Rabbi Careers

Overview

Created as the East Midwood Academy in 1956 as a Conservative Day School EMHDS is one of the oldest day schools in the country. In 2004, the school changed its name to the East Midwood Hebrew Day School, Rabbi Harry Halpern Education Center. Today EMHDS serves over 170 students from Pre K through eighth grade.

Located in religiously diverse and Jewishly vibrant Brooklyn, New York, the East Midwood Hebrew Day School provides a dynamic and academically excellent education in both secular and Jewish studies from nursery school through eighth grade. Graduates of EMHDS enter many of the most rigorous Yeshivot, public, and private schools in Brooklyn. The neighborhood of East Midwood is both very traditional, Jewishly speaking, but is also undergoing gentrification and diversification at young families move further from Manhattan to find more affordable and spacious living in Brooklyn. The school is energized by many new board members who are excited to lead the school into a new and innovative future.

EMHDS is looking for a new Head of School who lead the school through a period of increasing stability and into a period of growth. The new head will help define educational and strategic goals for the school, and will begin on July 1st, 2018, upon retirement of the current Head.

The Position

The Head of School manages both the educational and business operations of the school. EMHDS is not affiliated with any synagogue, and has an independent board of trustees, to which the Head of School reports. The Head is directly responsible for faculty, curriculum and programs of the school. The Head is also responsible, in partnership with the board of trustees, for creating and managing the school’s budget.

The new Head will find the following strengths of the school.
The school has a young, energetic and ambitious board that is very enthusiastic to support the new Head of School.

The school has an experienced body of teachers, many of whom have been in the school for over a decade.

The school is the only religiously diverse school in the area, providing ample opportunity for growth.

EMHDS has an over 60 year history and has nearly untapped opportunities to network and solicit graduates. This provides tremendous “low hanging fruit” which can be used to improve the school financial health.

Parents are talented and capable professionals committed to the school’s mission.

While not officially connected to the East Midwood Jewish Center, EMHDS has a strong relationship with the conservative synagogue that rents the school its space. There is a strong desire for the institutions to collaborate and support one another.

The school, with the help of the board, is adopting new and improved systems in everything from finances to student discipline.

The new Head of School will also face the following challenges.
The school is under-enrolled and has gone through a decline in enrollment over the past few years.

The school’s academic performance must be improved and consistent throughout the 10 years of the program.

The school suffers from a negative perception recently, especially when it comes to student discipline and an admissions policy that may be seen allowing difficult students to come without clear expectations and consequences for disruptive behavior.

The school is still working on implementing new systems and some areas of operations still feel confusing or inconsistent.

The school lacks full-time professionals responsible for fundraising and admissions.

The school needs to define its place in the marketplace. It is still defining its own understanding of “pluralism” in a mainly traditional neighborhood, with many Russian and Israeli Immigrants.

EMHDS has had very little development of donors and has not created an endowment. Thus, as with most small schools, EMHDS is dependent primarily on enrollment and tuition to drive the budget.

The Position

The headship of EMHDS is a challenging position, but one with a great opportunity. EMHDS is looking for an organized, energetic, and ambitious Head of School to lead this historic school back to prominence.

The Board of Trustees is looking for candidates with the following attributes:

A person who is experienced in day school education.
A team player who will work with our diverse faculty to challenge them to do their best work.
An optimistic and hardworking person who is energized by all the challenges and opportunities of working in a small school.
Someone who believes deeply in the power and importance of Jewish education, who can raise funds and build an endowment to support the operations of the school.
A strong communicator, both orally and in writing, who will take the lead on communicating with the families and community at large in order to form and sustain strong relationships.
Some who can create in implement consistent systems for improving the schools daily operations.
A visionary educational leader who will bring innovations and best practices to reinvigorate EMHDS.