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.
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. The group was spearheaded by Rabbi Jacob Segal, who was consequently recognized as the founder of the school and its honorary life president.
The school began with 29 students in the kindergarten and first grade, a further grade being added each following year. By 1960 it grew into a modern elementary day school with 51 students in kindergarten and three grades which combined Hebraic-religious and general studies under the spiritual influence of Conservative Judaism and Zionism. By 1963, enrollment was 115 students in grades K–6. 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.
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 to 533 in 1989 to 636 in 1992 (at this enrollment level, the school had to use portable classrooms) and to 712 in 1997. The school's growth was partially due to the inflow of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union: in 1979, Hillel had 20, and in 1992, 49 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". However, it was only in 1979 that Hillel formally affiliated with the Schechter Day School Network of schools that identify with Conservative Judaism.
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. Since then, Hillel continued as a K-8 school.
Recent years
In 2000s Hillel's enrollment tapered, from more than 760 in 2001 to 596 in 2005. 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 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. 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. In 2019, the school expanded its ECC facility and started the year with 173 pre-K students. However, while the ECC grew, the school's K-8 population in 2010s was still on the decline: from 550 students in 2010 to 441 in 2017.
In 2017–2018, Hillel held a series of alumni and community events in celebration of its 60-year anniversary.
In 2020, Hillel was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The school closed on March 13 after a teacher in grades 1-2 learning community tested positive for coronavirus, becoming one of Michigan's first 12 cases of the outbreak. Soon after, another teacher — coach and gym teacher Tony Sanders — passed away due to complications from the novel coronavirus. The school continued learning remotely; the graduating eighth graders had a "trip down Memory Lane" before their virtual graduation. The 2020-2021 academic year started in person, with students in the classrooms; of the school's 92 teachers, eight were teaching remotely.