Stuart Schoenfeld's (1987) essay "Folk Judaism, Elite Judaism and the Role of Bar Mitzvah in the Development of the Synagogue and Jewish School in America" recounts how, in the 1930s and 40s, rabbis and Jewish educators banded together to impose attendance requirements on families that wanted to celebrate their sons' b'nei mitzvah in synagogues. Though this newly instituted requirement succeeded in increasing synagogue membership and religious school enrollment, it led to unintended and unfortunate consequences that affect us to this day--a high drop-out rate after bar/bat mitzvah, a reduction of Hebrew instruction to decoding from the Siddur, and proliferation of non-synagogue venues for the celebration of b'nei bat mitzvah. After summarizing Schoenfeld's research and reviewing the undesirable consequences of the attendance requirement, I describe several alternative models of the religious school that have successfully communicated to parents and children that the goals of religious education are broader and deeper than bar/bat mitzvah preparation. (Contains 13 footnotes.)