• Two community-wide educational gatherings were held: One introducing the work of Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) and its application to Jewish education, the other a presentation and discussion of the educational implications of the 2014 Greater Miami Jewish Federation Population Study.

• 55 Melton adult learners participated year-round at four sites; 418 graduate enrollments were divided among 15 fall and 15 spring classes.
• More than 1,000 Jewish learners of all ages participated in Limmud Miami 2015, in which CAJE was a partner organization. The one-day program included sessions for adults on a wide range of topics, as well as special tracks for teens and children. CAJE staff added tremendous value to the conference, serving in leadership roles, organizing teen participation and teaching at the event.
• CAJE is growing in the area of adult Jewish learning by supporting the work of other organizations and service providers in the field. An emerging area of emphasis, based on the 2014 Greater Miami Jewish Federation Population Study, is adult Jewish learning for young adults. CAJE led discussions during the year for young adult leaders and service providers to determine how to best support their Jewish educational needs and interests.

Leo Martin March of the Living

• 129 teens and accompanying staff and adults joined this year’s Leo Martin March of the Living. Participants attended a series of educational sessions in the months prior to the trip, including participation in Limmud Miami and in Super Sunday.
• An unprecedented total of $88,000 in scholarship assistance was given to the marchers, made possible through the fundraising efforts of CAJE leadership, our funding partners at the Friends of the March and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Additional funds to assist in future years were raised by parents and families of this year’s marchers and by the marchers themselves.
• A new partnership between the Friends of the March of the Living and CAJE’s Leo Martin March of the Living enabled more than $70,000 to be raised to support this wonderful program.

Diller Teen Fellows

• Our first cohort of Diller Teen Fellows graduated from the program in a ceremony held in spring 2015. The teens were not able to visit Israel due to Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014. However, they responded by raising funds for Israel, and joining in a delayed Israel seminar with Diller teens from throughout the United States, Canada and Israel in December 2014. The program concluded with each teen implementing an Impact Project to make a difference in our community.
• The second cohort of 20 Miami teens participated in the lsrael Summer Seminar, a three-week program with the Diller teens from Miami's Israeli partnership city of Yerucham. They joined with more than 400 Diller teens from around the world to participate in the International Congress. They are working on their Impact Projects until their graduation from the Diller program in fall 2015.
• The third cohort of Diller teens is currently being assembled. We expect another 20 wonderful Miami teens to be linked with 20 teens from Yerucham, learning Jewish leadership and influencing eachother in the two communities.

Teen Professionals

• Jewish Youth Professional Meet-ups were held quarterly. An average of 26 organizations serving Jewish teens came together for professional learning and networking.
• Groups of youth professionals have met regionally, in North and South Dade, to develop collaborative initiatives in Jewish youth education and engagement.

• During the 2014-15 year, more than 18,000 seats were filled at the two-week Festival and in year-round programs, setting a new record for MJFF.
• MJFF expanded our year-round offerings to 40 films at 18 venues across Miami.
• More than 70 films were presented at nine venues at an expanded Film Festival lasting 13 days.
• This year’s Festival included educational components in most viewings, featuring film producers, directors, rabbis, educators and community leaders discussing issues raised by the films. Among the topics addressed were Jewish identity, the Holocaust, Jews of color, Israel, LGBTQ issues, Jewish approaches to disabilities, Jewish response to human trafficking, Latin Jewish affairs and more.
  
  Click here to see statistics for the 2015 Miami Jewish Film Festival.

Early Childhood Education

• 70 professionals from 15 Jewish early childhood centers participated in learning this year through CAJE to enhance and improve their skills.
• CAJE is completing the first cohort of the Early Childhood Leadership Institute, in collaboration with the United Way Center for Excellence, co-sponsored by the Robert Russell Foundation and the Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation.
• The Early Childhood Directors’ Network embarked on an ongoing professional learning series led by Dr. Lori Ryan, a nationally known expert who has led work in Jewish early childhood initiatives across the United States.
• Working with the Directors’ Network and Early Childhood Committee, CAJE is developing initiatives to deepen parental engagement among families whose children attend Jewish early childhood programs.

Jewish Day Schools

• 368 individuals, representing 15 Miami-Dade County Jewish day schools (and several from Broward and Palm Beach counties) participated in ongoing professional learning through a range of opportunities offered by CAJE, described below.
• CAJE implemented two new initiatives in the area of day school recruitment and retention:
  
  • Atidenu ("Our future"), a program of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) supported by the Avi Chai Foundation and Federation, is providing intensive learning and coaching to help six Miami day schools improve sustainability by boosting enrollment, retention and tuition.
  • The Coalition for Miami Admissions Directors of Jewish Day Schools (CMAD) was founded this year, and is providing professional learning and networking on a monthly basis for admissions directors in schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Their work included a day-long learning session sponsored by the national Consortium of Jewish Day Schools, and sessions to explore marketing and the implications of the 2014 Greater Miami Jewish Federation Population study on day school recruitment.
• The Jewish New Teacher Project completed another successful session. This program, which helps schools in supporting new teachers, will continue with a new cohort of teachers in fall 2015.
• A new Blended Learning Initiative was launched this year, funded by a grant from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation with the generous support of the Avi Chai Foundation, the Targum Shlishi Foundation, and a generous challenge grant from Dr. Shmuel and Evelyn Katz and Moises and Lilian Tabacinic and other donors. Additional grants are being sought for implementation of the program. The first phase of this project, brought in by our partners from the Digital JLearning Network, was to visit local schools and assess their readiness to embark on expanding blended learning approaches. The second phase of this project, features a Blended Learning Academy for participating schools.
• CAJE has expanded its work in connecting our Jewish day schools to resources available through the public sector. Our staff continues to work with Title I, to improve student's academic achievements, and Title II, for teacher professional development, on behalf of our schools. Most recently, our schools received support through CAJE from Title II to participate in the North American Jewish Day School Conference in Philadelphia in March, and in the Torah U’Mesorah Conference in Philadelphia in May. Title II funds were also used to offer online education courses through the Yeshiva University School Partnership and to offer a professional learning session, held at CAJE, on the implications of brain research on teaching.
• This year marks the first year CAJE has built a partnership with Miami-Dade County schools to bring the program resources available through Title III to help day schools educate students for whom English is not their native language.
• Through the generous support of the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation, the Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Teacher Initiative Awards were presented this year to provide funds for teachers to implement new strategies in their classrooms that would not otherwise be possible. In this first year of the program, 32 applications were submitted. A total of more than $18,000 in grants was given to teachers in Miami-Dade County day schools.

Congregational Education

• CAJE’s work in the area of Congregational Education has begun a transition. The current work (and projected future work) revolves around the following areas:
  • A case management approach, through which each synagogue can set goals and work with CAJE consulting and coaching toward those goals
  • Professional learning for teachers and congregational teams, such as the community program with Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) and a training session with PresenTense in the area of fostering innovation
  • Brokering partnerships between Federation, CAJE, congregations and nationally recognized providers to bring some of the best programs available to Miami. Partners this year included iCenter and Shalom Learning. The Jewish Lens program will be added in the coming year.

CAJE Communications

• Our expanded communications efforts this past year have increased awareness of CAJE's work. There are now more than 10,500 followers of CAJE’s public social media groups on Facebook and Twitter. This is more than 10 times the number of social media followers CAJE had just two years ago. Click here to see our increasing social media trends.
• CAJE initiated weekly updates emailed to our Board, committees and donors to keep our leadership and supporters aware of CAJE activity on an ongoing basis.
• Content on the CAJE website was completely overhauled during the past year to reflect current activities.
• Working closely with Federation's Communications & Marketing Department, we have embarked upon a redesign of the website to launch next year.

CAJE embraces its role as a community leader in Jewish education as we look ahead to:

• Join with Federation to continue addressing the compelling needs articulated in the 2014 Greater Miami Jewish Federation Population Study
• Strengthen adult learning and growth in all community institutions
• Invest more in engaging young adults in Jewish learning
• Implement a case management approach to work in Congregational Education
• Build collaboration among day schools in the areas of recruitment and retention of students
• Open a Blended Learning Academy to support participating day schools
• Move parent and family engagement to the forefront of community work in Jewish early childhood education
• Sustain the growth momentum of the Miami Jewish Film Festival as a vehicle for meaningful Jewish engagement
• Explore a Jewish Teen Philanthropy initiative
• Expand the impact of our Teen Providers’ Network