Mission Statement

Hillel says:  “Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people, and bringing them closer to the Torah.”  Pirkai Avot 1:12.

Hillel Academy of Broome County is a community day school serving Jewish children in and around Broome County from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.  The mission of Hillel Academy is to provide a comprehensive, stimulating and enriching integrated Jewish and secular education.  It seeks to educate each child to realize his or her potential as an informed, thoughtful and responsible member of the Jewish community and of the American and world society.  Underpinning Hillel Academy’s mission is a commitment to a thorough Jewish and secular education and to creativity and excellence in all endeavors. Its graduates are individuals with high scholastic standards, strong moral character and a firm Jewish identity.

Statement of Principles

Hillel Academy nurtures a love of Torah and Jewish learning and strives to instill a sense of self-confidence, Jewish identity and pride.  The children are taught Jewish ethics, precepts, language, and history. Through study and experience the students of Hillel Academy understand and value Jewish traditions and practice as part of daily and annual life cycles.  The children are imbued with a love of Israel, and with a sense of responsibility and devotion to each other, to the community in which they live, and to Jewish communities around the world.

Hillel Academy is committed to teaching each child, from the earliest opportunity, a diverse secular studies program of science, math, English and social studies.  Students are advanced ahead of New York State mandated standards to the best of each child’s ability.

Hillel Academy promotes the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social and physical health and development of the individual child; the visual and performing arts and physical education are an essential component of both Judaic and secular studies.  Our instructors tailor the pace and style of education to the specific strengths, needs, and learning style of each child.  We encourage the child to embrace the world with confidence and to achieve his intellectual, emotional and spiritual fulfillment.  An expert and dedicated faculty impart skills of critical analysis that extend beyond the classroom while encouraging creativity and excellence in all fields. 

As a true community school Hillel Academy brings together children from all corners of Broome County’s Jewish community—Conservative, Orthodox, Reform and unaffiliated—in a warm, nurturing environment.  Hillel Academy fosters a community spirit based on mutual acceptance, and recognizes, respects and values diversity.  Hillel Academy actively encourages the child’s parents and/or guardians to participate in their child’s education, enhancing the sense of community amongst our families.  Every child is encouraged to become an active and productive member of the school and the community at large. 

Hillel Academy graduates are well prepared for high school. Through the application of a creative and integrated curriculum, guided by a caring and experienced faculty, our children are encouraged to become independent and critical thinkers.  They are committed individuals, motivated to take on leadership roles, and able to apply Jewish values and morality in the decision-making process.  Through participation in an intensive Jewish and secular academic program enriched by and integrated with the arts, physical exercise and community service, Hillel graduates are capable and confident young people.  Hillel graduates will promote the values and responsibilities of a democratic society, pursue the unity of the Jewish People as a just value, and seek to improve the quality of life for all through truth and justice.

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am only for myself, what am I?  And if not now, when?”  Hillel, Pirkai Avot 1:14.