MONTREAL — Hebrew Academy has a problem most other mainstream Jewish day schools in Montreal would envy. Its enrolment has increased beyond the capacity of its building.
In fact, the number of students at the modern Orthodox elementary and high school has more than doubled since it moved into its present facility on Kellert Avenue in Côte St. Luc in 1992.
Today, the school has 650 students, from preschool, starting at age three, to Grade 11. The school was expected to accommodate a maximum of 580.
The growth of the 40-year-old school is only one reason Hebrew Academy is getting ready to party the weekend of March 28 to 30. The anniversary event, more importantly, will celebrate the strong sense of attachment its students, families, staff and lay leaders, past and present, have to Hebrew Academy, said executive director Linda Lehrer.
In fact, the school functions more like a community centre with activities every day, she said, and the people associated with it form a tight-knit community, whether living here or abroad.
Not only are there a host of extra-curricular programs for students, but Hebrew Academy is home to Kollel Torah MiTzion, an adult Jewish education program, and many parents and even neighbours daven at its two synagogues or play sports in its gymnasium.
Hebrew Academy occupies a middle ground in the spectrum of Jewish education in Montreal, between the yeshivot and the more liberal schools, offering both Torah study and a strong secular program.
It was recently accredited by the Canadian Education Standards Institute, one of only about 60 schools in the country so designated. The institute is a private organization that sets rigorous educational and operational guidelines for its members.
Hebrew Academy has also been designated as a Community Learning Centre by the federal government, which means it opens its doors for a variety of types of education.
Hebrew Academy’s goal is to give students a strong religious Jewish identity, yet prepare them for academic and professional achievement, president David Novoseller said. Thus, the school boasts two full synagogues and state-of-the-art science and computer labs.
The students nearly all come from religious homes, and most live in Côte St. Luc, although some come in from Dollard des Ormeaux, St. Laurent and Laval. The school has a growing number of Sephardi students, and at the elementary level, there is a French stream.
All female students and staff must wear skirts of modest length and males have to cover their heads. Boys and girls are separated for some classes in high school.
The degree of separation between boys and girls is something the school has grappled with over the years. Once it was decided the school would be co-ed, it seemed impractical to keep the sexes completely apart.
Every school day begins with prayer in either the Ashkenazi or Sephardi synagogue. Students perform volunteer community service, even though it is not compulsory and they receive no credit for doing so.
The school is egalitarian in the sense that girls have equal opportunity academically and in all school activities. Women can reach the highest level of administration, both professionally, as Lehrer has proven, and as volunteers, including being president of the board.
Almost all graduates go on to university, and a high proportion of doctors, lawyers and other professionals can be found among the alumni. There is a strong bond among many of them years after they graduate.
For example, graduates who are now doctors at the Jewish General Hospital gather daily to daven. Alumni basketball and floor hockey games at the school have become a yearly tradition. (The school also has a strong sports program, with basketball being especially popular.)
“Many former students just like to come back and visit,” Lehrer said.
Hebrew Academy alumni can be counted among the lay and professional leadership of the Jewish community, notably at FEDERATION CJA
Hebrew Academy’s philosophy is also strongly Zionist, and about 65 per cent of students spend at least a year in Israel after they graduate. Many have made aliyah, and possibly up to one-third of the estimated 1,500 graduates over the 40-year history live or have lived in Israel.
Parents play a large role in the running of the school (all four of Lehrer’s children were students). Novoseller, a Philadelphia native, is a parent, and his wife is a graduate. The parents of many current students went to Hebrew Academy, and the first member of the third generation is now enrolled.
Parents continue to be involved with the school long after their children leave. Brenda Gewurz, the school’s first female president, is one example. The youngest of her three children is now 32.
“What is different about Hebrew Academy is that we do not regard education as just one piece of life, but integrate education with family life. Hebrew Academy has become like a family,” Gewurz said.
While Lehrer was in Israel in December, she organized an informal reunion of alumni and anyone else who has been associated with Hebrew Academy. She expected maybe 50, but close to 400 showed up.
The upcoming 40th anniversary celebration includes a reunion of alumni and families at the school March 28 and 29, with a Friday night Shabbaton at Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem, as well as a community-wide gala dinner in honour of Renée and Marty Lieberman, who are parents, volunteers and benefactors.
Proceeds will help subsidize students from low-income families. Currently, 170 students receive tuition assistance at a cost of $600,000 a year, Lehrer said.
Future plans for Hebrew Academy include more technological innovation such as installing Smart Boards in every classroom, and further down the road, laptop computers for every student.
Other plans include enhanced after-school and lunch programs in music, art and drama, a new athletic program, more professional development opportunities for the entire faculty, and a resource room for children with learning disabilities.
Hebrew Academy was created through a merger of the schools of the Young Israel and Adath Israel synagogues. Its primary founders were the Drazin and Sternthal families who still have links to the school.
Hebrew Academy was initially located on Ducharme Street in Outremont then moved in the late 1970s to Wavell Road in Côte St. Luc, where it shared a building with the much more secular Jewish People’s and Peretz Schools. It bought the former Davis YM-YWHA when it closed, and built its present school on the site.
