In 1966 six families dreamed of providing a Jewish day school education for their children. While many were skeptical it could survive, the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy not only survived, but grew and continues to thrive. It will celebrate its 45th anniversary at the annual Civic Service Awards Dinner on April 10 at Hyatt Regency Crown Center. Maria Devinki and the late Fred Devinki will receive the 2011 Civic Service Award for their philanthropic efforts in the community. (For more information, contact Kerry Cosner at (913) 327-8156.)
“I’m thrilled to be one of the founders and to see what the school has accomplished over the last 45 years and to know that all of our graduates are accepted into the finest colleges throughout the United States,” Carl Puritz said. “Most importantly we have achieved the mission that we set out for all of our students that we will teach them how to be knowledgeable and committed Jews and productive citizens. Our day school is now considered one of the top day schools in the United States and it’s really thrilling to know that’s been accomplished.”
Another founder, Blanche Sosland, added, “The quality of the education that our kids got was fantastic from the very beginning.” Not only did Blanche and Neil Sosland’s children attend the Academy, Blanche Sosland said it’s been a thrill for them to watch their grandchildren go through the school. So far two have graduated and a third will do so later this spring.
The school, which started with 33 students in grades kindergarten through third grades, now has 232 students. A total of 325 students have graduated from HBHA, even though a high school wasn’t a part of the original plan.
Howard Haas, who is completing his fourth year as HBHA’s head of school, believes things are going well for the school.
“I used to call this place the jewel of the Midwest. Now I refer to it simply as the jewel. There’s nothing like it in America,” said Haas, who often serves as an expert presenter at education conferences around the country.
“The beautiful message of the school truly is that we try to create a nourishing environment that really challenges children. We want them to come to an understanding of who they truly are. We often say we try to define the child’s eccentricities and allow them to grow,” Haas said.
Many people, such as Eric Kaseff, president of HBHA’s board, believe the school offers a top-notch education. He has two children who attend HBHA — 10th-grader Rachel and seventh-grader Lainie.
“From an academic standpoint, I relied heavily on my wife, the professional educator in the family, to determine whether or not the academics were of the caliber that we wanted for our children. After evaluating the school and observing in the classrooms, she concluded that this school truly provides an outstanding academic environment and that has proven to be true.
Both the secular and the Judaic education are second to none,” Kaseff said.
As you would expect to be the case of most HBHA parents, Kaseff said another reason his family chose the day school is its strong Judaic program.
“The school reinforces what takes place in the Jewish home we have created for our kids and leaves them very comfortable with and proud of their Jewish tradition,” he said. “I feel blessed to be able to pass along this rich heritage of Jewish teaching and ethics to our girls. What we didn’t expect, and what pleases us as much as anything, is the warm and caring atmosphere that was evident the first time we walked in the door and remains a hallmark of the school.”
The “caring community” is what keeps many families at HBHA, including the Shapiro family. Molly Shapiro and her siblings — Peter, Julia and Tony — all attended the school. Between the four siblings they have nine children, eight of whom attend HBHA (the other is still in preschool).
There’s a Shapiro in kindergarten as well as grades four, five and eight. The sixth and eighth grades each have two Shapiro students. When it was time for Molly Shapiro to choose a school for her two children, she said there was no question she would send them to HBHA.
It’s a family,” she said. “When I hand my kids over I feel like I am handing them over to family members. I feel the utmost confidence and security and love and that’s just such a great feeling.”
A little history
Sosland said people tried for 15 years to start a Jewish day school here. A group comprised of Carol and Sidney Deutch, Bea and Milton Firestone, Joan and Walter March, Joan Puritz, Carl Puritz, Beryl Silberg and Blanche and Neil Sosland finally succeeded in 1966. The Deutches now live in Pittsburgh. The Firestones and Walter March are now deceased.
When the doors opened the school was called The Hebrew Academy of Kansas City. Its first classes were held at Congregation Ohev Sholom.
“Every Friday the teachers had to pack up their wares and store them and bring them back out again every Monday so Ohev Sholom could have Sunday school. Nevertheless the quality of the education that our kids got was fantastic,” Sosland said.
She believes two people deserve special recognition for their help in getting the school up and running. One is Rabbi Morris Margolies.
“Although he was not among the school’s founders, he was one of the schools biggest supporters and played a significant role in the founding of the school,” she said. “He was a coach and a mentor.”
In an article about the schools 25th anniversary published in 1991, Rabbi Margolies said the school’s founders, and the others that followed shortly thereafter, were the true heroes of Kansas City Jewish education “because they put their children and themselves and their hearts where their mouths were.”
Sosland said Milton Firestone, who was editor of The Chronicle, was also very instrumental in getting the school up and running because he was able to use the newspaper to publicize news about the school.
Sosland said the founders wanted their children to have a better Judaic education than was available to them.
“We wanted our children to get the kind of Judaic education that they would have to have in order to make an educated decision about what kind of Jewish life they would lead. The educational concept of the dual curriculum (Judaic and secular) is fantastic,” she said.
Each year after the Academy opened, a grade was added to the curriculum. In 1972 the Academy had reached the junior high school level. As the Academy gradually outgrew its space at Ohev Sholom, it began renting classrooms from the Asbury Methodist Church, which is located across the street from Ohev at 75th Street and Nall Avenue. In January of 1976, the first graduating class of nine students left the Academy and went on to further their studies in a variety of areas.
The school was renamed the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in 1997 following the death of Hyman Brand. HBHA’s first president, Brand was instrumental in raising the monies to get the school up and running and continued to find ways.
The school moved to its very own building at 5901 College in 1979. It moved into its current home at the Jewish Community Campus when the building opened in 1988.
The school’s future
Head of School Haas has found that the programs HBHA offers today are extremely innovative and unique. Because of those programs, and the school’s talented and passionate staff, he is happy to report that the future looks bright.
“We’re one of the few schools in America that is retaining students, certainly a higher percentage than we’ve ever had here and definitely more than across America. Our kindergarten two years ago was the biggest kindergarten we had in 10 years. That’s our first grade now and we have about 36 kids in that class, and our kindergarten this year has about 32. So we’re growing,” Haas said.
He said that while the school lost 18 students last year, 16 of those children moved out of the city.
“We’re not losing students because of dissatisfaction,” he said. “The percentage of kids who left is the lowest it’s ever been. We have more students than we had last year even though 16 moved.”
To help that growth, he said “we’re doing our best to bring in a program for our Orthodox community and we’re also doing a major concentration with our Reform community.”
Haas would also like to find a way to educate children with special needs. “That’s something that’s very close to my heart,” he said.
As it celebrates its 45th anniversary, Haas is proud of what the day school has accomplished and hopes to continue to accomplish.
“One hundred percent of our kids go to college,” he said. “The ideal is that these kids stay in the Kansas City area and become leaders of the community.”