Shalom,

I am writing to share the news that our beloved Director of Admissions, Marily Lerner, will be retiring at the end of this academic year.

Marily began her tenure as Kehillah’s Director of Admissions in the summer of 2005, when our school had a total enrollment of 93 students. During her 14 years of distinguished service, our enrollment has peaked at 217, just shy of our campus capacity of 220 students. Even as admissions is the responsibility of every faculty and staff member at our school, Marily has been the choreographer-in-chief of those efforts, and our sustained growth has been, in large part, due to her extraordinary efforts.

During Marily’s tenure at Kehillah, she has been a model for how those of us who are privileged to serve this school community should comport ourselves. Her intelligence and professionalism, superseded only by her kindness and care, have been signposts for all of us working here at Kehillah. Personally, I will forever be indebted to Marily for all that I have learned from her example. Her dedication to our school is unmatched and we have all benefitted from her care and unfailing commitment to our school and our students.

Marily entered her role just as her oldest son, Paul, completed his freshman year at Kehillah. As Paul graduated in 2008, his younger brother, Jon, enrolled into the class of 2012. No doubt, Paul and Jon are the Kehillah graduates that Marily is most proud of and our school has been blessed to count Marily, along with her husband Mark, as a parent as well as a team member. Undoubtedly, Marily’s perspective as a Kehillah parent provided her with an intimate understanding of what makes our school unique.

I am elated to announce that we will be honoring Marily’s service to Kehillah at this year’s gala. A save-the-date will be sent soon and I hope you will plan on joining us in honoring Marily’s esteemed service to our school.

Of course, times of transition are never easy and I know that a sense of deep loss accompanies this news. Nonetheless, and thanks in large part to Marily’s extraordinary efforts, our school is as strong as it has ever been and promises continued success. At this time, I invite you to consider reaching out to Marily (mlerner@kehillah.org) to express your appreciation for all that she has done for our school.

Please find Marily’s letter to the community below.

Yours sincerely,

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, PhD

Dear Kehillah Community,

It is with a heady mix of emotions that I write to announce that I am retiring from Kehillah effective July, 2019. While I am eager for the next chapter in my journey, the prospect of leaving the people and the organization that have sustained me for nearly 14 years fills me with enormous gratitude for the experience and deep sadness for its close.
No child says “I want to be an admissions director at an independent Jewish school when I grow up,” but somehow I was lucky enough to find my way to this challenging and immensely rewarding field. I am especially fortunate to have had the privilege to work with school leadership that has pioneered new paths in Jewish education and prepared hundreds of students for rich and, yes, extraordinary! post-high school futures.

In my time at Kehillah I have been honored to personally welcome each newcomer who has crossed its threshold as a freshman or transfer student. I have watched 9th graders transform before my eyes into amazing young adults in just over four years, a period which is an eternity to a teen, and a nanosecond to a parent. I have celebrated student triumphs with their parents, and commiserated with them as they have navigated their children’s bumps and travails. I have had the singular opportunity to serve three Kehillah Heads of School, each of whom enhanced the school and moved it far forward with unique gifts and passions. I have been able to see the visions of Kehillah’s extremely generous founders take root and find fruition.

Perhaps I am most proud to have witnessed Kehillah’s evolution in becoming a place of unprecedented kindness, caring, and compassion, while still realizing the measures of academic and other achievement more outwardly valued in our time.

I leave Kehillah with much work to do but in the capable and caring hands of my excellent colleagues. Darren Kleinberg has been not only an extraordinary asset to the school, but a valued mentor and friend. He and Patti Carbery continue to guide Kehillah with wisdom and expertise. Kehillah’s teachers and staff are phenomenal, and the real “secret sauce” in what makes our school unique. I continue to be excited for each new student lucky enough to learn from them.

I have tremendous appreciation for the entire Kehillah community and, while I will genuinely miss everyone, I can’t wait to see what the school will accomplish next! Thank you to all of you who have made my time here such a joy.

I look forward to the remainder of my time here at Kehillah and the opportunity to express my appreciation to all of you in coming weeks and months.

Sincerely,

Marily Lerner