16 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 

W

hen Dr. Darin S. Katz was 
announced as the incoming 
Head of School for Hillel Day 
School last December, nothing could have 
prepared him or the school for what was 
to come. But soon after the pandemic shut 
down in-person learning at schools across 
the country last spring, Katz, who hadn’t 
officially started in his new role yet, began 
leading the effort in planning a return to 
in-person school. 
His plans have been successful: Hillel has 
continued to offer in-person learning for 
its nearly 400 students this school year with 
options for at-home instruction; 90% of stu-
dents are learning in person and 10% have 
chosen to learn remotely. 
“We began working on our reopening 
plan back in April,
” Katz said. “Even though 
I was not officially the head of school, I 
knew I wanted to lead the effort because I 
was going to be leading the school through 
the pandemic.
” 
Hillel had several task forces, including 
one devoted to the reopening of campus 
and another one planning for the educa-
tional program. The groups met weekly and 
planned for every aspect of the reopening. 

Hillel’s health and safety protocols for 
this school year were centered on how the 
school could get students and teachers safely 
back in the building while minimizing dis-
ruption to the school year and planning for 
when there would be a positive case within 
the school community. Early in the school 
year, two separate instances of positive 
COVID cases tested the school’s emergency 
lockdown procedures.
All individuals at the school ages 3 and 
up wear masks all day. Hillel also divided 
into different “communities,
” or groups split 
up by grade. The communities enter and 
exit the school from different doors and stay 
separate in the school building to minimize 
any possible contact. 
“If there is — God forbid — a positive 
case in second grade, the other communi-
ties wouldn’t be affected because students 
from other grades don’t really come in con-
tact with the second grade,
” Katz said. 
Plexiglass was installed in the main office 
and around other common areas, and hand 
sanitizer stations are at every entrance. 
Hillel also transformed some larger rooms 
in the school into classrooms, so students 
could spread out more. 
According to Katz, it was “extremely 
important” that students not only felt safe 

and comfortable being in school but also 
understood how important it is that they 
follow all health and safety protocols. 
“Our students have been amazingly 
compliant with everything we asked them 
to do,
” Katz said, “because they’re happy to 
be here. They don’t want to be home. They 
want to be in school with their friends and 
with their teachers, and they understand 
that for that to remain, they have to do their 
part.
” 
Katz’s mission coming into the role as 
head of school has transformed because 
of COVID, and it is expected to transform 
again once COVID is over. 
“Prior to COVID, I said that my No. 1 
goal this year was to ‘meet, ask, listen and 
learn,
’” Katz said. “Meet as many people as 
possible, ask questions, listen to answers, 
and learn about the history and culture of 
Hillel Day School.
” 
During the pandemic, Katz said meeting 
people is still an important goal, but cer-
tainly much harder. “So right now, my No. 1 
goal is to lead our community through this 
pandemic, and we are successfully navigat-
ing this as best as possible,
” Katz said. 
Post-COVID, Katz wants to help every-
one feel comfortable returning to what 
“normal school” feels like, including taking 
down all the plexiglass, moving the class-
rooms back to where they were, and return-
ing conversation to how students can be 
best educated in 2021. 
The week following Hillel’s winter break, 
Jan. 4-8, Hillel will have a full week of 
remote instruction schoolwide to allow for 
students to quarantine in case their families 
are traveling over winter break. 
“I’m asking them to be back in the Metro 
Detroit area by Dec. 31, and then to quar-
antine from that point forward and closely 
monitor the health of everyone in their 
house,
” Katz said. School will reopen for 
in-person learning Jan. 11. 
Regardless of an anything-but-ordinary 
first year in his new role, Katz said he feels 
blessed to be the head of school at Hillel 
during this time. 
“This has been a rollercoaster of prepar-
ing for this school year, getting to know 
parents and students, and learning about 
the community while trying to lead a school 
through probably the biggest challenge it’s 
ever faced,
” Katz said. “I have felt a tremen-
dous amount of support and gratitude from 
our community, and that has really helped 
me to lead during a difficult time.
” 

IN 
THED
JEWS

HILLEL

Dr. Darin

S. Katz

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Katz began 
planning the 
school’s fall 
reopening
in April.

Hillel Head of 
School Reflects on 
‘Rollercoaster’
First Year 

