Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools reported a 7.5% increase in enrollment across its network of 305 schools between the 2021-2022 and 2025-2026 school years. The student population grew from 94,008 to approximately 101,041, an addition of 7,000 students.

Overall enrollment in the network increased by more than 1,000 students in the 2025-2026 school year. From 2021 to 2024, non-Orthodox Jewish day school enrollment rose by 3%, Orthodox enrollment by 7%, and Reform enrollment by 5%.

Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah, attributed the growth to increases in the Jewish population in some communities, a perceived decline in public school quality, and new philanthropic investments. "We've had growth in enrolment every single year in the last five years, and that's because the understanding of the quality of day schools and the value of having an education in a Jewish day school is really much clearer to families," Bernstein said.

Bernstein noted that enrollment had been consistently declining in non-Orthodox systems until recent years. The Avi Chai Foundation's 2018-2019 census indicated that non-Orthodox enrollment in the United States had decreased by over 16% over a 20-year period. "There were people out there who questioned whether day schools, and in particular non-Orthodox day schools, might have a future," Bernstein said.

Bernstein stated that some families' experiences with antisemitism after October 7 contributed to increased engagement. "There is an element of the negative, the experience of antisemitism," he said. "But actually, what the research on the surge really shows, is that actually there's a real positive involved in this, which is people wanting to be more connected to the Jewish community."

Philanthropic support includes a $90 million investment by the Mandel Foundation in Cleveland, and tuition subsidy programs in Chicago and Seattle. Florida's enrollment increased by 1,370 students, a 15% rise, from 2021 to 2024. The state has statewide private school vouchers.

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, head of school at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, cited cost as a barrier. "One reason that we hear a lot that people don't choose our school is just the cost, that the costs are very, very significant," Malkus said. "A lot of people who would like to enroll their kids can't come." Average tuition exceeded $23,000 last school year.

Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie, Illinois, saw enrollment rise from 214 students in 2021 to 254 last school year. Rabbi Leonard Matanky, the dean, attributed the growth to education quality and a desire for connection. "When you're living in a society that unfortunately doesn't always share values, with what used to be assumed values, the public schools are not as safe of an environment as once upon a time," Matanky said. "It isn't necessarily physical safety, it can be communal safety, it can be a sense of acceptance."

A new Jewish high school opened in Chicago last summer. The Chicago Jewish Day School, serving junior kindergarten through eighth grade, reported enrollment increasing from 220 students in 2024-2025 to 254 for the upcoming year. Bernstein projects growth will be sustained if investment continues. "We're extremely optimistic that the growth will not only be sustained but actually could accelerate," he said.