Press Release: MILTON Announces Dr. Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn Selected Next Head of School

By Press Release On Feb 4, 2020 Last updated Feb 4, 2020

News Release — Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital

CONTACT: Ronit Greenstein

– Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School’s Third Head to Begin Tenure in July 2020 –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Recognized leader and scholar in Jewish education Dr. Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn has been named as the next Head of School at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. She was unanimously chosen as the school’s third Head of School, following the enthusiastic recommendation of the Board-appointed Search Committee.

Deborah currently serves as Associate Dean of Hebrew College’s School of Jewish Education, her professional home since 2002. In this role, she trains Jewish educators, including day school teachers, giving her a deep understanding of the dual curriculum. Prior to Hebrew College, Deborah served as Assistant Director at the University of Maryland Hillel. Over the years, she has taught students at nearly every grade level from K through 12. A graduate of Tufts University, Deborah earned an M.A. in Modern Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in American Jewish Life from Brandeis University. Deborah is the recipient of Brandeis University’s Excellence in Teaching Prize and was named Indiana University’s Inaugural Women and Philanthropy Fellow. Alongside her professional work in Jewish education, Deborah has been active in pluralistic Jewish day school lay leadership. She also serves on the boards of both Tufts Hillel and Camp Yavneh and is a past chair of the Jewish Women’s Fund of Rhode Island.

Naomi Reem will continue as Head of School through the 2019-2020 academic year, as she completes her 15-year tenure at the helm of JPDS/MILTON. The school community will honor Naomi for her extraordinary service and leadership in the coming months, including at the Purim Ball on March 22, along with Steven and Brett Wernick, and Susan Schatten and Jonathan Epstein. Reem announced her decision in January 2019 following a remarkable 31-year career in Jewish day school education.

“Naomi Reem has been a transformational leader for JPDS-NC and MILTON over her fifteen years at the helm. We are deeply grateful for her vision, her seemingly boundless energy and good cheer, and for the strong position in which she leaves our school. We will miss her tremendously,” said Edna Friedberg, President of the Board of Trustees. “We are also grateful that Naomi had the foresight to give us ample notice to conduct a search for a new Head of School with time, care, and thoughtfulness. She will pass the baton to Dr. Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn, a recognized leader in Jewish pluralistic education who will build on and amplify MILTON’s strengths. We are eager to introduce Deborah to the broader Washington Jewish community so we can all benefit from her insight, intellectual rigor, and passion for Jewish literacy and continuity.”

The Board-appointed Search Committee conducted a transparent, comprehensive, international search for the school’s third Head of School. Headed by former Board President and long-time Trustee Helaine Greenfeld (Jake Mintz ’07, Abby Mintz ’11), the Search Committee was comprised of a diverse group of current parents, parents of alumni, an alumna of JPDS/MILTON, and a former head of school with search experience. “The selection of Dr. Skolnick-Einhorn was the result of months of hard work by the MILTON Search Committee. Our dedicated members spent months reviewing resumes, interviewing an impressive pool of candidates, and arranging school visits in order to determine who would be the best fit to build on MILTON’s remarkable success over the last 30 years. We believe we have found that person in Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn, who brings us her passion for excellence in education, rigor in teaching Jewish subjects, and extensive experience working with educators, school leaders, and community leaders,” noted Greenfeld.

Dr. Skolnick-Einhorn will begin her tenure in July 2020. The Board has created a Transition Committee, chaired by Helaine Greenfeld, to welcome Deborah to the school and greater Washington, D.C. community, and to ensure a seamless start to the 2020-21 school year.

Dr. Skolnick-Einhorn remarked, “Over the last decade, I have watched MILTON’s meteoric growth and am inspired not just by the rise in numbers (and buildings!), but with the quality of that growth. Under Naomi’s extraordinary leadership, MILTON managed to grow quickly while maintaining its hamische nature, excellence in academics and Jewish life, all while continuing to serve as a source of deep community for students, families, alumni, faculty, and staff.” She added, “My family and I are so excited to join this special school community. I feel lucky to be working with such a talented group of administrators and teachers at MILTON. I look forward to learning from them, realizing new opportunities with them, facing challenges with them, and coming to creative solutions together. It’s also clear that this school community would not exist without the deeply committed parents, supporters, and alumni families who built the school from a single kindergarten into a booming center of Jewish education in the nation’s capital. I am so proud to become a part of that history.”

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About Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School

Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital is an independent, community Jewish day school that currently offers a curriculum of General, Hebrew, and Judaic Studies for students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8. The school is distinguished by its commitment to academic excellence, talented faculty, and learning that is joyful, engaging, experiential, and enduring. MILTON is a warm, vibrant, pluralistic Jewish day school where students, families, and faculty mirror the diversity of Jewish practice in the community. The school serves nearly 450 students at our Kay and Robert Schattner Center North and South Campuses.

Milton was founded in 1988 as the Jewish Primary Day School. The school was established by a small group of parents who wanted to give their children a pluralistic Jewish education in their home city of Washington, D.C. The founders envisioned a school that would seamlessly integrate the teachings of our Jewish heritage with an excellent general studies education, all in a nurturing and challenging environment that recognized the individual needs of each child. In 2002, MILTON purchased the current building on 16th Street. As the school’s reputation and prominence grew, so did its student population. To accommodate this growth, MILTON purchased a second building at 4715 16th Street, which opened in the fall of 2013. The school’s North and South Campuses are Kay and Robert Schattner Center, named in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Schattner in recognition of their extraordinary long-term support. In response to growing demand for a Jewish middle school in the District, the MILTON Board of Trustees decided in 2014 to add Grades 7 and 8. Making this a reality, the Gottesman family and Ambassador Alfred Moses together provided a transformative gift to build the middle school, renovate and expand the Kay and Robert Schattner Center North Campus, and honor the late Milton Gottesman. In the spring of 2017, the school officially changed its name to Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. The renovated and expanded Kay and Robert Schattner North Campus opened in September 2018. The first Moses Family Middle School class will graduate from Grade 8 in 2020.