$25 million pledged for school

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson has pledged $25 million to the Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy's campaign to build a Jewish high school in Summerlin.

The $25 million endowment from Adelson and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, was announced Saturday at a benefit gala for the Hebrew Academy, held at the Venetian.

"We were stunned," said Victor Chaltiel, chairman of the Hebrew Academy's board of trustees. "I think this is probably the largest single donation ever in the 100-year history of the Jewish community in Las Vegas."

The Adelsons' endowment is expected to cover the cost of building a new campus on the academy's existing 17-acre parcel in Summerlin, as well as initial operational expenses and even scholarships, Chaltiel said.

Launched in the 1980s, the Hebrew Academy moved to Summerlin in 1990 and currently serves about 300 students.

The new campus would likely serve 600 students from pre-kindergarten through high school, Chaltiel said. School officials also hope to build a performing arts center and sports fields which could potentially be opened for public use, he said.

"We have big ambitions, we want to make this a world-class educational institution," said Chaltiel, who is chairman of Red Hills Ventures, a venture capital group.

It will likely be a two-year process to develop the architectural designs and build the new campus, Chaltiel said.

Because the area's existing Jewish education programs only go through the eighth grade, students don't have the opportunity to continue those studies at the high school level, said Dr. Miriam Adelson.

There are also few opportunities for students to study at one school beginning with pre-kindergarten and continuing through high school, Adelson said in an e-mailed response to interview questions.

Adelson, who specializes in drug addiction, said the high school will be "drug free, to the extent possible, through substantial preventative education and the use of periodic student testing."

Tom Warden, spokesman for Howard Hughes Corp., said the academy's planned expansion is in keeping with the company's long-term vision for Summerlin. The master-planned community in northwest Las Vegas currently has 21 schools, half of which are private, Warden said.

"The Hebrew Academy's planned high school will be a spectacular addition to the educational community of Summerlin," Warden said. "They've done a wonderful job in the lower grades and they'll continue with the high school."

The Hebrew Academy would join Faith Lutheran and the Meadows School on Summerlin's roster of private high schools.

Bishop Gorman High School, which recently marked its 50th anniversary,is in the midst of moving to Summerlin from its longtime home on Maryland Parkway. The new campus is slated to open on Hualapai Way near Russell Road for the 2007-08 academic year. The 187,000-square-foot facility is expected to cost $35 million to $40 million.