Golda Och Academy receives $10M challenge gift to support faculty excellence

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WEST ORANGE, NJ — Golda Och Academy announced March 2 that the Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation has agreed to make a $10 million challenge gift to support the school’s efforts to significantly invest in teaching excellence. The gift will establish the Dr. Michael Och Fund for Faculty Excellence, an endowment fund named in honor of Daniel Och’s father and the late Golda Och’s husband. This new fund is part of a larger vision for faculty at GOA and will allow for the creation of a new faculty investment initiative. The Och family’s gift represents one of the largest investments in faculty among Jewish day schools in the United States.

“We are deeply grateful for the Och family’s commitment to our teachers during a time when we are reminded of the essential role they play in our students’ success and well-being,” Head of School Adam Shapiro said. “This remarkable gift will be the catalyst for Golda Och Academy’s next stage of growth, and it will ensure we are poised to recruit, reward and retain the very best faculty for our students now and for generations to come.”

The $10 million challenge grant continues the Och family’s history of supporting Jewish education, beginning in 1965 with Golda and Michael Och’s leading role in the founding of the school, which was then called the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union. Golda Och held a variety of roles during her decades-long career at the school, including business manager, board president and a Jewish history teacher. Following her death in 2010, the Och Family Foundation pledged a transformative $15 million challenge gift to the school focused on affordability and academic excellence, prompting the school’s renaming to Golda Och Academy. The school subsequently raised an additional $17.5 million in response to the challenge and established one of the largest affordability endowments among North American Jewish day schools.

“Our school is honored to be the recipients of this transformational challenge grant that will enable us to invest more deeply in the success of our teachers,” GOA board of trustees Chairperson Keith Biebelberg said. “We are truly thrilled to establish this important and groundbreaking fund in the name of such a dear friend of our school, Dr. Michael Och.”

“We are proud to be a part of the school’s mission and to be in a position to support the faculty,” Jane and Daniel Och said in a statement. “Nothing is more important to our children and our society than committed educators and we feel privileged to work with them. With all that has occurred in the last year, education has proven to be a cornerstone of stability and the maintenance of future opportunity. We are honored to have our father recognized at an institution that reflects his values and belief in supporting the Jewish community and providing an exceptional education to tomorrow’s leaders.”

“Our teachers are the heart and soul of our school and community,” Shapiro said. “The Och family’s transformational gift will allow us to invest in them, just as they invest in each and every one of our students.”

Photos Courtesy of Erin Sternthal

  Golda Och Academy