Founded in Memphis in 1988, Bornblum Jewish Community School is a coeducational school serving students from Kindergarten through grade 8. Bornblum provides a rigorous and pluralistic Judaic and general studies curriculum that inspires its students to achieve their individual potential. Students become intellectually curious learners, critical thinkers and socially responsible community leaders with a life-long connection to their Jewish identity.
Bornblum Jewish Community School provides a rigorous and pluralistic Judaic and general studies curriculum that inspires its students to achieve their individual potential to become intellectually curious learners, critical thinkers, and socially responsible community leaders with a life-long connection to their Jewish identity.
Bornblum was re-accredited in 2018 by Cognia, a premier accreditation organization that works with schools of all types and sizes across the globe. Together with its affiliations with Memphis Association of Independent Schools and Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, Bornblum enjoys oversight and resources that help us stay on the cutting edge of general and Jewish studies education.
Bornblum Jewish Community School opened on September 6, 1988 as Solomon Schechter Day School of Memphis, with 25 students in grades one, two and three. The school was housed in the Beth Sholom Synagogue and employed an educational director and a full-time secretary. The faculty consisted of three general studies teachers, part-time teachers in music and physical education. Judaic studies were taught partly by the educational director and a part-time faculty member.
The school grew steadily over the years. Each year another grade was added until the original goal of grades one through six was met in 1991. By 1994, the seventh and eighth grade classes had been added. The first eighth grade graduation was held in June 1995, with 11 students graduating.
In January 1998, with an enrollment of 186 in grades one through eight, the school moved to its new facility at 6641 Humphreys Boulevard, its current home. In 2000, the school was renamed Bornblum Solomon Schechter School in honor of benefactors David and Bert Bornblum. A Kindergarten class was added in 2016, and the school was then renamed Bornblum Jewish Community School to better reflect the varied paths to Jewish identity and observance held by our families.
Today, Bornblum Jewish Community School has 109 students in grades Kindergarten through eight. The school is divided into the Lower School (K – 5) and Middle School (6 – 8). The synagogue affiliation of the student body has remained relatively consistent over the years, with approximately equal numbers of families having Reform, Conservative and Orthodox affiliations. We strive to create a school in which all Jewish children learn together in an environment of mutual respect informed by meaningful learning about the diversity of Jewish life and practice and our shared traditions, texts and language.
Together with its affiliations with Memphis Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools and Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, Bornblum enjoys oversight and resources that help us stay on the cutting edge of general and Jewish studies education.
We provide the highest caliber dual language, integrated curriculum, with state-of-the-art technology. Our progressive curriculum individually nurtures students to become creative, critical and confident thinkers. Graduates are prepared to excel in the finest high schools and colleges.
We inspire pride in being Jewish and a love of Torah in all its forms. We instill an appreciation of Jewish philosophy and religious practices. We foster a deep commitment and lifelong relationship with the Jewish people, the State of Israel and a mastery of its native language, Hebrew.
We are a community school recognizing and respecting the varied paths to Jewish identity and observance held by our families. We strive to create a school in which all Jewish children learn together in an environment of mutual respect informed by meaningful learning about the diversity of Jewish life and practice and our shared traditions, texts and language.
We encourage intellectual inquiry to create independent thinking, reasoning and learning. Our students develop an acute ability to passionately create and express their own thoughts, which establishes a strong sense of self and a lifetime love of learning.
We promote social responsibility as a key component of the Bornblum experience. Through Jewish values such as Chesed (Kindness), Tzedakah (Charity) and Tikun Olam (Repairing the World), we graduate responsible citizens with the desire and tools to make a positive difference in their Jewish community and the world in which they live.
We make a Bornblum education affordable and accessible to any Jewish family wanting a Jewish education for their child through the generosity of the Bornblum Foundation and other community scholarship funds.
Head of School
Assistant Head of School & Director of Student Services
Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Judaic Studies Principal
Finance Manager
Director of Development
Director of Admissions & Parent Engagement
Director of Marketing & Communications
