The Seattle Hebrew Academy is a private Kindergarten–grade 8 school, located in the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

neighborhood of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

History

The school was established in 1947 as the "Seattle Hebrew Day School" to integrate Jewish and secular studies following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and in the following year, it and the Seattle

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...

consolidated. The school changed its name in 1969 to "Seattle Hebrew Academy", to reflect the addition of a childhood center. The school is located in a space formerly occupied by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the old Forest Ridge, since 1973 when the building was purchased by the school administration. The Academy building took extensive damage and was deemed unsafe following the Nisqually Quake in March, 2001. The school had temporary campuses during the retrofit and rebuild period. They were first housed in Mercer Island's Herzl Ner Tamid for the remainder of the 2001 school year. The Seattle Hebrew Academy built temporary classrooms in the parking lot of Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath for the lower school while the middle school was housed in portables in the upper field on the Seattle Hebrew Academy's campus. The school board raised money for renovations, totalling $8 million over the course of three years. The Academy reopened on their Capitol Hill campus in Autumn 2004. In 2006, the Academy hired

Rivy Poupko Kletenik Rivy Poupko Kletenik is an American lecturer and educator. Career Poupko Kletenik was the head of school at the Seattle Hebrew Academy from 2006 until 2022. She was the first woman head of school at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. Poupko Kletenik ...

as their head of school. She was the first woman head of school in the school's history. Two weeks after Kletenik was elected to serve as head of school, a break away school formed in reaction to the Seattle Hebrew Academy selecting a female head. Kletenik served the Academy for 16 years, tied for the longest serving Head of School with the first head
Rabbi Samuel Gruadenz
In 2022, Rabbi Benjy Owen became the first Sephardic head of school. In 2023, the school officially adopted the "Stars of David" as its new mascot, commonly referred to as the "Stars." The school colors are dark blue, athletic gold, and white. The school is accredited through Northwest Association for Independent Schools
NWAIS

References

External links

Seattle Hebrew Academy
1969 establishments in Washington (state) Educational institutions established in 1969 Jewish day schools in Washington (state) Jews and Judaism in Seattle Middle schools in Seattle Private elementary schools in Washington (state) Private middle schools in Washington (state) Landmarks in Seattle {{Washington-school-stub