The Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School is bracing for a significant leadership transition. Head of School Raquel Scharf-Anderson has announced her resignation, effective June 2026 — though the change may come even sooner.
“Leadership is rarely easy, especially during times of change, and this was not an easy decision,” she wrote in a letter addressed to the Mirowitz community.
Scharf-Anderson, who has led the school since 2022, reflected on her time at the helm with gratitude.
“Leading Mirowitz, this sacred community, has been a meaningful and transformative experience in my professional life,” she continued. “I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission-driven institution, partner with passionate educators and work alongside families and supporters who care so deeply about the future of our children and the values we teach.”
Scott Levine, president of the school’s Board of Trustees, said the board will soon launch a formal search for her successor. While Scharf-Anderson remains under contract through the 2025–2026 school year, Levine said the board is actively weighing a “range of leadership options, including interim leadership.”
“If the right interim option is identified before the 2025–2026 school year, a transition could happen sooner, in close coordination with Raquel and in a way that supports school continuity,” Levine said.
The announcement marks a pivotal moment for the school, which has earned a reputation for academic excellence and Jewish values education in a pluralistic environment.
The change in leadership comes during a period of transition and recalibration for Mirowitz. The school recently announced it will shift to a kindergarten-through- sixth-grade model over the next year. This fall, seventh and eighth grades will be combined for one year, then phased out by the 2026–2027 school year.
Both Levine and Scharf-Anderson have described the restructuring as a strategic move in response to challenges affecting private education nationwide. Financial factors also played a role.
“The middle school model, with specialized teachers for each subject, was significantly more expensive to staff,” Scharf-Anderson said when the grade restructuring was announced. “This was an incredibly difficult decision, but one made to protect Mirowitz’s future.”
Enrollment trends have also shaped the school’s planning. Mirowitz saw a temporary spike in applications during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it reopened for in-person learning months ahead of many local public schools. In the summer of 2020, more than 40 families expressed interest in transferring their children to Mirowitz, though the school could only accept about half of them.
That surge proved short-lived. By the 2022–2023 school year, enrollment had returned to pre-pandemic levels of about 160 students. This year, that number had dropped to 130.
Levine said the decline in enrollement was due to multiple factors.
“Based on what we’ve seen and heard, it reflects a mix of tuition sensitivity, broader demographic shifts, post-pandemic family decision-making and attrition at traditional transition points—particularly in the middle school years,” he said. “These are challenges many Jewish day schools across the U.S. are grappling with, not just ours.”
Levine said the school is working to address those issues.
“In response, we’ve begun working on several fronts: refining our tuition structure, evolving our marketing and admissions efforts, and designing a more focused K–6 model that reflects our core strengths and community needs. That work is still underway, but we’re encouraged by the support we continue to receive from donors, volunteers, alumni families, and others who believe deeply in Mirowitz’s mission and potential.”
Scharf-Anderson stepped into the head of school role following the retirement of Cheryl Maayan, who led the school for 14 years. Scharf-Anderson’s tenure has included some difficult decisions, which have stirred mixed reactions among the school community.
Alex Haimann, who has two children attending Mirowitz — one in kindergarten and the other in third grade — said news of Scharf-Anderson’s resignation was not entirely unexpected.
“Leadership will always have problems in terms of some people who support or appreciate or understand why certain decisions are made and others who do not,” Haimann said. “My sense is that probably some of the decisions she made were exactly what anyone in her role would have. And with others, she chose a certain path when there might have been two paths, and maybe it was a coin toss.”
Still, he emphasized that his family’s experience at the school has been overwhelmingly positive.
Levine said the board is crafting a “refreshed strategic vision” to guide the school into its next phase — one focused on sustainability, growth and strong community ties.
“Community engagement will be a central part of the search,” he said. “We are designing a process that incorporates feedback from parents, faculty, alumni and other stakeholders through structured input opportunities. This is a collective moment for our school, and we want our community’s voice to help shape the future.”
Families can expect to receive a detailed update before Memorial Day outlining next steps, Levine said. From there, the school will provide regular updates tied to key milestones, such as the launch of the head of school search and other leadership planning decisions.
“The focus will remain on academic excellence, Jewish identity and community connection,” Levine said. “Our top priority is to ensure that Mirowitz remains a place of academic excellence and Jewish cultural richness for every student. That means careful planning around leadership continuity, strong support for our faculty and staff and clear, ongoing communication with families. We are committed to a smooth, stable transition—one that honors our values and keeps students and their families at the center of every decision.”
