Schechter network partnering with Montessori group

Julie Wiener

NEW YORK (JTA) – The Conservative movement’s Schechter Day School Network and the Jewish Montessori Society have announced a strategic partnership.

Under the new arrangement, the two North American Jewish day school associations will share some programming and resources.

While the number of Schechter schools has decreased in the past decade, with several schools closing or switching their affiliation, the Jewish Montessori sector is growing. More than 20 new programs have opened since 2004, many as tracks within existing day schools.

“This is a great opportunity for Schechter schools and Jewish Montessori schools to connect, collaborate and learn from each other,” Jon Mitzmacher, executive director of the Schechter network, said in a news release.

Ami Petter-Lipstein, the executive director of the Jewish Montessori Society, said in the release that the Schechter network shares “our vision of ‘every child learning lishma,’ a world where Jewish children encounter Jewish education with joy, passion and enchantment.”

Founded in 1965, the Schechter Day School Network represents 43 schools in North America. JMS was formed in 2011 and has 41 member schools, many of them early childhood programs.