Hillel Academy of Denver

Hillel Academy of Denver
Address
450 S Hudson St Denver, CO 80246
Information
Other names	Hillel Denver, Hillel Academy
School type	Private
Religious affiliation(s)	Jewish
Denomination	Ultra Orthodox
Established	1953
NCES School ID	00209181
Teaching staff	41
Grades	K - 8
Nursery years taught	PK
Gender	Coed
Enrollment	272 (2017-2018)
Student to teacher ratio	6.5:1
Website	hillelacademyofdenver.com

Hillel Academy of Denver is an Orthodox Jewish day school in Denver Colorado, serving PreK-8th grade and founded in 1953. ^{[1] [2]} The school is affiliated with Torah Umesorah, the National council of Orthodox Jewish Day schools. It is accredited by Cognia since 2000. ^[3] Rabbi Yisroel Goldbaum has been the principal since 2016. ^[4]

History

Morris Hagler was the inaugural president of the school. According to "The Shmoos column" of the Intermountain Jewish News, leaders of the proposed day school were urged to change its name from Hillel Academy to avoid a conflict with the Hillel Foundation ^[5]

Later the paper published the names of the first two teachers, Miriam Wade teaching Hebrew and Judaics and Elsie Adams teaching secular studies. ^[6] The first two years of operation were held in space provided by Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph (BMH-BJ).

The school started as kindergarten and 1st grade and 27 students total. General subjects were taught in the morning, using the Denver Public School curriculum, and Hebrew and Judaic Studies in the afternoon. ^[7]

The school was one of 10 Jewish day school's opened that year. ^[8]

In 1954, the school ran ad's in the Intermountain Jewish News, referring to itself as the "Only All-Day Jewish Day School in the Rocky Mountain Area". ^[9]

A decade later in 1965, Sheldon Beren served as the school's chairman, and Manny Feder as president, enrollment that year was 200 students. ^[10]

On Sunday, January 22, 2012, the school celebrated its 60th anniversary, had an enrollment of 241 and Rabbi Yitzchok Goldstein served as principle. ^[11]

References

1. "Collection: Hillel Academy (Denver, Colo.) Records | Archives @ DU Catalog". duarchives.coalliance.org. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
2. "Intermountain Jewish News December 31, 1953 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
3. "Curriculum – Hillel Academy of Denver" . Retrieved 2025-02-14.
4. "Search For Schools and Colleges". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
5. "Intermountain Jewish News July 16, 1953 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
6. "Intermountain Jewish News September 3, 1953 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
7. "Jewish Post 17 July 1953 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
8. "Intermountain Jewish News December 10, 1953 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
9. "Intermountain Jewish News October 21, 1954 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
10. "Intermountain Jewish News February 12, 1965 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
11. IJN Editorial Staff (Jan 19, 2012). "Hillel Academy celebrates 60 years". Intermountain Jewish News.