The Lakewood school who stated “our doors are open to every Lakewood child who can succeed here,” is about to shut its doors forever.

Parents explained:

The start of the school year is just days away, and Ateres Tzipora will be forced to close its doors because of financial issues unless $180,000 can be raised within the next few days. Ateres Tzipora has an enrollment of 154 girls in Primary through Eighth Grade, some of whom were students at a different school that closed down for financial reasons just weeks ago. The school has 26 families asking for acceptance, and is willing to give it to them provided they can assure the future.

An infusion of $180,000 will go a lot further than just opening the school. Your donation will be helping secure financial security for Ateres Tzipora for many years to come.

For many years, Ateres Tzipora was supported by two families whose daughters attended the school. Eventually those girls moved on to high school, and Ateres Tzipora needed to find new ways of paying its bills. For the past two years, there were plans imposed on it from the outside that were doomed for failure. The suggested leadership were outsiders, who merely punched in and punched out. Ateres Tzipora now has a board of directors from within the school, who have a three-year plan to make the school financially self-sufficient. They have also included within the plan to bring on the leadership of Rabbi Yosef Insel who understands the school more than any outsider can, and believes in it more, and has a stronger desire to see it thrive again. However, to initiate the plan we need your help. Which is why we am turning to you today, on behalf of 154 girls, who may soon have no school to go to.

Right about now, you are probably rolling your eyes and getting ready to tune out, because let’s face it, there is no one out there who wants to read a fundraising pitch.

But hear us out.

This is about a warm and loving school, one that doesn’t care what nusach you daven or whether or not you are a member in the “right” shul. Ateres Tzipora is a place that is known for its warmth and acceptance and is the only all-inclusive school in Lakewood, embracing every talmida from a Torahdik home with open arms. The true embodiment of Ahavas Yisroel, every girl is nurtured in order to maximize her true potential, and it makes no difference if she comes from a Sefaradi, Ashkenzi, Litvish, Chabad, Heimish or Chasidish home. A quick visit to the office of Ateres Tzipora Menaheles Mrs. Shulamith Insel proves that point, with rows and rows of thank you letters from students and parents covering the walls of her office. There is no doubt that Ateres Tzipora isn’t a cookie cutter school. But that’s okay, because, let’s face it, our kids are people, not cookies.

If Ateres Tzipora is forced to close, dozens and dozens of girls will suddenly find themselves with no school to call their own. Will the rest of the Lakewood school system accept these talmidos? Or will they, at their young ages, face the harsh reality of rejection, of being told that nobody wants them?

We need $180,000 to get Ateres Tzipora back on its feet so that it can open this year. There are 154 little girls who are looking to you right now so that they can put on their uniforms, pack up their knapsacks, and hold their heads up high, knowing that they have a place to go.

www.savetheschool.org