San Diego, CA (special) -- Parents of students at the San Carlos campus of the San Diego Jewish Academy have prevailed. The campus on the grounds of  Tifereth Israel Synagogue will remain open, even after SDJA's new facility in Carmel Valley is opened in September of 2000. 

There had been talk of closing the San Carlos campus and requiring its students in kindergarten through 5th grade to be transported to the Carmel Valley facility--a fairly long bus ride, especially in rush traffic. 

Those on SDJA's board who considered closing the school said that whereas the San Carlos campus accounted for one-fourth the student population, or less, it was requiring about one half the financial aid (scholarships) offered by the school. 

Furthermore, they said, because of  its smaller enrollments, there were fewer students per class in San Carlos than in La Jolla -- a lucky break for the San Carlos students but one that meant a larger per capita outlay per student in San Carlos than at the La Jolla campus located on the grounds of Congregation Beth El.. 

	Accordingly, some SDJA board members argued it would be more economical to merge the two schools, eliminating the need to pay rent for buildings in San Carlos and possibly enabling consolidation of some classes.  San Carlos parents were outraged. They said the commute to Carmel Valley would be far too long for their elementary school students.
SANDLOT ACTION -- Students at the San Carlos campus of the San Diego Jewish Academy improvise a baseball game in the sandlot.

Some even urged that the San Carlos campus withdraw  from SDJA and create a separate school. This was the first challenge confronting Larry Acheatal, who will become SDJA's fulltime executive director in August after he completes a six year stint as superintendent of the South Bay Union Elementary School District. 

While working parttime for SDJA, Acheatal helped the board and parents of the San Carlos students reach two key understandings. 

"One, I think the issue of scholarship should not be looked at geographically," he said. "That is a Jewish value. If there are people who can't afford to get a Jewish education, we want to make sure that everyone can, within our means, regardless of their income level. 

"If that is the case, why are we identifying how much scholarship is out of this community versus that community? It doesn't matter," Acheatal said. "The issue is there is a need. If we say that we value that and want to work on that, then let's do it blind to geography! So that was the first thing we changed. 

"The second thing was that we look at each campus in terms of resources," Acheatal said. "'San Carlos, you have x number of kids- whatever that number might be in any given year--times the tuition. We assume that every child is full-paying, whether or not they are, because the scholarship that is coming in behind them is full tuition. Now, you design a program for yourselves within that budget. 

"'If you do that, you are not having any negative impact on another area. What it may mean is that you have to give up something that another place has, because of economy of scale, but what you are gaining is a smaller campus, a more warm campus, one that is right in your backyard that you don't have to shlep to. 

"'There are always tradeoffs in life. If you are willing to accept those tradeoffs; what is common to both places is that you are both living within a budget, and that is wonderful.'" 

Having a separate K-5 program in San Carlos is not much different from what occurs in most unified school districts where several elementary schools may feed into a middle school and high school, Acheatal said. 

The executive director said the effect of the new policies he helped to broker for the San Carlos campus will be that "there won't be much change" from what was there before. 

"We are going to work with the parent advisory group and some faculty to say when there is extra money, do we want to get extra of this or that--so that if they want to raise more money they can," he said. 

One personnel change was that Karen Rund, the popular longtime teacher and principal of the San Carlos campus, will be transferred to the La Jolla campus next term where she will work on curriculum, admissions and possibly teach. Because she has been with the school nearly 20 years, she commands a salary that can be more easily absorbed at the La Jolla campus. 

Rund started as a third grade teacher when the San Carlos campus opened in 1979 and became principal in 1987. She said she has mixed feelings about leaving the school which helped to educate two of her sons -- Scott Meltzer who went on to become ordained as a rabbi and now is educational director at Brandeis-Bardin Institute, and Brett Meltzer who works for General Mills in Minneapolis. (Both sons incidentally recently became engaged to be married). 

On the other hand, she said, she has many friends at the La Jolla campus and working on new challenges offers professional growth. "I am going to work in an area that I have a Master's degree -- curriculum development," she said. 

Besides not wanting a long commute for their children, San Carlos parents also had many positive reasons for wanting to keep their children in their present school, Rund said. 

"I really think that the San Carlos campus is the best kept secret in the Jewish community; it is a very special place," she said. "We don't lose parents or faculty or students; people don't leave here unless they move out of town. My job as a principal is very easy because I don't have a lot of unhappy parents." 

School life on the San Carlos campus, where class size rarely exceeds 14 students, is "haimishe and warm, but programs are always changing," Rund said. "Next year every teacher is going to have a station and a computer hooked up--besides our computer lab--so that we can always in the middle of a lesson pull up on line. Whether it be in writing or in math, we are always changing." 

As a community Jewish school, San Diego Jewish Academy draws students from Tifereth Israel Synagogue, which is Conservative; Temple Emanu-El, which is Reform; Congregation Dor Hadash, which is Reconstructionist, and even some unaffiliated, Rund said. 

Tifereth Israel's spiritual leader, Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, has been a great resource for the school in Rund's estimate. "He has been more than supportive. He runs services for the entire student body every Thursday morning ... He gives a d'var Torah (talk on a Torah topic), and he talks to the kids. He is readily available if something comes up with a teacher -- like one time kids were having a discussion about how Conservative Jews believe versus Reform Jews. He always has a presence without selling his shul to the kids here; he accepts that they come from many congregations." 

Rund said there is a family feeling about the school, which she credits to the faculty. Recently, she said, "we had a Shavuot assembly. We served lunch to almost 200 people (including parents), which was delicious. Hilda Katz, who is our kindergarten-first grade Judaica teacher, and a group of other teachers and mothers personally made this lunch. They rolled up their sleeves in the kitchen -- the same way we did on Purim with the hamantashen. (Purim cookies) 

"If a child is having a problem with something, a teacher stays after school and will help them, or at lunch time. I tutor kids at 7 a.m., before school starts, if they are having trouble with something. If the child excels in something, we like to participate in their achievements. I can tell you who is doing well in baseball." 

Furthermore, Rund said, the teachers on the San Carlos campus "are always furthering their education, and I think for kids that builds the enthusiasm that we are always learning; it doesn't stop when you go to high school, college or whatever. I think our teachers are talented about making kids feel good about themselves--that the sky is the limit for them--so the kids are well into risk and are willing to try something new because they are not intimidated not to."