Milken Community School held a groundbreaking celebration for its Rodan Family Academic Center, located at its recently acquired East Campus in Bel Air, on Nov. 9.
The Rodan Family Academic Center, according to Milken leadership, “will be a hub of learning, identity and connection for generations of Milken students.”
The event also marked the renaming of Milken’s current Upper School campus to the Ruby Family Campus, honoring the generosity and vision of Milken founders Wendy Ruby and her late husband, Ken.
Milken Head of School Sarah Shulkind described the groundbreaking as “incredibly celebratory, incredibly hopeful. Everyone’s feeling was that there’s so much darkness in the world right now that it’s so nice to have something that is positive to invest in. There’s a lot of excitement about the overall positive momentum of the school — enrollment growth, philanthropy, general buzz about the school overall. So, there was just a lot of feeling of hope, positivity, fulfillment of dreams that were set long ago by [Milken Founding] Rabbi [Isaiah] Zeldin and others.”
The recent event drew approximately 250 attendees, including Milken leaders, students and supporters. It was held underneath a tent in the campus’ parking lot and featured several speakers. They included Milken student Nikita Imas, a 10th grader from the class of 2028. Imas is part of Milken’s beit midrash fellowship, a member of student government and involved with Milken’s dance company.
Additional speakers included Richard Sandler, chair of the Milken board of trustees, and Lowell Milken, a Milken board member who was instrumental in the establishment of the Jewish middle school and high school, which today serves 815 students in grades 6-12.
The key to securing the Jewish future is being built at Milken, Sandler said.
Indeed, there was much to celebrate at the groundbreaking, most notably Milken’s recent capital campaign, which has raised $100 million in less than 20 months. Speaking to The Journal, Shulkind underlined the unprecedented achievement of the fundraising campaign, which kicked off with the acquisition of the site in February, 2024.
“The largest capital campaign in Jewish education K-12 history that we could find was the [Abraham Joshua] Heschel school in New York for $50 million,” the Milken head of school said. “I know universities raise like this all the time, but $100 million for a [day] school in 20 months is a lot.”
“I’m really proud to be able to raise at that level, and so much of the giving came from outside the immediate Milken community,” Shulkind added. “People understand it’s a proud moment not only for Milken but for the community overall.”
Asked if the capital campaign consisted of pledges or if the money had already been donated, “We have signed gift agreements for $100 million, and a lot of it is already in,” the head of school told The Journal.
The initial campaign goal, she said, was $135 million. But “given how successful we’ve been, we might lift that goal.“
“This isn’t even a public campaign,” Shulkind said. “It’s all in the quiet phase of the campaign, one-on-one meetings. There’s been no general ask.”
Nevertheless, 25 donors who have supported the campaign have given more than $1 million. And supporters of the campaign include 24 alums, two of whom have given more than a $1 million.
“And we’re a young school,” Shulkind said.
The event started at 10 a.m. and lasted a couple hours. It featured speaker remarks, a brunch accompanied by the Milken Jazz Band and the school’s Community Choir and other programming.
Addressing the crowd, Shulkind said, “I have never been more hopeful about the future of our school and the Los Angeles Jewish community. In a moment when the news is ominous for Jews in America, in a moment when rising antisemitism portends continued strife for our people, in a moment when Israel has been vilified by the international community, hope has felt in short supply. Except at Milken. At Milken, the momentum is palpable, most clearly expressed by the most recent $1 million dollar gift from a community leader that just two days ago took us over the $100 million threshold less than 20 months after the acquisition of the site.”
As she spoke, Shulkind asked all the capital campaign donors in attendance to stand so that they could be recognized. That included leaders from the Rodan Family Foundation. The Bay Area-based philanthropic group, dedicated to supporting Jewish communities, was a key supporter of Milken’s campaign. Earlier this year, the foundation awarded $15 million to Milken Community School. Among those in attendance at the recent groundbreaking was Elana Rodan Schuldt, the foundation’s president and CEO.
The recent groundbreaking as well as the campaign, Shulkind said, are “a statement of the overall health of school. Enrollment is up 20% over the last six years, and 800 people were at our open house at the Milken West campus on Nov. 2.”
“The campaign is amazing and I’m really proud of it,” she said. “It’s evidence of the overall momentum and growth of the school.”
Read the speech by Richard Sandler at the groundbreaking.
