In the words of Rabbi Heshy Glass, founding national chairman of the Consortium of Orthodox Jewish Day Schools (CoJDS): “Apploi really demonstrates how much impact a single company can have on enhancing Jewish education in our communities around the country. Kudos to Apploi, who heard the needs of our schools and responded in such a generous and meaningful manner.”
Four years ago, when the workforce management platform learned of the great struggles Jewish day schools face in hiring and recruiting school staff, they approached CoJDS to make a difference. As the leading umbrella organization for more than 400 Jewish day schools in the U.S. as well as advisers to similar organizations in the United Kingdom, South Africa and South America, CoJDS was positioned well to bring Apploi’s award-winning recruitment software suite to schools to assist them in hiring the best educators and staff, even in a challenging labor market. For CoJDS, a driving force in bringing best-in-class leadership and innovative tools to schools, Apploi’s offer was sure to make an impact.
In commenting on the success of the initiative, Rabbi Glass noted: “Currently, over 120 Jewish schools use Apploi in order to optimize their recruitment processes, resulting in hundreds of jobs being filled. This is done without any remuneration to Apploi, other than the satisfaction that they are enhancing our communities and building for the next generation. I welcome more industrious and committed business people to similarly step forward to support our kehillas.”
In founding CoJDS over 20 years ago, Rabbi Glass was implementing his vision of creating an umbrella organization with the goal of empowerment, development and improvement of Jewish day schools across the country. CoJDS provides professional development for educators across North America through its national and regional conferences. The summer “Think Tank” brings together school principals and administrators from across the country for two days of extensive professional development and networking opportunities. The Julis Principal Training Institute, a one-year principal training program, provides aspiring leaders with the tools they need to set up positive school cultures and climates, and guide and drive curricular goals and learning outcomes, all aimed at the creation of successful school communities.
CoJDS has also spearheaded a Hebrew-language, skills-based primary school Judaic curriculum approach through which Jewish children across the religious spectrum learn to decode Torah verses on their own. The program, called “L’havin U’lehaskil,” is currently in use in over 200 schools worldwide, reaching over 7,000 students. Students learn to read and translate the original biblical Hebrew into English, Ivrit or Spanish. The curriculum is composed of guided lesson plans and 25 workbooks with detailed teacher editions. CoJDS employs a dedicated curriculum team that interacts with administrators and teachers to assess school needs and create a tailor-made curriculum for each individual school through workshops, evaluations, consultations and on-site visits.
Speaking with The Jewish Link, Rabbi Hillel Adler, national director of CoJDS’s school recruitment and marketing, shared a grim reality facing Jewish day school education in the U.S. and abroad today. The pool of qualified teachers in both Judaic and general studies is continually shrinking, creating a paucity of educators to serve in our schools. As a result, the most dangerous scenario is that schools in small Jewish communities across the country and the world may be forced to shut their doors because of insufficient teaching staff. Against this worrisome reality, Rabbi Adler applauds the efforts of the staff at Apploi who joined forces with CoJDS and have helped alleviate this grim forecast by enabling schools to recruit personnel effectively by using Apploi’s easy-to-use, acclaimed recruitment platform.
For its part, Apploi seeks to address a pressing problem in this country, namely the dire shortage of healthcare workers. In a time when hiring nurses has never been so challenging, over 8,500 healthcare facilities turn to Apploi to license its software to help optimize their recruitment efforts. Apploi is driven by the desire to develop software to enable healthcare organizations to provide superb care to patients.
For schools, the Apploi recruitment software is a game-changer. According to Rabbi Dovid Azerad, associate principal at Mizrahi Torah Academy in south Florida, “Apploi completely transformed our yeshiva’s hiring process. We efficiently handled nearly 300 applicants this year, with a single dashboard! We also made use of the text and email integration. I always highly recommend Rabbi Adler and Apploi to colleagues, and we are looking forward to more rebbeim and morot discovering this platform.”
Via the Apploi platform, job listings are automatically distributed to job boards like Indeed, Google and ZipRecruiter and social media sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Users can also access powerful automation, allowing them to text and email candidates easily, manage credentials, and onboard new hires efficiently. Apploi has won numerous awards for its software, and recently has been placed on Inc. magazine’s list of Best Workplaces for 2023, which distinguishes it as a business that makes employee well-being and company culture key parts of its strategic mission.
For more information, visit www.cojds.org or email Rabbi Hillel Adler at [email protected]
By Pearl Markovitz
