Heschel West and Kadima form middle school

Heschel West Day School in Agoura Hills and Kadima Hebrew Academy in West Hills have announced the formation of a joint community middle school.

The new school, expected to be named the Kadima Heschel West Middle School, will accommodate about 150 students when it opens in September 2007, officials said.

The school will be located on the Kadima Hebrew Academy's Evenhaim Family Campus, and transportation services will be provided for residents who live in the Conejo and Las Virgenes valleys.

"Our respective schools have a history of collaboration and cooperation," said Roger Bloxberg, president and chairman of the board of Heschel West. "Both schools have a community-minded vision and a strong opinion that we would be able to provide an even richer academic program by joining forces."

The school will give students broader academic choices and more individualized instruction, said Shawn Evenhaim, Kadima Hebrew Academy's president and chairman of the board.

"The middle school students are the big winners in this new collaboration," Evenhaim said.

"Our aim is to exploit the very best elements of both programs," Bloxberg said.

The school curriculum, which will incorporate general and Judaic studies, will emphasize technology, among other important attributes, with a view toward readying the students for the 21st century.

Yuri Hronsky, Heschel West's current middle school director, was named the new school's principal.

The school will host its first community open house at 10:30 a.m. on Sun., Jan. 28 at the campus, which is located at 7011 Shoup Ave. in West Hills.