To fund the development of Phase Two of the Kehillah Partnership, a collaborative effort to strengthen and enrich Jewish educational programming in the community at large and to create a communal foundation for resource-sharing and community-building. The Kehillah Partnership is a community-wide collaboration among the Bergen County YJCC, the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, YM-YWHA of North Jersey, UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, and a number of Reform and Conservative synagogues.

A primary aspect of the Partnership is a cultural arts education program for sixth grade congregational school students and their families. Available programming has included a variety of classes (e.g., aviation, art, beading, cartooning, culinary arts, music (drums and Jewish rock), photography, and videography) and an overnight retreat for students from all participating schools. Parents of participating students are invited to opening and closing sessions.

This grant enabled the Partnership to fund professional development for congregational school teachers and education directors. The professional development combined content focused on Israel with cultural arts approaches and introduced educators to using new technology to deliver learning. Participating schools also received $1,000 to use towards new technology. Over the three year grant period, 29 schools participated in the program.