The student population attending Milwaukee-area Jewish schools is continuing a slow and so far steady decline.
This is the finding of the latest census of the Jewish student population released March 5 by the Coalition for Jewish Learning, the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
The decline is “consistent with an ongoing trend of the last several years,” wrote Steven Baruch, CJL executive director, in an email accompanying the release of the data.
During the 2013-2014 school year — according to figures furnished by four pre-schools, six day schools and seven religious schools — 1,739 students attended Milwaukee-area Jewish educational programs, down from 1,802 last year.
A graph of total numbers of students each year from 1986 to 2014 shows a steady slope downward from a high of some 2,500 in the early 1990s.
“We note a slight decline at the pre-school level, an increase in day school enrollment and lower religious school numbers,” Baruch wrote.
The census shows 402 students attending Jewish preschools, down from 430 last year; 672 students attending day schools, elementary and secondary, up from 625 last year; and 713 attending religious schools, down from 747 last year.
“Analysis of these figures is limited by the absence of a full census of school-age Jewish children,” wrote Baruch. “A decline in attendance could be attributed to a number of factors, but most educators cite a decline in the number of Jewish children which is reflected in their enrollment numbers.”
Schools that provided data (with the reported numbers attending this year/last year in parentheses) were:
Pre-schools: Jewish Beginnings (125/125), JCC Gan Ami Campus (216/218), JCC Gan Ami Mequon (28/46) and Mequon Jewish Preschool (33/41).
Day schools: The Academy (Hillel) (102/93), Hillel High School (new this year with 19 students), Milwaukee Jewish Day School (191/205), Torah Academy of Milwaukee (53/57), Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study (117/71) and Yeshiva Elementary School (190/199).
Religious schools: Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid (85/79), Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun (106/105), Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha (35/40), Milwaukee Community Hebrew School (54/64), Pelz Hebrew School at Congregation Agudas Achim Chabad (82/80), Congregation Shalom (252/260) and Congregation Sinai (99/119).
To obtain more information about the census, contact CJL, 414-963-2718, or visit milwaukeejewish.org and find the census listing under “Community Updates.”
Loading ...