Solomon Schechter Day School Announces Closing

By Jennifer Bradshaw and Davy James.

The Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley has announced that it will not open in September for the coming school year.

On a message posted Monday on the school's Facebook page, the school said despite the efforts of the community around it, the school would not open this fall.

"This, despite the heroic efforts of many this past week and the outpouring of interest and support from the Rabbis in Middlesex and Mercer Counties, Community Leaders, parents, grandparents, former parents, alumni and friends," the message said. "We sincerely appreciate that energy and the extraordinary support that materialized. We would like to thank everyone trying so very hard to do everything possible to keep the school open, but the outcome we so wanted just wouldn’t be."

According to a report in the Jewish Daily Forward, the conservative Jewish K-8 day school saw enrollment drop from 300 students while operating at its peak, down to just 120 students last year, according to the report.

“Unfortunately, I have to confirm what is, for all of us, the worst possible news for our school," read an email to parents sent by the head of the school, according to the report. "Based on our current financial situation, the Board has voted to begin the process of closing down the school, effective immediately.”

The school operated an extensive Jewish Studies curriculum, which included Hebrew language arts, text study in Torah, Navi, mishnah and gemarra, tefilla (prayer), Israel studies, Jewish ethics and values and diverse Jewish traditions.

Just a few years ago, the Solomon Schechter School had reached the pinnacle of achievement for an American public school, when it was was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.

However, the Schechter Day School Network has seen troubled times as of late. The network lost about one-third of its schools since the 1990's, from 63 in 1998 down from 43 in 2012, as some of the schools closed, while a few others dropped the Schechter label and the denominational affiliation, according to the Jewish Daily Forward. 

“People are much less focused on the label of Judaism than on the way they practice,” Gerald Skolnik, board member at the Solomon Schechter School of Queens, told the Forward.

Click here to read the full report on the Jewish Daily Forward.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be posted as it becomes available.