2 Atlanta Jewish Schools Agree To Merge

By JTA March 14, 2014

Two Jewish day schools in Atlanta, Greenfield Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva Atlanta, are merging.

The Katherine and Jacob Greenfield Hebrew Academy is an independent pre-K-through-8th grade community day school founded in 1953. Yeshiva Atlanta is a modern Orthodox high school founded in 1971.

The new entity is being billed as a college preparatory day school that will run from preschool through high school. The schools’ respective boards approved the merger on Wednesday; the union is to take effect at the end of this school year.

“Both GHA and YA have amazing attributes that will be magnified as a result of this merger,” Ian Ratner, who will be president of the board of the newly formed school, said in a statement. “We know from our research that the preschool -12 grade model is clearly best practices. Being a part of this endeavor is an honor for me.”

Nancy Weissmann, the board president of Yeshiva Atlanta, said both schools are in a strong position financially and educationally.

“The partnering of these two Jewish schools will facilitate a new level of educational excellence in a positive Jewish environment,” she said. “By combining resources, we will be able to give our students the best education possible.”

Judy Stolovitz, the president of GHA’s board, said the new school would aim to “inspire young Jews in Atlanta to believe in and live a Judaism that is tolerant, inclusive, embracing and non-judgmental, that is intellectually open.”

The Atlanta area, which has approximately 120,000 Jews, has three other Jewish primary schools and two other Jewish high schools.

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