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March 18, 2005/Adar II 7 5765, Volume 57, No. 29
Schwartz initiates scholarship fund
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Thanks to the generosity of a Valley resident, community members now have a new way to help ensure the future of Jewish education in the Valley.
Sheila Schwartz, a longtime Phoenix resident, recently made a significant contribution to the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) to initiate an endowment fund to provide financial assistance to current and future day school students.
The new Jewish Day School Scholarship Fund will provide scholarships for financially needy Jewish students to attend a private primary or secondary Jewish day school, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Although JCF declined to disclose the amount of the initial contribution, the fund is now more than $500,000, which includes additional contributions from other members of the community, according to Marcia Weisberg, JCF executive director.
The money will be distributed through the Jewish Community Day School Scholarship Fund, a student tuition organization (STO) (see related story on Page 23).
The JCF fund will supplement the STO.
For example, if tuition is $8,000, and the STO pays $6,000, the JCF fund can pay up to an additional $500 per child or $1,000 per family.
A minimum of $25,000 will be available for the 2005-2006 school year, said Weisberg.
She explained that endowment fund donors give any amount they choose to a fund of their choice - there is no minimum - and the funds are held in an account. All funds administered by the JCF are pooled and invested for total return, Weisberg explained.
In 2004, funds invested by JCF returned 12.4 percent, she said.
Endowments create earnings that "benefit the whole community for generations," Weisberg said.
"The importance of this endowment for day school scholarships, besides assisting families with the cost of day school education, (is that) we are supporting and creating a culture that realizes the importance of a day school environment," she said. "Day school education is a proven means of developing a strong community that identifies Jewishly."
This is not the first time Schwartz has made a major contribution to Jewish education. She and her family provided the major gift for the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School, which opened in 2001 and is named in memory of her late husband.
Schwartz said she hopes the fund continues to grow so a day school education will be available for every child who wants one.
"It's a very important factor in our community," she said.
About 700 children attend Jewish day schools in the Greater Phoenix area, according to Linda Zell, administrator of the STO. The average tuition for kindergarten through eighth grade is $7,800; high school is $11,500.
Almost 50 percent of the children who attend day school are on some form of scholarship, Zell said.
The new education endowment fund is unique to Phoenix, Weisberg said, because it is available to students at all Jewish day schools, not just one.
The STO serves seven participating schools: Beth El Kindergarten, East Valley Jewish Community Center Day School, Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School, The King David School, Pardes Jewish Day School, Phoenix Hebrew Academy and Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center Kindergarten.
Call JCF, 480-699-1717.
Contact the writer here
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