Heritage Academy closes doors for a year-long hiatus

Aug. 10, 2017 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com


LONGMEADOW – On Aug. 2 the Heritage Academy Board of Directors voted to suspend their day school operations for the 2017 to 2018 school year.  While Heritage Academy has been serving the Jewish community for generations, the decision was made based on the campus’ low enrollment for the upcoming year and the financial challenges this has led to.

While Head of School Michelle Konigsburg is aware that it’s disappointing the school will be taking a year off, she noted that other area schools are suffering from low enrollment too.

“I think it’s important to stress the changing demographics in the entire community. We’re just another institution that’s struggling with the changing demographics.  In order to adequately address the educational need, we really felt we needed to step back and be responsive to the needs of the constituency in our community,” Konigsburg said.

Konigsburg has been in the position of Head of School for a year. She did not experience Heritage at peak enrollment, however she noted the campus’ heyday was long ago.  From 2012 to 2015, the enrollment for Heritage was around 60 students.  Shortly after 2015, enrollment went down to 50 students.  For the 2016 to 2017 school year, there were just under 40 students registered with the campus, Konigsburg reported.

“Since it’s a private school and it depends upon tuition, as the enrollment decreased, then the tuition was more of a challenge,” Konigsburg said.

As the 2017 to 2018 school year quickly approached, Konigsburg said Heritage made a change to what grades the campus would offer.

“Our school was K [kindergarten] through eight, our eighth graders graduated, there were only a handful of maybe six or seven middle schoolers. We can provide a middle school curriculum, but not a middle school experience,” Konigsburg explained.

The Board decided to change the school to a K-5 school in light of the dwindling number of middle school aged students Heritage had.  Soon after, the Heritage Academy Board of Directors voted to have the campus go on a hiatus for a year so that they could focus on rebranding and finding out the needs of the community.  Considering the late announcement of its year-long closing, some students were left to find a new school to attend.

“The parents were apprised of the enrollment all along, we didn’t pull a run out from under anybody’s feet.   I notified all of the parents of the very disappointing news and offered to help them if they needed help for their children in other alternatives,” Konigsburg said.

Though Heritage Academy will not be open to students for the upcoming school year, Konigsburg mentioned that there will be an after school Judaic enrichment program offered so that their students educational needs are still met. The campus will be partnering with other institutions in the community to create this program.

An additional issue the hiatus creates is how to handling the school’s staffing. Konigsburg said that while some teachers remained available with the expectation of being hired for the upcoming year, others were not offered a contract.

Of the teachers at Heritage, Konigsburg said, “While there is no legal obligation, there is an ethical concern. There is a conversation about how to acknowledge their loyalty and express appreciation.  All of the contracts, of course, have indicated that if enrollment wasn’t adequate that the contracts may not be offered, that understanding was there.”

Going forward, the school is developing committees that will look into the needs of the community and how Heritage can fill said needs.

“There are committees that are assigned to explore a mission, to examine demographics, to ultimately market the product once we’re sure where we’re going.  Another consideration, is what middle school needs are there in our community?  Can we consider a middle school action for our community?” Konigsburg questioned.

While she notes the future of Heritage’s program is unclear, Konigsburg is sure that the new curriculum will be value-based and anchored in Jewish values and Jewish concepts.

“What we’re really interested in determining is, what do contemporary families value, what is the niche that we need to fill in the community?” Konigsburg said.   

Heritage Academy is moving forward with the hopes of re-opening their doors in the fall of 2018 with a new program that will align with the demographics of the area.

“This isn’t a school, it’s an institution of the community, it’s an investment from community members.  It’s not a project of just a handful of people, there are a number of people who are not on the board but who are invested in the community, and the children, and the Jewish children and our Jewish community that have some interest in this,” Konigsburg said.

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