Over 1,000 students were integrated into Torah-based schools
following an extensive enrollment drive by Acheinu.
The outreach organization sent tens of thousands of brochures
and dispatched dozens of avreichim to speak with
families in the process of drawing closer to Yiddishkeit,
encouraging them to send their children to Torah-based
schools. Hundreds of meetings between parents and principals
were arranged and provisions were made for bus
transportation.
Acheinu also operates a program to help eighth-graders enter
yeshivos ketanos. For years principals and staff
members at Torah-based schools have been distraught at the
sight of talented students with good middos going on
to secular or "moderately" religious schools.
The project's success has far exceeded expectations. Some 25
schools participate in the project and many others are on the
waiting list. Acheinu workers maintain constant contact with
both students and parents throughout the year, particularly
during school breaks. Workers pay home visits to persuade
parents and to help students prepare for the assessment exam
and the admission process. Over 400 students have been
brought to the hallowed halls of the yeshivas.
"Enrolling children in Torah-based schools is not just about
enrollment," says Acheinu Chairman HaRav Yerachmiel Kram.
"This is not just a technical act of enrolling the child for
a Torah-based school, placing the responsibility for his
education and raising him for a life of Torah on the teaching
staff or the parents, who themselves are coping with a
process of spiritual chizuk, which is generally paved
with crises, pitfalls and nisyonos." Acheinu follows
up and provides help along the way.
