Koret Foundation Challenge Grant brings Contra Costa Jewish Day School within $1 million of Capital Goal

Lafayette, CA (October 10, 2007) – The Contra Costa Jewish Day School (CCJDS) will soon have a permanent home, thanks to a $1 million challenge grant from the Koret Foundation to complete its $7.5 million capital campaign, school officials announced today.

With additional leadership-level gifts from Lorry I. Lokey, Susan and Ori Sasson, and Julie and Paul Candau, CCJDS is now poised to break ground on its 18,000-square-foot school building on the campus of Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA. (CCJDS is an independent school and will lease land from the Temple.)

“The fact that CCJDS was the Bay Area’s only Jewish day school without a permanent home was a significant and compelling factor for our board,” said Koret CEO Jeffrey Farber. “We hope that the school will become an increasingly important hub for regional Jewish learning, leadership, and service.”

“CCJDS truly seeks to be a beacon for Jewish life in Contra Costa County,” said Karla Smith, Campaign Chair and former Board President. “After having grown from 23 to 93 students in seven short years of existence, CCJDS is poised to double its enrollment capacity through this new building project. We are thankful to have had the broad support of the community, along with our friends at Temple Isaiah, the East Bay Jewish Federation, and of course, the Koret Foundation.”

Support for the CCJDS campaign stretches across the entire Bay Area. Leaders from San Francisco, Marin and the Peninsula have recognized the value of investing in a neighboring Jewish community, as CCJDS students become their future community leaders. CCJDS is the only Jewish day school in Contra Costa County, home to one of the fastest-growing Jewish populations in the Bay Area.

Groundbreaking will be in early 2008. The project will be completed in early 2009. Phase II of the project will be a 7,000 square-foot gymnasium, at an additional cost of $2.3 million. This exciting addition to the Temple Isaiah campus will be undertaken once fundraising goals are exceeded.

CCJDS is now seeking to raise $1 million to meet the Koret Challenge and complete Phase I. CCJDS is also aiming to raise an additional $1 million to implement “green building” practices into Phase I, to begin the planning and design of Phase II, and to support the growth of the school.

For information, contact Karla Smith, CCJDS Capital Campaign Chair, 925-274-1536.