TVT Community Day School

Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School (TVT) is a private, non-denominational Jewish community day school located on a 21.5-acre campus in Irvine, California. Founded in 1991 by Holocaust survivor Irving “Papa” Gelman in memory of Naomi Gelman Weiss, the school takes its name from the Tarbut network of secular, Hebrew-language Jewish schools that existed in Eastern Europe before World War II. TVT serves grades TK through 12, divided into a Lower School and Upper School, with a faculty of roughly 150 staff and over 800 students.

TVT is a pluralistic, inclusive school that welcomes families of all backgrounds and faiths, with nearly a quarter of families and about half of staff identifying as non-Jewish. Its educational mission is rooted in Jewish values of community, justice, kindness, respect, truth, and repairing the world, combined with a rigorous, project-based, and inquiry-driven academic program spanning subjects from engineering to the arts.

The school has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and counts graduates who go on to top-ranked universities and liberal arts colleges. TVT emphasizes character development alongside academics, aiming to prepare students to become inquisitive learners, compassionate citizens, and courageous leaders in their communities and the world.