Hillel Day School
Hillel Day School, named after the Jewish religious leader, sage and scholar Hillel, is an independent Pre-K – 8 Jewish day school in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a city in the Detroit metropolitan area. Founded in 1958, it was the first non-Orthodox Jewish school in Michigan. It provides both secular and Judaic studies instruction for students from preschool through eighth grade.
Hillel Day School | |
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Address | |
32200 Middlebelt Road , 48334 United States | |
Coordinates | 42°31′24″N 83°20′23″W |
Information | |
Other names | Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, Hillel |
Type | Independent Jewish day school |
Motto | ″Mind and soul. Better together.″ |
Religious affiliation(s) | Jewish |
Denomination | Non-denominational |
Established | 1958 |
Founder | Rabbi Jacob Segal |
NCES School ID | 00641984[1] |
Head of school | Dr. Darin S. Katz |
Grades | Pre-K – 8 |
Gender | Coed |
Enrollment | 581[2] (2017-2018) |
Campus size | 11 acres |
Campus type | Suburban |
Accreditations | NAIS via ISACS[3] |
Website | www |
History
Early years
The Hillel Day School was established in the fall of 1958, after a long period of planning, by a group of Detroit educators, Rabbis and leaders of the community.[4][5] The group was spearheaded by Rabbi Jacob Segal, who was consequently recognized as the founder of the school and its honorary life president.[6][7]
The school began with 29 students in the kindergarten and first grade,[8] a further grade being added each following year.[9] By 1960 it grew into a modern elementary day school with 51 students in kindergarten and three grades[10] which combined Hebraic-religious and general studies under the spiritual influence of Conservative Judaism and Zionism.[11] By 1963, enrollment was 115 students in grades K-6.[12] By 1966, Hillel grew up into a K-9 school and, in 1967, held the commencement exercises for its first graduating ninth grade. The next year's graduates were the first students that completed ten years of education at Hillel, from kindergarten at school's founding in 1958 to ninth grade.[13]
1970s-1990s
In 1970 Hillel moved to its current home in Farmington Hills. The school rapidly grew: the total enrollment went from 270 in 1970[14] to 533 in 1989[15] to 636 in 1992 (at this enrollment level, the school had to use portable classrooms)[16] and to 712 in 1997.[17] The school's growth was partially due to the inflow of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union: in 1979, Hillel had 20,[18] and in 1992, 49[19] Russian students.
Hillel was recognized at the time as "a crown jewel of Conservative Judaism in Detroit" because it offered Jewish education "in a form more palatable to some for whom the Beth Yehuda seemed too oldworld".[20] However, it was only in 1979 that Hillel formally affiliated with the Schechter Day School Network of schools that identify with Conservative Judaism.[21]
Hillel went on as a K-9 school for 22 years from 1968 until 1988. Sometime around 1980 the ninth grade became the entry point for local public high schools, and enrollment to Hillel's ninth grade dropped. In 1988, Hillel Day School held graduation exercises for its last graduating ninth grade class.[22] Since then, Hillel continued as a K-8 school.
Recent years
In 2000s Hillel's enrollment tapered, from more than 760 in 2001[23] to 596 in 2005.[24] The school reacted to this with several changes.
In 2008, Hillel broke off the Schechter network and reestablished itself as a community (or, non-denominational) RAVSAK Jewish day school[25][26] to better attract Reform and non-religious Jewish families.
In 2010, Hillel opened the Early Childhood Center, providing in its inaugural year full- and half-day programs for 69 pre-K students.[27] In March 2013, in its third year of operation, Hillel's ECC became the first licensed early childhood center or preschool in the Farmington or West Bloomfield area to receive a rating under the Michigan's "Great Start to Quality" program. Under the program — Michigan's new rating and improvement system for state preschools — area preschools can earn up to five stars; Hillel ECC received four stars.[28] In 2019, the school expanded its ECC facility and started the year with 173 pre-K students.[29] However, while the ECC grew, the school's K-8 population in 2010s was still on the decline: from 550 students in 2010[30] to 441 in 2017.[31]
In 2017–2018, Hillel held a series of alumni and community events in celebration of its 60-year anniversary.[32][33]
In 2020, it was announced that Dr. Darin Katz would become Hillel's next Head of School. He was previously the Director of the Upper School at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.[34]
Governance
Hillel Day School is a private, non-profit corporation administered by a headmaster, who in turn acts under the direction of a board of trustees. In 2009, Hillel changed its governance from the original "membership model", in which parent members elected the board, to a directorship model (self-perpetuating board), in which current board members select their own replacements.[35]
Teachers' union controversy
In 2005, Hillel Day School shut down its teachers’ union[36] [37] [38] [39] .[40] The controversial move followed a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling to block union organizers at a Roman Catholic Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, from joining the Michigan Education Association.[41] Both schools (and many more religious schools across the country) used the same precedent to de-unionize their teachers: the National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979. In that case, the court ruled that the lay teachers at religious schools are exempt from the federal collective bargaining agreement.[42]
At the time, Hillel Day School belonged to Schechter Day School Network of Jewish day schools that identify with Conservative Judaism. Many conservative rabbis criticized Hillel's decision to no longer recognize its teachers’ union for the purposes of collective bargaining. Among them was Rabbi David Nelson, religious leader of the Conservative synagogue Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, Michigan, who said if “you understand Jewish law, you have to have sensitivity toward the working person”.[43] Rabbi Jill Jacobs defended the rights of workers to unionize and authored conservative movement's top lawmaking body 2008 teshuvah, or religious legal ruling, dealing with unionization and other related employment issues.[44][45]
Admissions
Since 2004, Hillel offers "lateral entry" to prospective sixth grade students who didn't have any prior Jewish education. New students are placed in separate Hebrew classes, but are otherwise integrated into the general Hillel curriculum. Prior to that, students were strongly encouraged to enter Hillel by second grade because of the school's rigorous Judaic studies component.[46]
Hillel requires student's complete vaccination as a condition of admission and continuous enrollment. In 2015, when Michigan had one of the country's highest rate of vaccination waivers, Hillel declared it would no longer accept a religious or philosophical waiver from parents who refuse to vaccinate. Jewish authorities justify vaccination by the Jewish law principle of pikuach nefesh, which holds that the preservation of human life overrides virtually any other religious rule. "As a religious school, we can determine whether refusal of the vaccine has any religious merit, and we decided it does not," Hillel's headmaster Freedman said.[47]
Cost of attendance
Tuition for the 2014–2015 academic year ranged from $11,280 for kindergarten to $17,975 for grades 1–8. In 2013–2014, 54 percent of the school's 564 students received financial aid.[48]
Curriculum
From its founding, the school teaches Jewish and secular subjects in a dual curriculum.[49] The Jewish curriculum includes modern Hebrew, Jewish history, Jewish prayers and holidays, the Tanakh, and Rabbinic literature. The secular curriculum follows the Michigan Department of Education academic standards.
In 2012, Prof. Andries Coetzeea from University of Michigan Linguistics Department sat in on a Hillel's 7th grade Hebrew class. The class was taught exclusively in Hebrew, except for the occasional English explanation for Andries's sake. In spite of the fact that Andries has an MA degree in Biblical Hebrew, the 7th grade Hillel students had a better command of the Hebrew language than he did.[50]
Hillel students celebrate both American and Jewish holidays. In 2013, the first day of Hanukkah coincided with Thanksgiving. It is a rare event: the last time it happened was 1888. Hillel students integrated the two holidays — creating paper-and-paint mashups of menorahs and turkeys, and the birds combined with dreidels. In the school's library there was colorful poster designed to provoke thoughts about the convergent holidays: Under a Thanksgivvukah headline are several questions, including "How are Thanksgiving and Hanukkah alike?" Saul Rube, Hillel's dean of Judaic studies, said the light-hearted combinations of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah icons underscore a deeper bond: The Talmud, one of Judaism's core texts, describes Hanukkah as a "holiday of thanksgiving."[51]
In 2006, the school added an eighth-grade Israel trip to the curriculum.[52]
Campus
The school opened in 1958 with a kindergarten and first grade in the facilities of the Hayim Greenberg Center at 19161 Schaefer, Detroit.[53] In the next twelve years, Hillel rented space from various Jewish organisations:
In 1960, the school relocated to United Hebrew Schools at 18977 Schaefer, Detroit.[54] In 1962, the school moved to the Jewish Center, later known as Jimmy Prentis Morris Branch of the Jewish Community Center, at 15110 Ten Mile, Oak Park.[55] In 1963, Hillel moved to Congregation B’nai Moshe.[56]
The era of renting came to an end in 1968, when the school broke ground on an 11-acre site in Farmington Hills.[57] (Interesting fact: the site included the c.1870 single-room historic German School house.) In 1970, a 20-room new school building was ready and Hillel moved to its current home at 32200 Middlebelt Road in Farmington Hills,[58] with 270 students. By 1979 the school added another four classrooms. Due to increasing enrollment and overcrowding, in 1983 the school had to start using portable classrooms.[59] In 1986, the school added 12 more classrooms and a multi-purpose room for special events.[60]
In 1996, an $8 million expansion and renovation added to the school a new media center, a gym,[61] and a new school wing including the 7-8 learning community on the second floor.[62] In 2006, a $4 million expansion added to the school a bigger gym doubling as a theater with 800 seats capacity, along with a new lobby, offices, and an outside playing field.[63]
In 2014–2017, the school underwent an extensive renovation, funded by the William and Audrey Farber Philanthropic Endowment Fund. The renovation, designed by Prakash Nair, a school architect based in Tampa, Florida, included the "Central Heart" (an open space with a presentation platform and capacity for 300 people), the "Innovation Hub" with an art studio, science lab, a greenhouse, an audio-video studio and a makerspace, and the cafe and kitchen in place of the old small gym. The existing main hallways lined with lockers and classrooms were demolished to the shell, and the spaces redesigned to create the K-2 David and Nanci Farber Learning Community, the 3-6 William Davidson Learning Community, and the 7-8 Learning Community.[64][65][66][67][68]
The latest addition to the school happened in 2019, when the school expanded its Early Childhood Center wing.[69]
Notable alumni
- Mark A. Goldsmith (first graduating class of 1967), a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Robert Schostak (class of 1971), a political consultant and former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party
- Jeff Sudakin (class of c.1984), music composer for film and TV
- Selma Blair (class of c.1986), actress
- Charles Ornstein (class of 1988), Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist
- Jaime Ray Newman (class of 1992), American actress, producer and singer, 91st Academy Awards winner
- Jeremy Moss (class of 2000), Democratic politician, Michigan Senate
See also
- History of the Jewish people in Detroit
Notes
- NCES 2019-11-17
- NCES 2019-11-17
- ISACS: Search for a School
- Detroit Jewish News 1958-05-16
- Abramson 1965
- Cohen 2003, p. 286
- Detroit Jewish News 1966-06-10
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1958-05-16
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Michigan Jewish History 1960-11
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1968-06-14
- Detroit Jewish News 1960-05-13
- Detroit Jewish News 1990-10-05, p.102
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1997-09-12
- Detroit Jewish News 1979-10-05
- Detroit Jewish News 1992-08-21
- Bolkosky 1991, p. 404
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1988-05-13
- Detroit Jewish News 2001-09-07
- Detroit Jewish News 2005-09-22
- Forward 2012-01-23
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Oakland Press 2019-08-29
- Patch 2013-03-19
- Oakland Press 2019-08-29
- Jewish News 2011-06-16
- NCES 2019-11-17
- 2017-12-13 C&G Newspapers
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- "Hillel Day School Announces New Head of School". The Detroit Jewish News. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- Jewish News 2013-06-23
- Detroit Jewish News 2005-08-25
- Forward 2005-09-02
- Michigan Education Report 2005-12-15
- Jewish Exponent 2014-04-09
- Times of Israel 2014-11-08
- Michigan Education Report 2005-12-15
- Jewish Exponent 2014-04-09
- Forward 2005-09-02
- Forward 2005-09-02
- Times of Israel 2014-11-08
- Detroit Jewish News 2004-01-16
- Jewish News 2015-02-05
- Jewish News 2014-02-23
- Detroit Jewish News 1958-05-16
- Patch 2012-10-18
- NBC 2013-11-25
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1958-05-16
- Detroit Jewish News 1960-05-13
- Detroit Jewish News 1962-09-14
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Free Press 1968-12-14
- Detroit Jewish News 1970-05-15
- Detroit Jewish News 1985-06-07
- Detroit Jewish News 1986-09-26
- Detroit Jewish News 1996-11-01
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Detroit Jewish News 2005-10-20
- Hometown Life 2016-09-06
- Jewish News 2016-08-26
- Jewish News 2014-02-23
- The Journal 2014-03-24
- Jewish News 2018-04-26
- Oakland Press 2019-08-29
References
- Bolkosky, Sidney M. (1991). Harmony & Dissonance: Voices of Jewish Identity in Detroit, 1914-1967. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814319338.
A crown jewel of Conservative Judaism in Detroit was Hillel Day School. Founded in 1958, largely at the impetus of a group spearheaded by Rabbi Jacob Segal, the school offered programs of religious and secular studies in a form more palatable to some for whom Beth Yehuda seemed too oldworld...
- Cohen, Irwin J. (2003). Echoes of Detroit's Jewish Communities: A History. Boreal Press Inc. ISBN 9780967757018.
- Abramson, Robert (December 1965). "Hillel Day School". Michigan Challenge: Religiously Affiliated Schools. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce. 6 (3): 18–20. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
The birth of the Hillel Day School of Detroit was a manifestation of this growing national trend. In the fall of 1958, after a long period of planning, the Hillel Day School was established by a group of Detroit educators, Rabbis and leaders of ...
- Warsen, Allen A. (November 1960). "Cultural Progress Report of the Greater Detroit Jewish Community" (PDF). Michigan Jewish History. Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. 1 (2): 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2019.
The growth of the Hillel Day School is worthy of note. Beginning with a kindergarten and first grade, by 1960 it has grown into a modern elementary day school with kindergarten and three grades which combine Hebraic-religious instruction with general studies, and is under the spiritual influence of Conservative Judaism and Zionism.
- Campbell, Mike (27 February 2014). "School Warns Parents: No More Snow Days, Even If It's Below Zero". CBS Detroit. CBS Broadcasting Inc. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- Cohen, Keri (21 November 2018). "Freedman Leaving". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Freedman’s tenure at Hillel has been marked by significant milestones, many accomplished through transformative donor gifts.
- Gittleman, Stacy (26 April 2018). "Hillel At 60". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
All the while, from its founding 29-member student body located in two classrooms in Detroit to its current student body of 585 students from the Early Childhood Center to grade 8 in a building wired for the future, Hillel has most of all maintained Jewish values, tradition, a love of Israel and menschkeit at its core.
- Gittleman, Stacy (22 August 2019). "Jewish Day Schools Welcome Students Back". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
After the departure of Head of School Steve Freedman, following 16 years at his post, the school welcomes Nathan “Naty” Katz as its interim head administrator. Katz served as the executive director and head of school from 2008 to 2018 at Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass., a preschool through 12th grade Jewish day school with 500 students.
- Gottlieb, Amishai (9 April 2014). "Teachers' Union Files Charges Against Perelman School Board". The Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
[T]he National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago case ... went before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979. The court ruled that while congressional intent of the 1935 act implied the inclusion of lay teachers at religious schools to the federal collective bargaining agreement, the lack of wording actually specifying that means that such teachers are in fact exempt. It is the same case that Hillel Day School in Detroit used to de-unionize its teachers in 2005. The Detroit day school’s head, Cheltenham native Steve Freedman, said the Michigan teachers’ union representing the day school ultimately halted its legal battle against the school after the board referred to the 1979 case. “Unions have no place in independent schools, let alone religious schools,” Freedman said. “Unions represent an outside interference to the rights of the board.” He also asserted that teacher surveys taken before and after the de-unionization process concluded that teachers were happier post-union. “No one talks about it anymore; it’s all history,” Freedman said.
- Grant, Susan (5 October 1990). "Headmaster with a Heart". The Detroit Jewish News. pp. 100–102. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
...it was Dr. Smiley's strong educational credentials and leadership abilities which prompted the board to recently name him headmaster. Although his official title for the past two years has been principal, Dr. Smiley, has been acting the role of headmaster... The new title is a recognition of what his position has been and will continue to be, said Dr. Smiley, who was named principal in 1988 when Rabbi Robert Abramson left. ... School opened with 555 students this September, compared with 533 pupils last year.
- Headapohl, Jackie (26 August 2016). "21st-Century Learning: Hillel Day School completes update of its facilities". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills continued renovations with complete updates of its facilities for students in grades K-6.
- Headapohl, Jackie (23 February 2014). "Dreaming Big. Local Philanthropy Will Help Hillel Gain 21st-Century Edge". The Detroit Jewish News. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- Headapohl, Jackie (26 June 2013). "Parents React To FJA Policies With Action". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
95 percent of all independent school boards are self-perpetuating. Local examples are Hillel, Cranbrook and Detroit Country Day. ... Hillel has had a self-perpetuating board since 2009
- Headapohl, Jackie (5 February 2015). "Rules Revised". The Jewish News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
On Jan. 22, Steve Freedman, head of school at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills, sent an email to parents that said, “Hillel reserves the right to: exclude any child whose family has refused immunization, exclude any child who is not immunized against measles or pertussis and has been potentially exposed, for the duration of the incubation period.” Freedman said Hillel would no longer accept a waiver from parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children because of religious or philosophical reasons. “As a religious school, we can determine whether refusal of the vaccine has any religious merit, and we decided it does not,” Hillel’s Freedman said.
- Hitsky, Alan (25 August 2005). "Hillel Impasse". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 27. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
Day school's board withdraws union recognition; start of school up in air
- Houser, Laura (19 March 2013). "Hillel Early Childhood Center Earns 4-Star Rating". Patch West Bloomfield, MI. Patch Media. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
The Hillel Day School ECC is the only licensed early childhood center or preschool in the Farmington or West Bloomfield area to receive a star rating under the Great Start to Quality program.
- Hubred-Golden, Joni (13 October 2013). "Hillel Day School Students Play Basketball at the Palace". Patch Farmington-Farmington Hills, MI. Patch Media. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
The Hillel team went up against players from Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield, at half-time during the Detroit Pistons' exhibition game with Israel-based Maccabi Haifa. It was all part of the Pistons Jewish Community Night celebration.
- Karoub, Jeff (25 November 2013). "The Thanksgivukkah Dilemma". NBC Connecticut. NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
The recent class projects at the Farmington Hills school illustrate one way U.S. Jews are dealing with a rare quirk of the calendar on Thursday that overlaps Thanksgiving with the start of Hanukkah.
- Keith, Roz (18 October 2012). "University of Michigan Linquistics vist Hillel Day School". Patch Farmington-Farmington Hills, MI. Patch Media. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
Andries Coetzee also had an opportunity to sit in on a 7th grade Hebrew class. The class was taught exclusively in Hebrew, except for the occasional English explanation for Andries's sake. In spite of the fact that Andries has an MA degree in Biblical Hebrew, the 7th grade Hillel students clearly have a much better command of the Hebrew language than he does.
- Kolade, Sherri (13 December 2017). "Hillel Day School celebrates 60 years". Farmington Press. C&G Newspapers. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- Lieberman, Diana (16 January 2004). "Middle School Alternative". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 17. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Public school students entering sixth grade next year will have the option of attending Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit instead. Under "lateral entry," new students will likely be placed in separate Hebrew classes, but will otherwise be integrated into the general Hillel curriculum, said Steve Freedman, Hillel head of school.
- Mack, Julie (October 2017). "Michigan's 36 most expensive private schools". MLive. MLive Media Group. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Hillel, a Jewish school in Farmington Hills, had 477 students in grades K-8 in 2016-17. Kindergarten tuition is $12,425 and tuition for grades 1-8 is $19,795.
- Mack, Julie (October 2017). "Michigan's 75 largest private schools by 2016-17 enrollment". MLive. MLive Media Group. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Hillel Day School 2016-17 enrollment: 477; Enrollment minus preschool: 431
- Namahoe, Kanoe (24 March 2014). "Jewish School Aims to Build 'This Century School'". The Journal. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
Students at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit will soon have a new learning space, thanks to a generous donation from the William and Audrey Farber Philanthropic Endowment Fund at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
- Runkle, Anne (29 August 2019). "Hillel Day School opens expanded Early Childhood Center". The Oakland Press. MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- Siegel, Jennifer (2 September 2005). "School Boots Teachers' Union, Fueling A Debate Among Conservative Rabbis". The Forward. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- Wiener, Julie (8 November 2014). "Conservative Day Schools a Hornet's Nest of Labor Disputes". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- Zeveloff, Naomi (23 January 2012). "What Does Schechter Decline Mean?". The Forward. Archived from the original on 2019-10-02. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
At the Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, the desire to be more inclusive informed the decision in 2008 to switch from Schechter to Ravsak. “The board felt there should be no real or perceived barriers to Hillel Day School based on affiliation,” and that aligning itself with a particular movement created a potential barrier, said Steven Freedman, the head of the school.
- "Abe Kasle Elected Hillel President". The Detroit Jewish News. 10 June 1966. p. 30. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
Other officers include Milton Marwil, financial secretary; Sherman Shapiro, corresponding secretary; Eliot Charlip, recording secretary; Howard Danzig, treasurer; Max H. Goldsmith, honorary president; and Rabbi Jacob E. Segal, honorary life president.
- "Celebrating MLK Day with Hillel Day School". Fox 2 Detroit. Fox Television Stations. 14 January 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- "Fresh Vision". The Detroit Jewish News. 14 November 2003. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
Steve Freedman reflects on his first months as head of Hillel Day School. ... As president of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), Freedman leads about 500 Conservative movement educators and educational administrators.
- "Hebrew Day School to Open Here This September; Organizers to Meet May 22". The Detroit Jewish News. 16 May 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "Hillel Day School Appoints Rabbi Abramson as Head". The Detroit Jewish News. 10 October 1975. p. 40. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "Hillel Day School Begins 5th Year in New Quarters". The Detroit Jewish News. 14 September 1962. p. 21. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
The school began its fifth year of operation in its new quarters at the Jewish Center, 15110 Ten Mile, Oak Park. Heading the faculty is the newly-engaged principal, Rabbi Abraham Zentman.
- "Hillel Day School Changes Location for New Term". The Detroit Jewish News. 13 May 1960. p. 13. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
The Hillel Day School of Detroit will begin its third year of existence at a new address. Beginning in September, 1960, the school will be located at of the United Hebrew Schools, 18977 Schaefer.
- "Hillel Day School Picks Headmaster". The Detroit Jewish News. 25 August 1972. p. 32. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Leonard E, Baron, president of Hillel Day School. announces the appointment of Rabbi Chaim Rozwaski as headmaster. Born in Poland in 1935, Rabbi Rozwaski comes to Detroit from New York, where he most recently served as headmaster of the Solomon Schecter School of Queens.
- "Hillel School Celebrates Renovations". Hometown Life. USA Today Network. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- "MEA Forgoes Appeal in Brother Rice Case". Michigan Education Report (2005–03). Mackinac Center for Public Policy. 15 December 2005. Archived from the original on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
Soon after the Brother Rice decision was handed down, and in the midst of contract negotiations, the board of the Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit announced it would no longer recognize its teachers’ union for the purposes of collective bargaining.
- "Rabbi Applebaum Named Headmaster of Hillel Day School". The Detroit Jewish News. 12 July 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "Rabbi Kronenberg Hillel Headmaster". The Detroit Jewish News. 31 July 1970. p. 28. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Rabbi Joshua Kronenberg, former educational director and principal in N.J., has been named headmaster of Hillel Day School
- "Rabbi Simon Murciano, Educator From Morocco, Heads Hillel School". The Detroit Jewish News. 23 July 1965. p. 26.
- "Schools Schedule Fall Registration". The Detroit Jewish News. 1960-08-26. p. 32. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Hillel Day School of Detroit, 18977 Schaefer, comprising three grades and a kindergarten, will begin classes Sept. 7, in the Kasle Building of the United Hebrew Schools. Under principal Mrs. Naomi Foch...
- "Youngsters from Hiliel Day School Have "Neshef" for Great Presidents". The Detroit Jewish News. 26 February 1960. p. 6. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Mrs. Maurice Floch, supervising teacher of the Hillel teaching staff...
- "ISACS: Search for a School". Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Hillel Day School ISACS Membership status: Fully Accredited Member School
- "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Hillel Day School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- Sklar, Jill Davidson (1 November 1996). "Dedication". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 7. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
With a capital campaign wrapping up, Hillel Day School celebrates the commitment of families to redo and expand their building.
- Cohen, Keri Guten (20 October 2005). "It's Official! Hillel students join in groundbreaking for their new gym-theater". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 31. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
Work began this summer on the $4 million expansion that will add a regulation-size gym, dressing area, theater, conference room, offices, a new lobby and playing fields. The new gym-theater will hold 800 seats — as opposed to the current gym that can only handle 130...
- "Groundbreaking Launches New School". Detroit Free Press. 14 December 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
The $1 million new school which will include 20 classrooms and a gym ... is expected to be ready by fall. Youths will light the traditional eight-candle menorahs in a former little 120-year-old brick school house on the 11 acre site at 32240 Middlebelt, between Northwestern and Fourteen Mile. The little school house will be kept as a reminder of "tradition".
- Press, Heidi (7 June 1985). "Hillel Day School Kicks Off Construction For Additions". The Detroit Jewish News. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
The new wing of the school will be named the William, Ethan and Marla Davidson Wing and the multi-purpose room will carry the names of Mike and Mary Must ... The school's capacity is 350 and enrollment currently totals 470, with about 35 on the waiting list ... The school moved to its current location in Farmington Hills in 1970 and by 1979 added four classrooms. Portables were first put into use at the school in 1983.
- "Hillel Taking Registration; to Occupy Building in Fall". The Detroit Jewish News. 15 May 1970. p. 27. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
Melvin Weisz, president, announces that beginning in September, all classes will be beld in Hillel's new building on Middlebelt Rd., Farmington.
- "Hillel Graduation Marks Milestone". The Detroit Jewish News. 14 June 1968. p. 34. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel Day School will hold its second annual commencement exercises ... . This year's graduates began their education in the first kindergarten class of the school and are the first students to have completed 10 years of education in Hillel.
- Lewis, Barbara (5 October 1979). "Russian Immigrants: Overcoming Language and Culture-Shock". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 64. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel Day School has about 20 Russian students, mainly in grades 1 through 4.
- Applebaum, Elizabeth (21 August 1992). "Back To School Means Changes At Day Schools". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 34. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel has enrolled 25 new Russians, for a total of 49. ... The school is adding a second portable classroom this fall.
- Wiener, Julie (12 September 1997). "Steady Growth". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 37. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel's student body now numbers 712, a 4.5 percent increase from last year's 684 students.
- Hitsky, Alan (13 May 1988). "Hillel Cancels Ninth Grade For 1988-89 School Year". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 5. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
The on-again, off-again ninth grade at Hillel Day School for the 1988-89 school year is permanently off. ... In recent years, while the school's overall enrollment had climbed, ninth grade enrollment had fluctuated from 10-15, generally dropping over the last decade as ninth grade became the entry point for area public high schools.
- Lieberman, Diana (7 September 2001). "Down To The Wire. Hillel Day School teacher contract still debated". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 17. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel began classes at its Farmington Hills campus on Aug. 27 with more than 760 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
- Liebman Dorfman, Shelli (22 September 2005). "Kids For Katrina". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 25. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel provided 200 backpacks filled with school essentials as part of Project Yalkut, which asked Jewish schools throughout the country to help. To keep organized — and to allow the entire Hillel student body of 596 students to help — each grade was assigned specific items to bring in.
- Lieberman, Diana (16 June 2011). "Weighing The Options". The Jewish News. p. 10. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Hillel had 550 students this year and expects about 520-525 in September. These numbers are deceiving, Freedman said, because the 2011 graduating class of 73 eighth-graders is the last large class in a population bump; the norm for each of the coming classes is somewhere in the 50s.