Ida Crown Jewish Academy

Last updated
Ida Crown Jewish Academy
ICJA logo.jpg
Address
Ida Crown Jewish Academy
8233 Central Park Avenue

,
Illinois
60076

United States
Coordinates 42°00′20″N87°42′04″W / 42.005618°N 87.701225°W / 42.005618; -87.701225 Coordinates: 42°00′20″N87°42′04″W / 42.005618°N 87.701225°W / 42.005618; -87.701225
Information
TypeParochial; Coed
MottoInspiring Bnei and Bnot Torah to thrive in the Modern World
Religious affiliation(s) Modern Orthodox
Established1942
Dean Leonard Matanky
Faculty36.0 FTEs
Enrollment216 (as of 2022)
Student to teacher ratio6.8:1
Campus Suburban
Color(s)    Blue, White, and Red
MascotAce
Nickname Ida Crown, ICJA, The Academy
Rival Rochelle Zell Jewish High School and Fasman Yeshiva High School
School fees$1,430 [1]
Tuition$25,900 (2022) [1]
Website www.icja.org

Ida Crown Jewish Academy is a Modern Orthodox Jewish high school in Skokie, Illinois, [2] under the auspicies of the Associated Talmud Torahs. Its current dean is Leonard Matanky. [3] ICJA places emphasis on both Judaic and Secular studies and holds its students to high academic standards. ICJA encourages its students to pursue a year in yeshiva or seminary in Israel before attending college. Ida Crown serves students from all over the Chicago area, including Chicago, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Northbrook, Highland Park, Glencoe, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, and Evanston.

Contents

As of the 2021-22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 216 students and 36.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 6.8:1.

History

Leaders from the Associated Talmud Torahs (ATT) and Hebrew Theological College met in 1942 to address growing educational concerns. The primary problem centered around the fact that many Jewish children began to drop their studies around bar mitzvah time, setting the scene for rampant assimilation and a loss of tradition. They eventually established a plan: to create a high school which taught Judaic studies. Ideally, these students would move on to pursue Jewish higher education.

The school began as Chicago Jewish Academy and was first located on the West side on the corner of Douglas Blvd. and St. Louis Ave. It was a coeducational junior high school with grades 6-10, subsequent grades were added with each upcoming year. The school became a complete four-year secondary school in September, 1945. The first Commencement ceremony took place in June 1946.

By that time, the school outgrew its facilities. The ATT purchased the building of the Metropolitan Masonic Temple in the Garfield Park area; the school moved to the building in 1947. The three-story building was remodeled during the two-year waiting period to accommodate the needs of an academy.

Despite ample room and much progress, the West side of Chicago began to deteriorate as a whole by the early 1960s. The Academy was forced by virtue of circumstances to relocate in 1961 to the Torah Center. The move helped catalyze the institution of a new branch, a yeshiva; a section of the high school for boys, which included intensified Talmudic studies. To satisfy the needs of parents and help hinder overcrowding, a third branch, a Girls' school, was established in September 1967.

The Chicago Jewish Academy made another move in 1968 due to overcrowding. To fund the move, the ATT proposed a campaign to raise funds for a building to house up to 400 students. This building, in the West Ridge area, a center of Jewish community regionally, was named the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, after a generous donation from the Crown family. [4]

Later, the Academy would drop its junior high school, and both branches became their own separate Jewish high schools. The Yeshiva became Fasman Yeshiva High School, in Skokie, and the Girls' School became Hannah Sacks Bais Yaakov. Still, the atmosphere and philosophy has generally remained the same over more than fifty years of progress.

Ida Crown Jewish Academy made another move, this time to Skokie, to satisfy a student body that is primarily from the North Shore area and to address overcrowding at the current building. The building officially opened for learning on January 4, 2016.

Statistics

Recent athletic achievements

Men's Teams:

Girl's Teams:

Curriculum

General Studies

Judaic Studies

Notable alumni

See also

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Leonard A. Matanky is a prolific Modern Orthodox rabbi and Jewish leader in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Matanky is the co-president of the Religious Zionists of America, pulpit rabbi of Congregation K.I.N.S of West Rogers Park. and Dean of Ida Crown Jewish Academy and past president of the Rabbinical Council of America. He has written extensively on curriculum issues.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tuition & Financial Aid - Ida Crown Jewish Academy. Accessed November 22, 2017.
  2. "Home." Ida Crown Jewish Academy. Retrieved on February 5, 2011. "8233 Central Park, Skokie, IL 60076."
  3. "Ida Crown Jewish Academy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-26.
  4. Rapoport, Rabbi Shlomo (1967). "A Quarter Century of Progress By the Academy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-04-17.
  5. "List of Tournament Champions". Archived from the original on 2005-09-02. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  6. Higgins, Laine (31 January 2019). "Tinder's CEO Swipes Right on These Advisers". Wall Street Journal.