JCDS gets accreditation from Independent Schools of the Southwest

JCDS students at the end-of-year ceremony at Shir Chadash, which houses the school Torah during the summer.

On June 6, Jewish Community Day School of Greater New Orleans was awarded accreditation by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. JCDS is only the second school in the New Orleans area to earn ISAS accreditation in the last 25 years.

Upon the recommendation of the ISAS Elementary Commission, the assembled heads of school admitted JCDS by unanimous vote at their annual meeting at the La Posada Hotel in Santa Fe, N.M.

According to the school, “This was the culmination of a three-year process that included rigorous documentation of adherence to standards, a detailed self study, and an accreditation visit by a committee of educators from ISAS schools and ISAS officials.”

With the admittance of the Day School and one other school, the association now has 96 members in its six-state region. There are now 17 schools in Louisiana, with 12 of them in the New Orleans area. JCDS is the fifth Jewish Day School to be admitted.

“I am incredibly proud of the hard work of our faculty, our board, and our community that brought us to this point in our school’s history,” said JCDS Oscar J. Tolmas Head of School Brad Philipson.

Prior to joining JCDS in 2019, Philipson had worked in ISAS schools for almost his entire career, including positions in New Orleans, Oklahoma, and Texas, and was familiar with what the school would be taking on when they began this process.

“The support our school has received from the Jewish community of New Orleans since our founding in 1996 is inspiring. I’m also very grateful to the support we’ve received from both current and former New Orleans-area ISAS heads. Membership in ISAS both recognizes how far we have come as a school and gains us access to wonderful further opportunities for growth.”