DJDS History in a Nutshell

1975 - “The Liberal Jewish Day School” was founded and based at the Rodef Shalom Congregation. Renamed “Theodor Herzl Jewish Day School’ later that year. This small school only served 14 students, grades two through five 

1976 - Herzl moves to the old Temple Sinai Building (now demolished, on East Dartmouth) and adds the first grade. 

1979 - Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy was established at BMH. It began with only 10 students from grades 9 through 12 

1980 - RMHA hosts its first Color War 

1983 - Herzl Jewish Day School acquired the current building at 2450 S. Wabash Street from Cherry Creek School District. 

1984 - Herzl moved into the new building on Wabash, nostalgically referred to as the “50’s wing.” 

1985 - Herzl’s first imaginary trip to Israel with the first graders. 

1989 - A new two-story wing was added to the lower division building (Herzl). 

1990 - RMHA moved into Beth-Joseph (Ivanhoe St.) 

1994 - Members of the Herzl and RMHA boards worked on a vision of a single, unified space. 

1996 - RMHA moves to the Jewish Community Center 

1998 - After much discussion, the trustees of both Herzl and RMHA voted overwhelmingly to merge the two schools into one. They founded the “Denver Campus for Jewish Education” (DCJE), also known as “Herzl/RMHA.” 

2001 -  Phil Kalin became the first president and CEO of DCJE 

2001 - DCJE joins Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) 

2002 - New upper-division building and new areas of the lower-division building open at 2450 S. Wabash St. 

2006 - Hebrew Immersion Program (HIP) trip to Israel began. 

2007 -  Avi Halzel takes over the CEO position 

2010 -  DCJE rebranded as Denver Jewish Day School 

2014 -  Elana Shapiro becomes Lower Division Principal 

2015 - The Farmette at Denver JDS established 

2016 -  Brian Hay retires from his position as upper-division principal after 23 years. 

2023 -  First Pre-K class is filled