Our History
It started in 1961...
Bialik is established by the Labour Zionist Movement at 12 Viewmount Avenue. Moshe Menachovsky z”l was the first principal. Julius Sokoloff z”l and Kalman Berger z”l were the first presidents of the board of directors. The founders of the school were dedicated to Hebrew and Yiddish language, as well as academic excellence. The school opened with 54 students and four staff members. Tuition for the year was approximately $400.
1962
Emmanuel Goldberg becomes principal.
1966
Ziona Hagler begins her amazing 49-year career as a Bialik teacher.
1967
Joseph Klinger becomes principal.
1968
A second Grade 1 class opens due to high demand for a Bialik education.
1973
Fire breaks out in the kitchen and causes $60,000 in damages. Arson is suspected. School is cancelled for only three days.
1974
David Gamliel becomes Bialik’s fourth principal.
1975
In the 14 years since the founding of the school, enrolment increased exponentially to 550 students and 52 staff.
1982
Major renovation to building completed. Six new classrooms were built, as well as a new principal's office, an expanded administration office and a science lab.
1984
School leaders break ground on new addition to the building. It houses new pre-school classrooms and gymnasium.
1985
Number of students enrolled tops 670 with 72 staff members.
1987
Dr. Uri Korin begins 19-year tenure as principal.
1995
855 students enrolled at Bialik with 95 staff members.
1990s
Mechanech and Peacemakers programs established.
1999
Bialik acquires property at 2760 Bathurst Street in order to expand the school.
2003
Building expansion is completed and includes a new gymnasium/auditorium, lunchroom, classrooms and green space.
2005
815 students attend Bialik supported by 109 staff members.
2006
Shana Harris becomes Head of School.
2000s
The Israel Interactive Centre was established.
The Senior Division House program is introduced. Senior Division students join their four Houses for special events and spirit days. The Houses are named for universities in Israel: Bar-Ilan/Tel-Aviv, Ben-Gurion/Weizmann, Hebrew University and Haifa/Technion.
2010
SMART Boards introduced in every classroom.
2013
The Ben and Edith Himel Education Centre on the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus (which becomes known as the Himel Branch) opens with 67 students and one class each in Junior Kindergarten, Senior Kindergarten and Grade 1.
2015
Phase 1B of the Himel Branch is completed, adding six new classrooms and a new gymnasium/auditorium.
The Viewmount Branch playground undergoes a $775,000 renovation, with the addition of new turf, basketball courts and the first Explorer Dome in the GTA.
2016
Himel Branch grows to two classes in each JK, SK, Grade 1, 2 and 3 and one class of Grade 4.
Enrolment passes 1,000 students for the first time in Bialik’s history.
2017
Benjy Cohen becomes Head of School.
2018
We enrol more than 1,200 students across both our branches.
2019
The Aronson Family STEM Learning Commons opens at the Viewmount Branch, heralding the implementation of the STEM approach to learning in General and Jewish Studies and modern Israel education.
A new wing opens at our Himel Branch, including a beautiful new gym, additional classrooms, a STEM Lab and communal learning spaces.
Our first group of Grade 8 students travels to Israel to participate in our Israel STEM Experience.
2020
The worldwide COVID pandemic led to numerous school closures and students had to learn remotely from home. Our community rallies in support of the school, facing the difficult period together. Bialik kept our community together through numerous online events, including concerts, speakers and our Holocaust education series.
As the Himel Branch reached capacity, Bialik expanded its facilities into the Kimel Family Education Centre on the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus — which became known as Himel East — providing state-of-the-art facilities for students in Grades 4-8. Our original building, now housing JK - Grade 3, became known as Himel West.
2021
We proudly mark the graduation of the first cohort of Grade 8 students from our Himel Branch. Owing to the pandemic, graduation celebrations at both branches were held outdoors.
2022
Enrolment, which grew during COVID, swells to over 1,450 at the start of the school year.
2023
As our STEM environmental program grows, we hold our first Farmers Market, selling herbs and vegetables grown by the students. We launch the first Bialik Games, a fundraiser to bring our community together in friendly competition of fun physical games.
We add another JK class at our Viewmount Branch in response to the growing demand, with a total of 9 JK classess across both branches. Enrolment tops 1,500 students as we begin the new school year.
Extra classrooms, Resource rooms and offices are added at Himel East.
The Bialik Bear mascot is introduced and students hold a competition to name the mascot.
About Chaim Nachman Bialik
Bialik Hebrew Day School gets its name from Chaim Nachman Bialik, Israel’s national poet. Born in the village of Radi in the Ukrainian part of the Russian Empire in 1873, Bialik is known for both his Hebrew and Yiddish writing about Jewish life and early Zionism.
Bialik was a teacher, translator, journalist and poet. He inspired a generation with his epic poem In the City of Slaughter, written as a strong statement of anguish at the situation of the Jews in Europe in response to Kishinev pogroms. In the poem, he strongly condemned the passivity of the Jews against Antisemitism. This influenced the formation of Jewish self-defense groups in the Russian Empire and the Haganah in Palestine.
In 1919, he established the Dvir publishing house in Odessa, which published a wide range of books in Hebrew, including the first Hebrew language scientific journal. The house is still in existence in Israel today.
The founders of Bialik Hebrew Day School saw that Bialik embodied everything that they wanted their school to be. Bialik was a devout Zionist who was well versed in Talmud and Torah as well as an expert in western literature. He is an inspiration for students at Bialik Hebrew Day School today.