Enrollment in Shaloh House Jewish Day School in Brighton, Massachusetts shot up nearly 50 percent in two weeks, after compliments about its online school went viral.
“It began with one Facebook conversation,” Head of School Rabbi Dan Rodkin said. “Parents of kids in various schools were grumbling about their kids’ online education, and the parents in our school responded by saying how happy they were.”
Within days, new families joined Shaloh House’s online school from Swampscott, Brookline, Lexington, Westwood, Canton, Canada and Maryland. This week, new students are applying from places as far away as Texas and California, Rabbi Rodkin said. The school hired three new teachers exclusively to support the new children.
Jewish parents who said they never envisioned Jewish schooling for their children changed their minds after sampling Shaloh’s online learning in complimentary 3-day trials.
“It opened doors for us we would never consider before,” Abbie Paley, a nurse practitioner from Canton, said. Abie switched her daughter Alisa, 9, from public school to Shaloh’s online school two weeks ago.
“We didn’t think about using a Jewish school!” Ms. Paley said. “The academic part is excellent – it’s higher. My daughter is involved in all of the activities.”
Alisa, now attending Shaloh House’s 3rd grade, never learned Hebrew, so she is being tutored by a special teacher Shaloh House hired for these new students.
But Ms. Paley’s favorite aspect of Shaloh-online is simply that Alisa is busy and happy from 8 a.m-4 p.m., she said.
“The kids are busy all day long and the day is so organized,” she said.
Marina and Igor Balk of Lexington were frustrated with their public-school system because it replaced in-school learning with just one hour of online learning a week. Their son Daniel, 8, attends 2nd grade in Lexington.
“My son became really bored!” Ms. Balk said. After reading in an online discussion group about Shaloh, she applied and enrolled Daniel in Shaloh’s online 2nd grade. Although his Shaloh classes are more demanding than his public school classes, her son is fascinated, Ms. Balk said.
“He’s happy!” Ms. Balk said. “At last he found out that he can learn some new things at school. He’s really impressed with the Hebrew class too.”
Ms. Balk said she is satisfied with all her son’s new teachers.
“I’ve seen a lot of teachers, but the ones Rabbi Rodkin found are absolutely extraordinary.”
Parents who have been sending their children to Shaloh all year are also pleased with the smooth transition their children experienced.
Michael Robinson, a Boston attorney, has a son in Shaloh House’s third grade. His son didn’t miss a single day of learning when Shaloh made the transition to online schooling.
“I doubt Shaloh House planned for a pandemic,” Mr. Robinson said, “but when the situation developed, the school responded almost instantaneously in a graceful and seamless way. Our son has been learning continuously and he is engaged by the teachers. The school didn’t miss a beat.”
Rabbi Rodkin said the school’s goal was to make the online experience comfortable and familiar for kids.
The majority of the time – 90 percent of the day – is live-lessons with Shaloh’s teachers, supplemented with some online-learning programs which the Shaloh teachers monitor. The children also take gymnastics three times a week, as well music, stock investing, typing, and other electives.
Rabbi Rodkin is already designing Shaloh’s summer online-camp which will include gymnastics, dance, stock-investing, drama, debate and coding for computers.
“We can’t use our great outdoor swimming pool, or play soccer or tennis until the CDC gives permission,” Rabbi Rodkin said, “but even without these things, we think we have the makings for a very, very fun and organized summer.”
Shaloh House Jewish Day School/Russian Jewish Center runs a preschool through Grade 6 day school, afterschool, and summer camp (Camp Gan Israel Brighton). And when the CDC issues its approval, we hope to resume our year-round synagogue with daily services, gala holiday programs, and the hosting and catering of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and weddings. We assist Jews at every stage of the life cycle. For more information, see www.shaloh.org or contact us at 617-787-2200 or [email protected].