Day School, Yeshiva Heads Meet for Prizmah Retreat

Amid a continued surge in enrollment for Jewish day schools across the U.S. and Canada, 100 heads of school met in Houston for their exclusive biennial retreat, hosted by Prizmah, the network for Jewish day schools. Leaders in the field, along with keynote presenters, led sessions covering topics such as: navigating leadership challenges and opportunities with nuance and intention, developing ethical and future-ready artificial intelligence strategies for schools, addressing affordability, and more.

“Jewish day schools are essential to the strength of our community into the future,” said Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah. “Heads of school are at the forefront of ensuring we have excellent, growing, and increasingly affordable schools. In a complex world with many challenges, they carry the burden of ensuring the success of each school, creating the best environments for their students, faculty, and the entire school community. The Prizmah Head of School Retreat offers the tools, knowledge, and connections to lead with confidence and care, learning with and supporting their fellow heads.”

“It was a wonderful opportunity to sit with other heads of school, to learn about similarities of our schools, and to support each other in aspects of this work where our schools are different as well,” said Ilana Mann, head of school in Kinneret in New York, and a participant in Prizmah’s Day School Leadership Training Institute for new and aspiring heads of schools. “We were able to pause and think about things in a meaningful way. The speakers’ thoughtful presentations gave tools that I can bring back to school and use immediately.”

Teachers from the Southeast who attended include:
Rabbi Avi Levitt, Head of School, Atlanta Jewish Academy
Eva Turner, Head of School, B’nai Shalom Day School
Dr. Daniel Weiss, Head of School, Bornblum Jewish Community School
Helena Levine, Head of School, Donna Klein Jewish Academy
Dr. Brocha Baum-Margolese, Head of School, Gotlib Jewish Academy
Lisa Stroll, Head of School, Hebrew Academy (RASG)
Rabbi Mordechai Schwersenski, Head of School, Katz Hillel Day School of Boca Raton
Dr. Roni Raab, Head of School, Katz Yeshiva High School of South Florida
Rabbi Dr. Ezra Levy ,Head of School, Kloda Whitebook Kesher Academy
Rabbi Dr. Gavriel Brown, Head of School, Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South
Nora Anderson, Head of School, Temple Beth Am Rambam Day School
Rabbi Ari Leubitz, Head of School, Scheck Hillel Community School