TanenbaumCHAT to merge campuses, slash tuition

An empty school classroom is pictured. (AP Photo/Dinesh Ramde)

The largest Jewish high school in the GTA says it will close its northern branch in Vaughan as part of ongoing efforts to reduce tuition.

In a statement Monday, the Anne and Max Tannenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto said that its board has made a decision to merge both branches into a single location at its Wallenberg Campus in North York, effective September 2017.

The school said it made the decision “in order to address decreasing enrolment and ensure that all students have access to the broadest range of courses and extra-curricular activities.”

In the statement, TanenbaumCHAT said that the move, along with two major donations, will slash tuition by nearly $10,000 in time for the 2017-18 schoolyear.

“We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking initiative aimed at increasing access to Jewish education,” Rabbi Lee Buckman, TanenbaumCHAT's head of school said in the statement. "The combined campus reflects our ongoing commitment to offering a broad, vibrant, Jewish education of the highest calibre.”

TanenbaumCHAT is North America's largest Jewish community high school.

Buckman said the merger of the campuses will allow the school to enhance programming, particularly by expanding course offerings and extra-curricular opportunities for students.

The Vaughan campus, known as The Kimel Family Education Centre, opened in September 2017. Going forward, the building will continue to house other Jewish schools and educational programs, the statement said.