Milken Community School (originally Milken Community Schools, colloquially Milken) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. It is located on

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

in the Bel Air area of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It is one of the largest

Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

s in the United States. Long affiliated with

Stephen S. Wise Temple Stephen Wise Temple is a large Reform Jewish congregation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1964 by the late Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, with 35 families, the congregation grew rapidly. At various times in its histo ...

, a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

congregation, the school is officially non-denominational, and became independent from the temple in July 2012. Despite the separation, Milken Community Schools continues to be the school in which many Stephen S. Wise students are enrolled. In 1998, Milken was the largest non-Orthodox Jewish high school in the United States.Duke Helfand
"Milken High Is Dedicated by Founders: The $30-million campus is largest non-Orthodox Jewish high school in U.S."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', September 14, 1998. As of 1994, Milken was the only Reform Jewish high school in the United States and was a part of the only K-12 Jewish education program west of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

that was not a part of

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

.Dart, John.
EDUCATION : Reform Jewish High School Moving to Hills
" ''

''. November 6, 1994. Retrieved on July 9, 2016.

History

The school began in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

in 1984 as the Golda Meir School, and was later renamed the Einstein Academy. When the school became affiliated with Stephen S. Wise Temple, it was renamed Stephen S. Wise High School. After a large donation from Lowell and

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for vio ...

Milken Family Foundation The Milken Family Foundation is a private foundation established by Lowell Milken and Michael Milken in 1982. Lowell Milken serves as chairman and co-founder of the foundation. Goals The foundation is focused primarily on supporting education ...

the school, then reported to be the "largest non-Orthodox Jewish high school in the country", was named Milken Community High School.John Dart
"Jewish School Renamed for Milkens"
''

'', September 9, 1995. At the beginning of the 2013–2014 school year, the school was renamed to Milken Community Schools, with the intention of creating a name that encompassed both the middle school and the high school. The Upper School was held in temporary trailers, on the lot where the new Middle School now stands, from 1994 to 1998 until the current Upper School campus was opened in 1998. This campus had a cost of $30 million. Until the Middle School campus was completed in 2009, the Middle School occupied temporary trailers on the parking lot of the

Bel Air Presbyterian Church Bel Air Church (also known as Bel Air Presbyterian Church) is a Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian church located in Los Angeles, California. Its campus is located on Mulholland Drive in the Encino, Los Angeles, California, Encino neighborho ...

from 1981 to 2008. The Middle School and Upper School have historically had the same name, yet after the completion of the new Middle School campus in 2009, the Middle School was officially renamed the David and Hillevi Saperstein Middle School of Milken Community High School after a subsequent donation from David and Hillevi Saperstein, while the Upper School remained the Milken Community High School. On March 25, 2011, Milken Community High School and Stephen S. Wise Temple announced that the school would become independent from the temple effective July 1, 2012.

Judaism

All students were required to take four years of Hebrew, of which 18 different levels are offered; but as of the beginning of the 2018 school year, the new administration dropped this requirement. Four years of Jewish studies are still required, and are offered at college-preparatory, honors, and high honors levels (9th-

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

, 10th-

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

, 11th-Jewish Law, 12th-Jewish Thought). Spiritual Practice takes place once a week, with varied options such as traditional-egalitarian minyan, yoga, meditation, doubters' minyan, and others. An optional daily morning minyan is also offered. Through the Advanced Jewish Studies Center (AJSC), numerous Judaic electives are offered, including comparative religion, intensive

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

study, comparative film, and others.

Tiferet Israel Fellowship

In partnership with the

Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education Alexander Muss High School in Hod HaSharon, Israel is a pluralistic study-abroad program in Hod HaSharon, Israel, for high school students. Programs run throughout the year and range in length from 6 weeks to 18 weeks. The school is a fully accredi ...

(AMIIE), MCHS offers an opportunity for students to learn and live in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

during the spring semester of the 10th grade. Through a full academic program, schedule of tiyyulim (field study and trips), personalized chuggim (individualized activities) and partnership with

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

teens, Tiferet Israel Fellows learn inside and outside of the classroom and build relationships with the land and people of

. The semester abroad is followed by two years of additional programming. The junior year focuses on public presentation skills, training fellows how to best advocate for the State of Israel. The senior year concludes with an intensive seminar based at the

Shalom Hartman Institute Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America. The institute' ...

in Jerusalem, in which students examine Israeli cultural and political issues.

Extracurricular activities

The

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

team, The MilkenKnights, was a finalist at the Los Angeles Regional in 2012 and the Orange County Regional in 2016. They have won several awards including two Dean's List Finalist Awards (Nathan Schloss in 2010 and Jared Hasen-Klein in 2017). In 2010, the team became one of the first American robotics teams to compete in the Israeli FIRST robotics regional. The school has won at least one Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award for every year that the competition has been running.

Sports

The track team, after expanding to over 60 team members in 2008, won the league champions for the third consecutive year. The Milken basketball team has 10 league championships and one CIF SS Championship. In fall 2011, after the previous year held an undefeated season and championship for the Wildcats'

flag football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a Down (gridiron football), down. The sport has a ...

team, Milken began to play tackle football in the Heritage League. They play their games on Thursday nights instead of the traditional Friday night because the latter is the Jewish

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

Notable alumni

* Benjamin Benditson, soccer,

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

Amir Blumenfeld Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld (; he, אמיר שמואל בלומנפלד; born January 18, 1983) is an Israeli-American comedian, actor, writer, Television presenter, television host, and member of the American comedy duo, Jake and Amir. Born in Isra ...

, comedian *

Max Borenstein Max Borenstein (born June 20, 1981) is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the ''MonsterVerse'' film series featuring classic Kaiju of Toho's Godzilla mythos, including writing ''Godzilla'' (2014) and '' Kong: Skull Isl ...

, screenwriter *

Skyler Gisondo Skyler Augustus Gisondo (born July 22, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''Licorice Pizza'', ''Booksmart'', and ''Vacation'', as well as the television programs ''The Righteous Gemstones'' and ''Santa Clarita Die ...

, actor *

Sean Rad Sean Rad (born May 22, 1986) is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of the dating app Tinder. Rad launched Tinder in 2012 and by 2014 the company was recording one billion "swipes" a day. Rad holds 9 patents for his work, including the pat ...

, creator of

Tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...

Tamir Saban Tamir “Seth” Saban (תמיר סבן; born October 19, 1999) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Liga Leumit. Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 meters), he primarily plays at the shooting guard and point gua ...

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

basketball player *

Asher Vollmer Asher Vollmer (born September 14, 1989) is an American indie video game developer. He created ''Puzzlejuice'' and '' Threes''. While a student at USC Interactive Media & Games Division, he developed 2012 iOS game ''Puzzlejuice'' with Greg W ...

, game designer and creator of the Apple Design Award winner ''Threes!''; featured in the 2015 Forbes' "30 under 30" list.

References

External links

Milken Community High School
{{authority control Coalition of Essential Schools High schools in Los Angeles County, California Jewish day schools in California Jews and Judaism in Los Angeles Private middle schools in California Educational institutions established in 1990 Private high schools in California Bel Air, Los Angeles 1990 establishments in California