Solomon Schechter Day School of St. Louis (SSDS) and the Saul Mirowitz Day School – Reform Jewish Academy (RJA) have agreed to merge beginning with the start of the 2012-13 school year. 

In separate votes Monday night, the boards of the two schools voted in favor of the merger agreement, which required approval by a two-thirds majority of each school’s board.

The new school will be called the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School. It will begin operations with a projected initial student population of about 175 students in grades kindergarten through eight at the Schechter facility, 348 South Mason Road in Creve Coeur. Currently, RJA, with 77 students enrolled this year, ends after fifth grade while SSDS, with 94 students, goes through eighth grade.

“This agreement is really good for the future of both schools and for the community as a whole,” said Barry Rosenberg, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Federation has played a major role in the merger talks, including funding a number of nationally regarded consultants to help navigate the merger process. It pledged to provide up to $250,000 to help manage the transition costs, and support a capital/endowment campaign.

Rosenberg adds that among the many benefits of the merger are a more secure financial base and more social and academic opportunities for students.

Cheryl Maayan, who has headed RJA for three years, will be Head of School at the new Jewish community school. William C. Rowe, interim head of school at SSDS, will not have a position at the new school since his one-year contract expires June 30, 2012. Governance of the new school will be provided by a board made up half and half from the two existing schools, with the first board chair to come from RJA.

Although RJA was begun as largely a Reform Jewish day school and SSDS is affiliated as Conservative, both Maayan and Rowe said the new school will welcome all Jewish students and support their families’ choices in matters of observance. They explained that about a half-dozen committees are now in place not only to assure a smooth transition but also academic excellence, which includes social responsibility and Jewish knowledge.

“There are many things that will make this new school more attractive to families,” said Maayan. “Synergies from the combination of the two schools will allow us to provide the best technology, we can provide more social options, more resources, more ideas, more energy. For many families, a bigger school is better because it provides more opportunities for their children and allows more parents to interact.”

The two school heads said they did not “anticipate” a loss of staff or faculty at the merged school. “We anticipate our enrollment will be a combination and if that’s the case, we will double the number of our students,” Maayan said. “As a result, we will need most or all of our teachers,” added Rowe.

Maayan said there will be a process by which every faculty member “will be invited to articulate their educational philosophy, their passions and share their strengths and indicate the ways in which they will be able to fulfill the mission that has already been determined by the merger agreement.” That mission promises “the highest quality secular and Jewish education thereby enabling students to become life-long learners and leaders and to apply Jewish values to all aspects of life.” Both she and Rowe said they will collaborate on the hiring process.

A series of meetings will enable Maayan to get to know the teachers at SSDS. In addition, teachers at both schools will be able to observe their counterparts in the classroom setting.

Maximum class size at the new school will be 15 students. If the number is higher, a part-time teaching assistant will be added to the classroom. However, if a class reaches 22 students, it will be split into two, said Maayan. She added that the new school will likely be overstaffed because a number of parents don’t make enrollment decisions until the summer.

“We want to make sure our staff is trained so they can be ready to go when school opens in August,” said Maayan. “We really are looking to build something that takes the strengths of both existing schools and creates new rituals and new programs and things that belong just to the new school so that it really is a true collaboration.”

In terms of cost reduction, neither Maayan nor Rowe could predict how much money the merger would save, but Maayan noted that RJA currently pays more than $100,000 in rent to B’nai El Congregation for its space at 114111 North Forty Drive. She said the school’s lease expires in July.

A merger of the two schools dates back three years, but serious talks didn’t take shape until this past spring. Bringing together two schools with different histories and philosophies is challenging, Rowe noted, saying that “hundreds of hours” were spent to make this merger happen.

Shana Singer, a RJA parent with two children at the school, called the merger “fantastic” because she says it provides more growth and opportunities both socially and academically. She also likes now having the option for her children to continue through eighth grade. “Our oldest finished (RJA) last year and now goes to Whitfield,” she said. “If he had the opportunity to stay, I probably would have kept him.”

Missy Korenblat-Hanin has a sixth grader at SSDS and a son who graduated from the school. She credits Federation for “propelling the whole day school process forward. They stepped up and helped it become a successful process.”

She added that the merger is historic. “It weaves a new tapestry into the landscape of the St. Louis Jewish community,” she said. “It will offer our children and our children’s children the opportunity to be in a vibrant community Jewish day school.”

In addition to providing a $250,000 grant for transition costs and a community fundraising campaign, Federation has also said it is willing to support a feasibility study of the new school’s options in terms of space. The school will likely need more room in the next few years and Federation has said the study should examine all reasonable options.

“Size matters,” said Rosenberg. “One example is social ability. If you’re a very small school and run the risk of having three or four boys in a fourth or fifth grade that’s a disincentive to many parents sending kids to that school. The ability to invest more in extracurricular activities or enhance teaching technologies all contribute to excellence or the perception of excellence, which should drive more enrollment in the long run.”

Both Maayan and Rowe said in the short term, the plan is to move RJA to the SSDS space, which is housed in the 65,000 square feet Chodorovsky Building, adjacent to B’nai Amoona Congregation. “We are also committed to doing a feasibility study to explore possible future sites if enrollment grows as we expect,” said Maayan.