Our History
Formerly known as Brandeis Hillel Day School, our school was first established in 1963 in San Francisco by a handful of adventurous parents led by Rabbi Saul White of Congregation Beth Sholom. What began with 34 children in kindergarten and first grade grew within fifteen years into two K-8 schools with the founding of the second campus in Marin in 1978. From the start, we’ve been part of the Lonee C. Hoytt Community Center Campus, sharing space with the Osher Marin JCC and Congregation Rodef Sholom.
Our Head of School, Dr. Peg Sandel, is fond of describing Brandeis Marin as “a startup with a history.” Those words perfectly capture the last 10 years at our school.
In our prior incarnation as Brandeis Hillel Day School-Marin, our doors opened to our first students in 1978, and our first eighth graders graduated in 1983. In 2015, after a carefully considered multi-year transition, we became independent of the San Francisco campus to better serve the unique needs of our community. During the past 45 years, over a thousand students have come through our campus and benefitted from a stellar, Jewish values-based education. This is the story of how Brandeis Marin was born.
