After two years of planning, Dane County's first Jewish school will open this fall, with a student body of at least 14 and dreams of expanding to more than 80 students.

Madison Jewish Community Day School will become the second Jewish school in Wisconsin, with the other operating in Milwaukee, said Dr. Robert Ablove, chairman of the board of directors of the new school.

Ablove, head of hand surgery in the department of orthopedic surgery at UW-Madison, said the school will make it easier for the Madison area to recruit and retain young, Jewish professionals who want their children to grow up with a deep knowledge and appreciation of their faith.

When the school opens on Sept. 2, it will join at least 28 other religious schools in Dane County — a mix of Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim and Protestant schools offering classes ranging from kindergarten through high school in Madison and half a dozen other communities.

Ablove said the school doesn't represent a rejection of the Madison area's public schools.

"I think Madison has an excellent public school system," Ablove said. "It's more of a recognition that parents don't want their children's Jewish educations to be another extracurricular activity."

By blending studies of traditional subjects with a Judaic program, backers say, the school will instill in students skills in the Torah, Hebrew language, Jewish history and values such as tzedakah (charity), tzedek (justice) and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness).

In its first year, the Madison Jewish school will offer classes for kindergarten and first grade. Leaders plan to add one grade per year until it offers classes through eighth grade.

The school will be headed by former elementary principal Merle Sweet, who in 2000 retired after 35 years in Madison schools.

Meisha Leibson, principal of a Jewish school in Nassau County, New York, has been hired as the school's Judaic studies teacher and assistant administrator. Applicants are being interviewed for the school's other teaching job.

The school also plans to hire part-time specialists in art, music and physical education.

Class space is being rented from Temple Beth El, 702 Arbor Drive in Madison.

The long-term goal is to construct a building for the school and a related day-care facility.

The school's initial budget will be under $300,000.

Tuition will run about $10,000 but, Ablove stressed, "We're not going to turn anyone away based on financial need. There are a lot of generous people in Madison."

The school's schedule will loosely follow that of the Madison School District, with accommodations to give students the day off on Jewish holidays.

Ablove said the school is designed to serve any family with a strong Jewish identity, serving the largest denomination, the Reform Movement, as well as members affiliated with Orthodox, Conservative and Reconstructionist denominations.