(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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pupils (503) and the number of youngsters in the secular program have been
decreasing over the years at the same time that both the raw number and proportion of
pupils in the more intensive religious sections has been increasing. The growth of the
Chabad religious programs reflects the increasing Chabad population in the city,
whereas the decreasing enrollment in the general program reflects both Jewish
demographic losses and a perception that the general studies program is inferior to that
in many other city schools.
The writer spoke with Principal Mikhail Gugel, a newcomer to the school during the
current academic year. Prior to coming to School #144, Mr. Gugel taught in other
schools for 15 years and then taught in several different colleges, including a
pedagogical college. He is a native of Dnipropetrovsk and, he said, he “knows
everyone” in the city. His major objective, he
continued, is to improve the quality of secular
studies in the school; such improvement is critical to
attraction of new families and retention of current pupils.
School #144 must be competitive with the best secular
public schools.
Mikhail Gugel is new to School #144 this year. He has had
many years of experience in Dnipropetrovsk public schools
and in local universities and colleges. Mr. Gugel’s parents
live in Israel.
Photo: the writer.
Pupils have only six class hours of Judaic instruction each week, three of which are in
Hebrew language instruction and three of which are in Jewish tradition. Additional
hours of Jewish studies would impinge upon the quality of secular studies offered by
School #144, Mr. Gugel said. In addition to formal Jewish education, the school also
observes all Jewish and Israeli holidays. Shabbatonim are available to some grades
through funding from the Avi Chai Foundation.
Responding to the writer’s questions about Jewish demography and enrollment, Mr.
Gugel said that all pupils in the school this year are halachically Jewish, but some are
from intermarried families. Intermarried families predominate among self-identified
Jews in the city, he continued, although some such families are halachically Jewish
because the mother is Jewish. School #144 has sustained some enrollment loss in the
upper grades, said Mr. Gugel, because a large number of adolescent pupils have gone
to Israel on the Na’aleh high school in Israel program. Given available space in the
main building and the number of teachers employed by the school, School #144
probably could absorb about 500 pupils, instead of the 235 currently enrolled, said Mr.
Gugel in answer to a question.
The sister-city program linking Dnipropetrovsk and Boston has been helpful to
School #144, said Mr. Gugel. The Boston Jewish federation (Combined Jewish
Philanthropies of Greater Boston) provides training for School #144 English teachers,