$10M Gift Will Boost Teachers At Golda Och Academy In West Orange

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A landmark, $10 million challenge gift will help usher in a new wave of “teaching excellence” at the Golda Och Academy in West Orange, school administrators say.

Earlier this week, Golda Och Academy announced 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 Michael Och, the father of Daniel Och and husband of the late Golda Och.

“This important new fund is part of a larger vision for faculty at Golda Och Academy and will allow for the creation of a new faculty investment initiative,” administrators said in a news release.

The Och family’s gift represents one of the largest investments in faculty among Jewish day schools in the United States, officials said.

According to the academy:

“The $10 million challenge grant continues the Och family’s history of supporting Jewish education, beginning in 1965 with Golda and Dr. 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, most notably, as a beloved Jewish history teacher. Following her death in 2010, the Jane and Daniel 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.”

“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,” Shapiro said.

Jane and Daniel Och offered a joint statement about the gift:

“We are proud to be a part of the school’s mission and to be in a position to support the faculty. 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.”

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