We have a saying here at Galinsky Academy: “If you really want to know what we value most, you only have to look in two places – the schedule and the budget.”
And it is true; there are no more valuable resources than our time and our money. How we decide to allocate them is, therefore, the truest test of our values. All the rest is commentary, as they say…
I have spent the last couple of months working with our school heads, the synagogue’s executive leadership, and a variety of lay committees on the 2014-2015 budget. It is as rigorous and exhaustive a process as it to be, because there is nothing more critical to our mission than ensuring the longterm financial viability of our Academy and its schools. We cannot provide the extraordinary secular and Jewish education that we do from age 1 to grade 12 in our Academy’s four schools – the DuBow Preschool, the Bernard and Alice Selevan Religious School, the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, and Makom Hebrew High – if we become financially insoluble.
Why is it critical that there be a Galinsky Academy?
Ask them:
That video was created as part of this year’s L’dor V’dor Annual Campaign (LDVD). This is the magical time of year where we are both working hard to close this year’s campaign to fulfill our current budget expectations AND determining the expectations to satisfy next year’s budget with all it represents for our children and our community. Why give?
Well, that is one reason.
In an average year, endowments and tuition cover only 80% of the cost to provide each student’s education at Galinsky Academy. Annual giving provides the crucial margin of excellence that distinguishes education at the Galinsky Academy.
Here’s another:
The budget of Galinsky Academy essentially has four levers that matter: Tuition & Fundraising on the revenue side and Salaries & Scholarships on the expense side.
That’s the budget.
For our stakeholders, I can assure you that our budget has long been trimmed of fat. We spend as little as necessary without sacrificing the integrity of our schools and trying (but not always succeeding) our best to compensate our teachers as fairly as we can. As the economy’s impact took hold in our community, we have seen legitimate scholarship need skyrocket and have had to match it with increased fundraising to keep pace so that we do not have turn away students from families who desire a Galinsky Academy education and genuinely cannot afford the full tuition. All four of our schools have seen this rise in scholarship need and all four of our schools have benefited from LDVD funds to meet it (and at MJGDS a critical annual allocation from Federation).
Any other reasons annual giving is so important?
Here’s a few more:
LDVD will allow the Galinsky Academy to continue building upon several important priorities…
- Supports the efforts of our teachers, providing them professional growth experiences and ever expanding resources and curriculum.
- Provides students a chance to experience the integration of technology in the educational process and to understand its relevance to life in the 21st century.
- Provides a “silent scholarship” for every student by supplementing tuition dollars to develop bold and inspiring programs.
- Provides meaningful experiential learning and character-building opportunities both in the classroom and in the community.
If we treat our budget as the most honest expression of our Jewish values, then it is critical that the above and more find its way in to all the schools of Galinsky. As we approach the two-year anniversary of our Academy’s founding, perhaps it is worthwhile to remember who we named our Academy after and why…
Samuel and Esther Galinsky were, by all accounts, modest and unassuming members of the Jacksonville Jewish Center. They participated in synagogue life and were respected members of the congregation. They cared about Jewish education, but had no children of their own. They were, in many ways, like any other couple. When they died, their friends mourned their passing. And that should be the end of the story. But it isn’t. Because this ordinary couple did something extraordinary. With no fanfare and no notice, Samuel and Esther Galinsky left the Center amongst the most significant gifts it has ever received – $3 million. And it was given for one purpose – this childless couple gave their fortune to ensure that Jewish children would be able to have a Jewish education. Has there even been a more selfless gift? Have any people ever more embodied the idea of L’dor V’dor?
And so it is in the spirit of this gift – of that remarkable couple – that we officially announce the creation of what will forever now be known as “Galinsky Academy”.
To those who have given to help secure the Jewish future of Jacksonville, thank you. To those who have not yet given, but plan to, thank you in advance.
To those who typically do not give, but are capable…
Let this be the year you are counted. L’dor v’dor.
In the seventh grade, 
