is baseless. Some people ask, if the Lower
Mainland could not support one high school, how it could support
two.
But Loiterman said the potential exists for two successful schools,
each catering to their specific educational criteria.
A Hebrew Academy high school will not be raiding potential Talmud
Torah students, he said. Instead, it will likely staunch the
out-migration of Orthodox families. He said many families raise
their
children in Vancouver only until the oldest one reaches high school
age, then they either move to find an Orthodox secondary school,
or
send the child away to a boarding school. Either way, said Loiterman,
this community suffers.
Loiterman believes the potential exists for a massively revitalized
Orthodox community here if families can find their educational needs
met. Families that are here will stay and families that would have
hesitated to come here will, providing enough students for a
successful Orthodox school, he said.
For his part, Eyal Daniel, the newly appointed head of the unified
Talmud Torah schools, said the philosophical shift of the high school
is already bearing fruit.
For the first time in the high school's history (under its various
names), there will be sufficient students in one grade to justify
two
classes.
The success comes from an understanding, said Daniel, that the
high
school offers a continuation of the sort of education children have
received at Talmud Torah elementary school. This means a balanced,
thorough approach to Judaic studies as well as general studies,
he
said.
"In the Vancouver Talmud Torah high school, we believe that
we
provide excellent and comprehensive Judaic studies programs as well
as general studies," said Daniel. But, he acknowledged, "We're
not an
Orthodox school."
His school attempts to provide a Jewish education for students
from
every level of Jewish background, he said.
Students and teachers come from all across the Jewish spectrum,
he
said. The Judaic studies curriculum is being reviewed and new
teachers are being hired for next year.
Both Hebrew Academy and Talmud Torah officials are optimistic that
two schools will flourish where one had struggled.
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