Ora Academy

What Ora Academy does

Ora Academy is a nonprofit Jewish educational institution founded in 1996 and based at 139 Winton Road S. in Rochester, New York. It provides Torah-based secondary education to Jewish teenage girls and describes itself as "Upstate New York's premier center for Torah and academic excellence for Jewish women." Beyond its core student body, the institution operates a portfolio of subsidiary programs — Meoros (publication), Ora-lite, Ora Big Sisters (mentorship), Ora Chessed (community service), and Ora Alumnae — that extend engagement to adult women, families, and the broader Jewish community, including via distance learning for alumnae. Leadership consists of Rabbi Eliezer Y. Lehrer as Headmaster/Executive Director and Mrs. Esti Lagunov as Menaheles (Principal), supported by 7 staff and 12 listed faculty members.

The Academy's operating model combines private tuition (amount not disclosed) with philanthropic fundraising, event revenue, raffle proceeds (including a "Split the Pot!" campaign), and journal advertising. It runs an annual Rosh Hashanah Campaign (2025 goal of $24,300), a Sustainers Circle recurring giving program, and a 30th Anniversary Campaign in 2025-2026 supported by a matching donor pledge quadrupled from prior levels. The institution reports its largest student body in history in 2025, indicating enrollment expansion.

There is no disclosed technology platform, mobile app, AI capability, patent portfolio, or external partnership; operations are delivered in-person from a single campus with distance-learning extension for alumnae. No audited financials, tuition pricing, student counts, or multi-year revenue history are disclosed in the available input, which materially limits external validation of scale and growth claims.

Name

Ora Academy

Legal name

Ora Academy

Website

https://oraacademy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ora Academy is a Rochester, New York-based nonprofit Jewish educational institution founded in 1996 that provides Torah-based secondary education to Jewish teenage girls and operates subsidiary programs for alumnae, families, and the broader community, funded through tuition, donations, raffles, and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rochester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Educational Services: Primary revenue from tuition for the high school program and fees for various educational programs serving Jewish women and teens across affiliation levels.
2. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Significant fundraising through annual campaigns including Rosh Hashanah Campaign ($24,300 goal), 30th Anniversary Campaign with quadrupled matching, and monthly Split the Pot! raffle drawings.
3. Event Reservations and Journal Ads: Revenue from dinner reservations ($136 per person) and advertising in commemorative journals with tiered sponsorship packages ranging from $120 to $50,000.
4. Sustainers Circle Recurring Giving: Monthly giving program where supporters contribute on an ongoing basis to sustain operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ora Academy operates a private Jewish high school for girls in Rochester, NY, offering a rigorous dual curriculum of Judaic and secular studies alongside a warm, inclusive environment and full extracurricular programming. The institution also runs five supporting divisions—Meoros (advanced Torah learning for adult women), Ora-lite (teen programming), Ora Big Sisters (peer mentoring), Ora Chessed (community service), and Ora Alumnae (post-graduation engagement via distance learning).

Product overview

Ora Academy is a single unified educational institution offering a flagship high school program for Jewish girls with a dual curriculum of Judaic and secular studies. The institution operates six distinct programs: the core Ora Academy High School, plus five related divisions (Meoros for advanced women's Torah learning, Ora-lite for teen programming, Ora Big Sisters for peer mentoring, Ora Chessed for community service, and Ora Alumnae for post-graduation engagement). All programs share the mission of connecting Jewish women with Jewish knowledge, scholarship, and values through education and community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ora Academy High School Flagship high school program providing a rigorous dual curriculum of Judaic and secular studies for Jewish girls in Rochester, New York, along with warm inclusive atmosphere and full extracurricular programming. Requires a minimum 40 hours of community service (chessed) per year for graduation.
• Meoros - Advanced Torah Learning for Women In-depth beis medrash-style analysis and study for adult Jewish women, offering dynamic debate and discussion of talmudic and medrashic text. Each session is ten classes, provided free of charge, open to women regardless of previous background or level of religious observance.
• Ora-lite Engaging educational programming, events, and personal discussions connecting Jewish teenage girls with Jewish knowledge in a fun, informative manner through monthly formal events and one-on-one sessions. Open to teens regardless of affiliation or level of religious observance.
• Ora Big Sisters Peer-to-peer mentoring program where Ora students provide direction, encouragement, and support to local elementary school children through age-appropriate discussions and activities, meeting bi-weekly during the academic year.
• Ora Chessed Community service program including weekly visits with elderly and home-bound, Bnos youth groups, mothers helpers, and tutoring. Minimum 40 hours per year of chessed required for graduation.
• Ora Alumnae Post-graduation program maintaining the Ora connection through weekly video lessons, long-distance classes, quarterly get-togethers, individual counsel, a dedicated website, and special events.

Quantifiable outcome

• Largest student body in history
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Hebrew Academy of Long Beach: Orthodox Jewish day school serving Long Beach, NY. Comparable in mission, dual-curriculum model, and tuition-plus-donation revenue structure, but operating in a different regional market without direct competition.

Direct peers

• Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls: Modern Orthodox girls' high school in Teaneck, NJ. Closely mirrors Ora's dual-curriculum structure, broad co-curricular programming, and community-service graduation requirements within a similar demographic.
• Shalhevet High School: Modern Orthodox Jewish high school in Los Angeles. Comparable in combining rigorous Judaic and secular college-prep curriculum, with similar community-service requirements and broad extracurricular offerings.
• Prospect Park Bnos Leah: Post-high-school seminary program for Jewish women. Comparable to Ora's Meoros and Ora-lite divisions in offering advanced Torah learning for women across observance levels.
• Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central): Flagship Orthodox girls' high school affiliated with Yeshiva University in Manhattan. Directly comparable as a private Jewish girls' secondary school combining rigorous Judaic and secular academics with broad extracurricular programming.
• Bais Rivka: Lubavitch-affiliated girls' high school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Comparable to Ora in delivering Orthodox Judaic/secular dual curriculum for Jewish female students with similar extracurricular and community-service programming.
• Bnos Yisroel: Multi-campus Orthodox girls' high school network. Comparable in mission, target demographic (Jewish teenage girls), and dual-curriculum model, though operating at significantly larger scale across multiple geographies.
• Kohelet Yeshiva High School: Modern Orthodox co-ed high school in the Philadelphia suburbs. Comparable as a community-rooted Jewish day school with comparable tuition/donation-funded revenue model and similar student body size.

Broad incumbents

• SAR Academy: Large Modern Orthodox K-12 day school in Riverdale, NY. Comparable as a community-anchored Jewish day school with rigorous academics, though serving a much larger and broader student body across multiple divisions.
• RAMAZ: Established Modern Orthodox K-12 day school in Manhattan. Comparable in mission and dual curriculum but operates as a much larger, full-spectrum institution with significantly greater resources and broader programming.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=-84j87VFrAg&feature=youtu.be
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ora-academy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ora Academy