Updated on January 8th

A major fundraising push by the Arthur J. Epstein Hillel School in Marblehead asked the community to “step up to the moment” to keep the only Jewish day school north of Boston sustainable “in response to financial realities and enrollment trends,” according to its fundraising campaign’s website.

With the only independent Jewish day school in the region facing an uncertain future, the community has stepped up in a big way.

Donors have pledged almost $1 million toward a $3 million goal during the past two weeks to ensure the school remains a strong resource for the Jewish community well into the future, said Board of Directors Chair Michele Cohen of Marblehead on Monday, Jan. 5.

Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) President and CEO Rabbi Marc Baker offered a statement of support.

“In line with CJP’s core commitment to engage and educate our next generation with Jewish life and learning, we support more than a dozen Jewish day schools throughout Greater Boston to provide a high-quality education to every learner,” Baker noted in an email. “CJP is working closely with Epstein Hillel School and its leadership to navigate a challenging landscape and remains committed to supporting the school and the EHS community.”

The school’s board had recently announced Epstein Hillel would be transitioning to a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade program starting in the 2026-2027 academic year and ending its middle school program.

A major donor meeting on Sunday, Jan. 4, raised approximately $500,000, Cohen said.

She described the campaign for the school as “multi-tiered.”

An online fundraising “Step Up to the Moment” campaign on causematch.com/ehs to get the ball rolling toward the larger $3 million goal has raised nearly $370,000 toward an initial $750,000 goal to close the school’s annual fund for this year.

“We are 100% completing this year,” Cohen said.

There have been private meetings with major local donors, Cohen said. There are meetings planned with donors outside the local community who have reached out after seeing the fundraising campaign or who have spoken with local members of the community.

An additional $100,000 has arrived offline, Cohen said.

There is still a way to go, Cohen said, but the school is encouraged by the outpouring of support for the campaign in just two weeks.

Cohen said the schools’ parents “are really rising up,” offering their skills and talents and offering to help in any way they can. Her three children attended the school when it was named Cohen Hillel Academy.

Epstein Hillel plays a significant role in the Jewish community’s ecosystem on the North Shore. A large concentration of students come from Marblehead and Swampscott, but students also come from Lynn, Beverly, Lynnfield, Malden and elsewhere.

Word of a “reimagined” Epstein Hillel at Six Community Road came recently in an email from Cohen to friends of the school late last month.

Currently, there are 84 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classes, Cohen said. There are 22 students in Grades 6 through 8.

When Amy Gold became head of school 10 1/2 years ago, there were 41 students enrolled, Cohen said. The school’s pre-kindergarten program is growing in interest, she added.

The more than 70-year-old nonprofit Jewish day school is seeking to raise $3 million to stabilize its operations and build toward a viable future. Even if this effort is successful, the middle school program will sunset.

The “Step Up to the Moment” campaign is the first phase of this fundraising effort to raise $750,000 to close the annual fund and generate momentum for the larger $3 million goal.

As of Monday afternoon, Jan. 5, this online campaign raised nearly $370,000 toward the $750,000 goal.

The online campaign also allows one to sign up as a fundraising ambassador.

“EHS is an essential thread in the fabric of Jewish communal life. Your support does more than sustain EHS’ students and faculty. It’s an act of courage, hope, and responsibility for our Jewish future,” the website states.

Cohen’s message speaks about how for generations, families have chosen the school because it offers something unique on the North Shore, “a rigorous education grounded in Jewish values and identity.”

“At EHS, every lesson, program, and gathering is rooted in our six attributes to nurture students’ potential, curiosity, identity, intellect, compassion, and community,” Cohen said in her message, which talks about how the school’s graduates are leaders who tie their pride in being Jewish back to the school.

“Running a small school is very hard,” Cohen said. While a small school has advantages in intimate classes, individualized attention and a close-knit community, the smaller enrollment means fewer students, which translates into less tuition revenue.

While the school is proud of its middle school and the positive impact it has had on the lives of its graduates, Cohen said it is the most complex and expensive part of the program due to the variety of subjects required to prepare students for high school.

Operating a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade program gives the school the strongest chance to achieve long-term stability, she said. It also gives the school a chance to center its curriculum around elementary-aged students, giving families confidence that their children will be prepared for middle school.

“We know this news is heartbreaking, especially for the students and families currently in Grades 5-7,” Cohen wrote. “Our priority in the coming weeks is to provide guidance and resources to impacted families and faculty as they consider their next steps.”

The school’s full tuition will stay at $18,000, Cohen said. The school also needs to ascertain if its PreK-Grade 4 families plan to return for the 2026-27 school year.
To move toward sustainability, the school anticipates that families receiving financial aid should expect tuition increases of up to 20% as it narrows the gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating students.

Understanding that families and educators need certainty about the upcoming school year, the school plans to provide a definitive update no later than Feb. 13.
“More than anything,” Cohen wrote to parents, “we remain committed to working together to honor what we have built and to ensure that our current and future students continue to be set up for success long after they leave EHS.”