Launched in September 2019, the Kadimah Scholars is an exciting three-legged partnership between Kadimah Academy, the Buffalo Jewish Federation, and The Park School of Buffalo, creating an innovative program at Park that is unique throughout all of North America.
It is not a merger, but it brings together the best of both schools and the financial support of the Jewish community to ensure a strong and vibrant Jewish day school education in Western New York, within a larger and broader non-sectarian school environment, on a Park’s beautiful 34-acre suburban campus in Amherst, N.Y. You will not find this anywhere else in the United States or Canada.
The Park School, a century-old independent non-religious private school in Amherst, now offers our Hebrew and Judaic Studies classes as part of their K-12 curriculum and program, with Kadimah teachers as part of Park’s regular faculty, supported by Kadimah and the Buffalo Jewish community.
Participating students, known as Kadimah Scholars, enroll as Park students but will take Hebrew and Judaic Studies both during the regular school day at Park, as well as during supplemental periods after school at least once a week. Additionally, Kadimah Scholars have opportunities to pray together, celebrate Shabbat and holidays, and share our customs and traditions with the broader Park community, who have embraced Kadimah.
At the same time, our students study non-religious general education subjects alongside their peers and new friends; participate in sports, clubs and other extracurricular activities; experience the beauty and diversity of Park’s campus and student body; grow and develop as mature, civic-minded youth and young adults; and prepare for college.
To date, Kadimah has been welcomed to Park with open arms. We have blown the Shofar, distributed apples and honey school-wide, built a Sukkah on the lawn outside the dining hall, and hosted our annual communitywide Chanukah Party. Our annual holiday events and traditions continue on campus, with a Tu B’Shvat Seder, our traditional Passover model seders, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Yom HaZikaron, Yom Yerushalayim and Shavuot. And we will continue to participate in and support our broader Jewish community events – such as the community Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel Independence Day commemorations – but now we will do so as Park students and Kadimah Scholars.
Our partnership enables Kadimah to continue our 60-year legacy of providing the finest Jewish day school education to our community’s youth, preparing them to tackle any challenge with a strong foundation in their Jewish heritage, while cultivating the future leaders of our community.
Park remains a non-religious school, but embraces the diversity of its student body, faculty and parents, and encourages learning, understanding, tolerance and appreciation of all cultures, religions, races, ethnicities and nationalities. Kadimah supports these efforts wholeheartedly, and hopes to serve as a model for others.
Join us as we embark on a new and exciting future, with unlimited potential. Please visit The Park School of Buffalo website for more information about Park.
Admissions & Financial Aid
All admissions decisions are handled by The Park School of Buffalo, through their regular application and enrollment process. Park offers generous financial aid to assist with the cost of attending, and Kadimah Academy supplements these awards with the Kadimah Scholarship, to ensure that financial constraints will not prevent a Jewish child from receiving a Jewish education.
Park operates on a rolling admissions basis. Kadimah encourages all interested students and families to apply for admissions and financial aid from Park as early as possible. Please indicate your interest in the Kadimah Scholars program.
Application for the Kadimah Scholarship will follow the awarding of aid by Park. For more information about the Kadimah Scholarship and how to apply, contact the Kadimah office at (716)836-6903 or office@kadimah.org.