The Calgary Jewish Academy (formerly the Calgary Hebrew School, and I.L. Peretz School) is a historic

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

History

The Calgary Jewish Academy (CJA) can trace its very beginnings to 1910, when nineteen students were enrolled in classes in the precursor to the CJA, The Talmud Torah, which operated in a single room and was associated with the local

Synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

. In 1913 the school became a separate entity from the synagogue and marked its true opening. At the close of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1920, the Talmud Torah acquired its own building located at 4th Avenue (between 2nd and 3rd Streets SE). The next ten years marked a time of steady growth for the school and in 1930 the school relocated to a new community building, becoming the Calgary Hebrew School. It was also around this time that the I.L. Peretz School was founded in 1927, primarily focusing on a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

based education. In 1987 the Calgary Jewish Academy was founded as a result of the amalgamation of the Calgary Hebrew School and the I.L. Peretz School. In May 2013, the Calgary Jewish Academy celebrated 100 years of Jewish education in Calgary. On 16 April 2019, Albertan Premier,

Jason Kenney Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022 and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member of ...

announced his new education platform at the CJA. Calgary Hebrew School

Educational divisions

*Pre-School: Composed of Nursery, Junior Kindergarten & Kindergarten *Elementary School: Composed of Grade 1 through Grade 6. *Junior High: Composed of Grade 7 through Grade 9.

GAIN and Alberta curriculum

The CJA employs the GAIN program, which attempts to work with individual students based on their needs and strengths by providing various supports and strategies such as individualized program planning, learning support and enriched learning, English as a Second Language (ESL) and guidance. The GAIN team has impacted almost 50% of students during the 2017/18 school year. The CJA follows a dual curriculum with anywhere from 68% of the class time being devoted to the Alberta curriculum and between 32% of their time on Judaic studies. However, throughout the year, teachers attempt to integrate the Alberta and Judaic curricula. The CJA uses ''Tal Am'' and ''Bishvil HaIvrit'' for the Hebrew language curriculum, and teaches about Israel through the program ''Israel Throughout the Year,'' developed by Israel's

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. Other Judaic subject areas have been developed by the CJA Judaic faculty, such as holidays, Jewish Social Studies and Bible curricula.

Student life

Grade 7 trips: In grade 7, students spend a week in

Salt Spring Island, British Columbia Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...

Grade 8 trips: In grade 8, students spend a week in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Grade 9 trips: In grade 9, students spend two weeks in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Notable Attendees

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The'' Western Standard''. ...

- Canadian media personality. Robert Cohen - Comedy writer and director. Joel H. Cohen - Comedy writer and director.

References

{{coord, 50.9936, -114.0928, type:edu_region:CA-AB, display=title Private schools in Alberta Jewish day schools Jewish schools in Canada