Jewish day school

A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate schools attended during the day from part time weekend schools as well as secular or religious "boarding school" equivalents where the students live full-time as well as study. The substance of the "Jewish" component varies from school to school, community to community, and usually depends on the Jewish denominations of the schools' founders. While some schools may stress Judaism and Torah study others may focus more on Jewish history, Hebrew language, Yiddish language, secular Jewish culture, and Zionism. Not all Jewish day schools are the same. While they may all teach Jewish studies or various parts of Torah and Tanakh, these studies may be taught from various points of view depending on each school's educational policies, the board of directors in charge, and the nature and make-up of both the student body and the professional teaching staff. The majority of Jewish day schools teach classes between Kindergarten and 8th grade. Some day schools may be entirely religious, and indeed most yeshivas (Orthodox schools that emphasize Talmudic studies) are day schools. However, the traditional yeshivas are different institutions when compared to Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools. While traditional Haredi and Hasidic yeshivas are only for boys, with girls attending Beis Yaakov schools, they do not encourage their students to plan for college education and professional careers. On the other hand, Modern Orthodox day schools are often coeducational and stress the secular component of the curriculum, as many parents wish to have their children educated at a high enough level to be admitted to college and university in order to train for a profession. The Solomon Schechter Day Schools in the United States and Canada teach Judaism from the perspective of Conservative Judaism, and there are schools that similarly teach Judaism from a Reform or even non-denominational perspective.