Presence

AddeRabbi writes:

I had the good fortune of taking a graduate school class in the history of Jewish Education with Prof. Shaul Stampfer. His emphasis on community-driven ‘market forces’ as a major determinant of the success or failure of educational institutions was truly eye-opening. Every educational institution in the world makes 'business' decisions about what alumni accomplishments to take pride in and what not. Every announcement and every photo in their publications and on their websites are part of this general promotion of their product. News concerning alumni which does not promote the school's vision in some way will simply not be advertised. News which really provides an example of the type of alumni achievement that the school strives for will be celebrated.

This is important not only in the context of alumni, but also in regard to the current parent body and the entire community (even those unaffiliated with the school directly). Some things need to be emphasized, and some things don't, but it has to be done very deliberately and carefully given the communal context.