At their board meetings in March, Hillel Academy, the Miami Valley’s Jewish day school, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton agreed to explore the possibility of Hillel moving to the campus of the Federation’s Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education in Centerville.

The decision to enter discussions about a possible move comes as a result of steadily declining enrollment at Hillel, on its own campus in the north Dayton suburb of Harrison Township since 1973.

“We’ve had a committee for two years looking at the possibility of relocation, looking to boost enrollment,” said Hillel Academy President Dr. Adam Waldman, who also sits on the Federation’s board.

“The Federation board understands the value that a Jewish day school brings to a Jewish community,” said Federation President Debby Goldenberg. “We are committed to ensuring that our community has a strong, vibrant day school.”

The Federation and Hillel have established a joint committee to explore what a potential move would entail.

“The joint committee will look at details of how it would work and then will report back to our boards and constituencies to see if they’re OK with it,” Waldman said. “We’re trying to find out what is the best for the future. For us, it’s trying to bring Hillel to a wider audience.”

Hillel Academy is an independent non-profit which receives an annual allocation of $55,000 from the Jewish Federation. Hillel currently has 32 students in kindergarten through eighth grade; 26 children are enrolled in Hillel’s preschool.

Goldenberg said discussions could include a new building on the campus to house Hillel and the DJCC preschool. She stressed that if a move to the Centerville campus proves feasible, Hillel will remain an independent entity.

“Hillel Academy would remain Hillel and the DJCC preschool would still be the DJCC preschool,” she said, referring to the DJCC’s early childhood program, filled to capacity with 110 children, at the Boonshoft CJCE.

“Certainly, it is the next logical step for our preschool to act as a feeder for Hillel Academy,” she said.

Waldman said that the 45-year old school is responding to the declining number of Jews who live in the suburbs north of Dayton and the increase in Jewish households in the south suburbs.

“In my mind, I hope when they get done with (DJCC) preschool, they can go to Hillel.”

Goldenberg and Waldman said there is no specific timetable for the process.

“We’ll continue to meet and keep the community informed,” Goldenberg said.

“This is a crystallizing process to flesh out what it would be,” Waldman said. “We’re seeing the community get smaller and we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our organizations. It’s very exciting to have a whole new segment of the community thinking about us.”

© 2007 The Dayton Jewish Observer