The National Jewish Cooperative Day School of South Florida asserts there is no more efficient way to reduce Day School tuition costs while maintaining high educational standards than to empower motivated parents so that they share the school’s costs collectively. This cooperative model of schooling is an ideal core component in solving the Day School tuition crisis.
In just three years, the cooperative Day School has expanded to 24 children in three grades, providing an outstanding Torah and secular education to families across the diverse Torah community of South Florida. It has accomplished all this while operating with completely transparent finances and while charging just $7,500 annually per student.
Because the school is run by families, it has leveraged every opportunity to drive down tuition costs. For instance, the school qualified to receive Florida Step Up for Students Scholarship funding. which provides qualifying families with up to $4,011 in annual tuition assistance, bringing the out-of-pocket cost for a first-rate Jewish Day School education to less than $3.500 for families in need.
In addition, it plans to create an online Jewish Cooperative Day School Handbook and website to help parents across the country form and manage their own Jewish Cooperative Day Schools. The Handbook will identify and discuss the broad range of issues involved in creating a Jewish Cooperative Day School including: forming a foundational parent group, determining hashkafa and curriculum, garnering rabbinical and community support, hiring teachers and rebbeim, basic accounting and tax considerations, providing for special-needs students and more.
For more information, contact Max Levine at Jewishcoop@gmail.com
