Oakwood synagogue requesting permission to hold Hillel classes

OAKWOOD — The Oakwood Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, March 3, regarding a special use request that if approved, would allow Beth Abraham Synagogue to be used for classroom space for students attending the Hillel Academy of Greater Dayton.

The city sent out a legal notice to the public that said the request was to “use existing space at the synagogue for educational purposes in order to accommodate the relocation of 25 plus students in grades K-8 currently enrolled at Hillel Academy.”

The public hearing will be 4:30 p.m. in the Oakwood City Council chambers at 30 Park Avenue.

The role of the commission is to make a recommendation to city council about whether the council should approve the special use request.

The synagogue, 305 Sugar Camp Circle, was previously located on Salem Avenue in Dayton. The Salem Avenue building was sold in 2008, the same year it moved into its current location in the Pointe Oakwood development site at the corner of Far Hills Avenue and Schantz Avenue.

The academy, 100 East Woodbury Drive in Harrison Twp., was founded in 1962 and is Dayton’s only Jewish Day School. The school “offers Judaic and Secular Studies instruction to children in Kindergarten through 8th Grade,” according to the school’s Web site.

Phone calls from the Dayton Daily News to academy and synagogue officals were not immediately returned on Friday, Feb. 26.

Jay Weiskircher, Oakwood’s Deputy Assistant Manager, believes the demographic changes may play a role in the academy wanting to relocate its students to Oakwood.

“The kids who go there, more of them are living in the south suburbs,” Weiskircher said. He added that he was told by synagogue officials that at least 10 of the academy’s students live in Oakwood.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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