Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls is thrilled to announce a momentous building expansion and capital campaign that will enhance the educational experience of its current students as well as the generations to come.
“We are eager to utilize this expansion opportunity to create a physical complex that allows us to maximize cutting-edge pedagogies that are emerging as a result of changes in the ways students obtain and utilize knowledge in a digital age,” said Mrs. Rivka Kahan, principal of Ma’ayanot.
Mrs. Kahan relates that Ma’ayanot was founded 23 years ago on the vision of “yafutzu maayanotecha chutza, birchovot palgei mayim,” of an experience of Torah that is dynamic and deep, that shapes the individual and impacts the community. The heart of Ma’ayanot’s vision for this project includes an expanded and beautiful Beit Knesset designed with high ceilings, maximum natural light, excellent acoustics and a large stage, which will foster inspired tefillah and be conducive to communal learning, gathering and celebration.
In addition, an enlarged and centrally located beit midrash will serve as a focal point of Torah study and will significantly enhance the existing culture of chavruta study.
A brand-new library and media center, equipped with a full-time research specialist, cutting-edge technology, and a full complement of books and online databases, will create an atmosphere conducive to collaboration and interdisciplinary exploration.
An expanded Learning Center, designed with a large work area surrounded by smaller alcoves, will be ideal for offering multiple, simultaneously run individual and/or small-group skill-building classes. In addition, placement of the expanded Learning Center in close proximity to the library/media hub will afford easy access to abundant educational technology tools aimed at reinforcing skill acquisition.
Ma’ayanot is also excited to be building a new STEAM wing that will house the science labs and STEAM Maker Spaces, as well as the arts program. “Our cutting-edge STEAM program sets the standard for STEAM education at the high-school level, and increased space will enable us to continue to expand and develop that program,” said Mrs. Kahan. “Additionally, the placement of the labs in close proximity to art spaces will allow for creative, interdisciplinary exploration in which science enhances the learning of art and art enhances the learning of science.”
The plans also include dedicated spaces for fine arts classes and programming, including art, music, performance, dance and culinary arts, which will allow for the cultivation of creative expression that intrinsically fosters reflection, self-criticism, experimentation, persistence, and even playfulness—important skills in and of themselves, but crucial for maximal success in a competitive and sophisticated workforce.
Fully implemented, this capital project will add almost 30,000 square feet to the current footprint, an increase of approximately 50 percent. The Capital Campaign goal is $5 million, of which close to $1.5 million has already been raised. The entire expansion is projected to cost $10 million—half of which will be raised through this campaign, and the remainder will be financed toward a goal of ensuring that future beneficiaries of this construction project have the opportunity to support it as well.
“Ma’ayanot has always been at the forefront of high school education, and this expansion will cement Ma’ayanot’s place as the cutting-edge educational institution that it has always been,” says Daniel Altman, president of Ma’ayanot’s board. “This project will enable our administration’s vision and our faculty’s talent to flourish in a building worthy of their talent.”
Ma’ayanot invites the community to join them as they embark on an expansion enterprise that will both accommodate their growing student body, while allowing them to creatively use physical space to promote the skills and integrated approach to learning that will maximally prepare Ma’ayanot students for the 21st-century careers that await them.
For more information, visit capitalcampaign.maayanot.org. For a private viewing of the expansion plans, please contact Pam Ennis, director of development, at [email protected].
By JLNJ Staff
