Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy

GBJCL matches synagogues, Jewish day schools, corporations and organizations with the public schools in the Greater Boston area. The partner organization sends a team of volunteers to their matching public school. The partner delegates one volunteer to serve as the Team Leader to communicate directly with the GBJCL School Liaison who coordinates the tutoring on behalf of the school. GBJCL supports these partnerships throughout the year and develops new methods for organizations to support the public schools. You can find a list of our current partners here.

GBJCL Partner Schools

Our school partners are located in Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Dedham, Framingham, Maynard, Somerville and Waltham. GBJCL also collaborates with community partners throughout Greater Boston including Wondermore, Cambridge School Volunteers and the Boston Public Schools Office of Community Engagement. Each year, GBJCL engages new schools in partnership exploration; if you don’t see a school on the list that you would like to serve, let us know.
Synagogues
The synagogue model is the core component of GBJCL and has served the schools over the last two decades. Synagogues are matched with schools near the synagogue throughout Greater Boston. If you would like your synagogue to get involved, please let us know. Day Schools
Boston area Jewish Day schools participate in GBJCL in partnership with TELEM, JCRC’s teen service learning program. GBJCL and TELEM staff work with the day school in establishing a partnership with a local public school, where the day school students will volunteer reading one-on-one as reading buddies to younger students. We support these programs by providing literacy training for day school students and support throughout the year. Corporate Partners
Our corporate partners send groups of volunteers weekly to a public school during their lunch hour. Other corporate partners provide schools with books through a book drive.
Jewish Nonprofits
Non-profits in the Jewish community have committed to support the ongoing efforts of GBJCL by volunteering during the work day.

If your organization or company is interested in developing a partnership, please contact Becca Shimshak.