A Jewish middle school is open in the District for the first time since 1976. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony this month, the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital celebrated the completion of its expanded North Campus at 6045 16th St. NW and the historic opening of its junior high.
“We are here today to celebrate the people who made this school a home for your children and center for Jewish life and learning for the entire community in the greater Washington area,” head of school Naomi Reem said during the Oct. 8 ceremony.
The expansion includes new classrooms, speciality rooms designated for art and music, a “Design Lab,” two science labs, two libraries, a Jewish study hall (in Hebrew called Beit Midrash), a full-sized gym, rooftop play areas and an outside garden. The middle school is located on the new third floor.
In addition to community members and friends and families of the school, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Council members Brandon Todd and Brianne Nadeau attended the ribbon-cutting. With the city’s recent economic and population growth, Bowser told the crowd, there’s a growing need to ensure that families across the District have access to quality educational opportunities.
“We have recognized the growth of the school — more campuses, more families finding quality Jewish and primary education within your walls,” Bowser said. “We are so proud of you to be a part of our public, charter and independent school choice portfolio [that’s] leading so many families to call DC home.”
This year, MILTON — the moniker adopted by school officials in the spring of 2017 — saw enrollment levels jump to 395 students, a 15 percent increase from last year, according to school administrators. There were 150 students enrolled in 2003 when the school moved into the building at 6045 16th St. NW, according to the school’s admissions director. With the launch of the middle school, MILTON now serves students from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade, with the youngest three grades at a second campus a few blocks away.
“The school has really started to grow over the past 10 years,” said Gil Preuss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
The increasing demand for Jewish day school education in DC reflects the city’s growing Jewish population. In March, the 2017 Greater Washington Jewish Community Demographic Study concluded that the Jewish population in the Washington area has doubled since 2003. There are now 57,300 Jewish individuals living within the city itself, and over the past decade and a half the District’s share of the area’s Jewish population has grown from 13 percent to 19 percent.
“With the rejuvenation of DC itself, there are more and more people moving into … the District who are interested in giving their kids a Jewish day school education,” Preuss said. “The school is also attracting people to move back in. There is this dynamic — of people moving in, which enables a school to grow, and as the school grows and also because of its reputation, more people are moving into the area. It’s been a very positive dynamic to support the Jewish community and that area of DC.”
The school was launched in 1988 at Adas Israel Synagogue in Cleveland Park by parents and community members looking for Jewish education opportunities for their children. After about 10 years, the school left Adas Israel and became an independent institution. After enduring several false starts while looking for a permanent location, the school in 2002 purchased the 16th Street building now known as the North Campus with the help of contributions from school supporters such as Gottesman — a local lawyer, philanthropist and Georgetown resident. When the school was looking to expand in 2012, the Gottesman family joined others in contributing to the purchase of the South Campus, located at 4715 16th St. NW.
In 2015 the school, then known as the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital, received a $20 million grant from Milton Gottesman’s family and Alfred Moses, a DC lawyer and former ambassador to Romania who was a friend of Gottesman’s. The grant, one of the largest donations to a Jewish day school in the United States, was used to jump-start construction of the middle school and expansion of the North Camppus.
“Milton was a lifelong learner and someone who knew a lot about so many things. For his 80th birthday the theme was ‘Milton University.’ Little did we know then that it would really happen,” Bob Gottesman said of his brother and the school during the ceremony. “Milton’s memory will live on in association with this school that is committed to excellence in Jewish and secular education … in the nation’s capital.”
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