Directory listing — not editorial research
Jewish Day Schools in San Rafael, California
San Rafael has a Jewish day school we can confirm is currently operating. This directory page lists each one with the basics — name, grades, and community character where we have it. Take our 5-minute quiz to see which schools match your family's specific situation.
Schools tagged with a distance are in nearby cities that families in San Rafael also consider. Distances are approximate, measured from the middle of San Rafael.
Nearby, nearest first: Bais Menachem Yeshiva Day School (16 mi) · Jewish Community High School of the Bay (16 mi) · Brandeis Hillel Day School (20 mi) · The Brandeis School of San Francisco (20 mi) · Contra Costa Jewish Day School (23 mi) · Oakland Hebrew Day School (24 mi).
6 elementary schools · 1 high schools
Schools in San Rafael, by level
Scroll to the level that matches your child’s age. Within each level, schools are grouped by whether they serve boys, girls, or co-ed classes.
Elementary Schools (K–8) · 6 schools
Schools serving kindergarten through grade 8 — some K–5, some K–8, some starting at preschool and ending in 8th grade.
Co-ed
Bais Menachem Yeshiva Day School
About 16 mi away · San Francisco
K-8·Co-ed
NCES 2023-24 · IRS 990 FY2020
The Brandeis School of San Francisco
About 20 mi away · San Francisco
K-8·Co-ed
NCES 2023-24 · IRS 990 FY2023
Gender mix not specified
High Schools (9–12) · 1 school
Schools serving grades 9 through 12, including yeshivas, mesivtas, Bais Yaakov high schools, and Modern Orthodox and community high schools.
Jewish Community High School of the Bay
About 16 mi away · San Francisco
9-12·Co-ed
NCES 2023-24 · IRS 990 FY2023
What to consider when evaluating a Jewish day school
Choosing a Jewish day school involves more than convenience. Families typically weigh religious orientation, academic rigor, tuition affordability, and the specific grade range a school serves. Posted tuition is rarely what most families actually pay — almost every Jewish day school has a financial aid program, and many families receive meaningful assistance through need-based aid, scholarship funds, state vouchers or education savings accounts, or staff tuition benefits if a parent works at the school. Our tuition estimator shows what could apply to your family.
No schools match these filters.
About Jewish education in California
California is home to a large and diverse set of Jewish day schools, clustered primarily in the Los Angeles area and Silicon Valley, with additional schools in San Diego, Oakland, and Sacramento. The state spans Modern Orthodox, yeshivish, Conservative, pluralistic, and Chabad traditions. California does not currently operate a statewide school voucher or ESA program.
A year in San Rafael
🌸 Spring Mar–May
64° / 48°
Long sleeves or a light jacket
Comfortable
🎭 Purim🫓 Pesach🌾 Shavuos
☀️ Summer Jun–Aug
74° / 55°
Long sleeves or a light jacket
Comfortable
🕯️ Tisha B'Av
🍂 Fall Sep–Nov
71° / 53°
Long sleeves or a light jacket
Comfortable
🍎 Rosh Hashanah🕊️ Yom Kippur🌿 Sukkos
❄️ Winter Dec–Feb
57° / 45°
Jacket and layers
Comfortable
🕎 Chanukah🌳 Tu BiShvat
Holiday by holiday
- 🍎 Rosh Hashanah (September to early October): highs about 76°F, lows about 57°F, humidity about 71%.
- 🕊️ Yom Kippur (mid September to mid October): highs about 76°F, lows about 57°F, humidity about 71%.
- 🌿 Sukkos (late September to October): highs about 73°F, lows about 54°F, humidity about 66%.
- 🕎 Chanukah (late November to December): highs about 57°F, lows about 45°F, humidity about 85%.
- 🌳 Tu BiShvat (mid January to mid February): highs about 57°F, lows about 45°F, humidity about 85%.
- 🎭 Purim (late February to March): highs about 59°F, lows about 45°F, humidity about 79%.
- 🫓 Pesach (late March to April): highs about 64°F, lows about 48°F, humidity about 78%.
- 🌾 Shavuos (mid May to mid June): highs about 68°F, lows about 50°F, humidity about 75%.
- 🕯️ Tisha B'Av (mid July to mid August): highs about 73°F, lows about 54°F, humidity about 73%.
Monthly averages for the middle of San Rafael, 2019–2023 (NASA POWER). Holiday dates move about a month from year to year.
Cost of living and learning near San Rafael
Housing in the community area
🏠 Asking price
$1,103,625
$612 per sq ft
🔑 Rent
$2,624 /mo
🧾 Property tax
$9,690 /yr
💵 Household income
$128,706
How we measured this
ZIP areas: 94901, 94903, covering the areas around the congregations and schools. Asking price is the median of current listings across those ZIP areas (Realtor.com research data, September 2026); by ZIP: 94903 $846,250 · 94901 $1,361,000. Owner-estimated median home value, which lags the market: $1,354,950. Rent, property tax and income are Census ACS 2020–2024 medians.
Tuition by grade
- Elementary $25,900 · 1 school
Published rates for 2025–26 and 2026–27 at the schools above, before aid. Bars run from $0 to $60,000. See what you would pay after aid →
California: taxes and help with tuition
💸 Income tax
~2.14% at $90k
~4.02% at $150k, state only, married filing jointly
🎓 State scholarship
None on file
No state-funded private school program for California.
🏛️ Federal credit
Undecided
Has not decided whether to opt in to the federal credit.
Homeschooling in California
Notice
Parent-run home private school files a Private School Affidavit every year; no report to the district.
Subjects or hours
Instruction in the branches of study required in public schools; tutor route is 3 hrs/day, 175 days.
Parent
Home private school keeps a record of faculty educational qualifications; no minimum stated.
Locally
Each local district decides whether a homeschooled child is in a private school.
Checked 2026-10-27 against cde.ca.gov (archived copy). Rules change and can differ by district; confirm with your district before you start.
Jewish communities near San Rafael
Congregations in and around San Rafael, nearest first, measured from the middle of San Rafael. Missing yours, or something looks wrong? Tell us.
Other cities in California with Jewish schools
Los Angeles (54) · San Diego (9) · La Jolla (4) · Palo Alto (4) · San Francisco (4) · Valley Village (4)
Common questions about Jewish day schools in San Rafael, California
What's the difference between a Jewish day school and a yeshiva?
Both teach a dual curriculum combining Judaic studies with general academic subjects, but "yeshiva" typically refers to schools in the yeshivish or Orthodox tradition with a heavier Torah-study focus. "Jewish day school" is the broader umbrella. See our guide to how Jewish schools differ.
Do we need to be religious to send our children?
No. Many Jewish day schools — particularly community and pluralistic schools, Conservative-movement schools, and Modern Orthodox schools that accept all affiliations — serve families across the full observance spectrum. Some schools require synagogue membership or minimum observance; most don't.
Is the posted tuition what we'll actually pay?
Usually not. Almost every Jewish day school has a financial aid program, and the "collected average" tuition across the cohort is typically 30–40% below the posted rate. Our tuition estimator shows what could apply to your family, and each school can tell you what it offers.
How do families afford Jewish day school tuition?
Public school is free; Jewish day schools copied its format and have to be paid for. Most schools set tuition family by family, through a committee that reviews tax returns and financial documents, so what a family pays depends on what the school judges it can afford. Schools generally do not publish how those amounts are calculated or what other families pay. Donations cover a large share of revenue, much of it from a small number of families, and working families in the middle tend to carry the most, since the cost multiplies with every child. Where staff children attend the school their parent works for, tuition is often part of the compensation package, and it is worth more with each child. Details vary by school. Our article How Yeshiva Day School Tuition Really Works shows the numbers.
How do we pick the right school for our family?
The practical fit factors are grade range, religious orientation (hashkafa), community character, distance from home, and what the tuition actually comes to after aid. Our matching quiz asks about each of these in about five minutes and produces a shortlist of schools that fit your family specifically.
Not sure which school fits?
Answer five questions about your child's grade, your location, and your community preferences — we'll show you the schools that match in San Rafael, California.
Start the matching quiz →Related reading
- →Jewish School Tuition Assistance: Every Way to Pay LessState vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, Federation funds and school aid.
- →What Is a Jewish Day School?A plain-language guide for families new to Jewish education.
- →Types of Jewish SchoolsHow to tell the main types apart — Modern Orthodox, yeshivish, Chabad, pluralistic.
Data sourced from the federal NCES Private School Survey and IRS Form 990 filings where available. We do not publish street addresses, phone numbers, enrollment counts, or our internal classification data. Research methodology · Missing a school?