Calgary Jewish Academy welcomes new CEO Jordan Balaban

by Maxine Fischbein

(AJNews) – The recent appointment of Jordan Balaban as CEO at The Calgary Jewish Academy (CJA) is good news for Calgary’s largest and most deeply rooted Jewish day school.

Balaban, who co-founded Greengate Power together with his family and previously served as the renewable energy company’s president, comes to his newly established position with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University, two decades of business experience, and a proven track record as a lay leader in the Jewish community. He was among Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 in 2021, an A-list of young movers and shakers on the Calgary scene.

In his new role at CJA, Balaban is responsible for looking after the business end of running the school, working in close partnership with CJA Principal Shelly Gelfand, Community and Advancement Director Dana Silver, and the CJA Board of Directors – co-chaired by Michelle Jacobson and Eytan Donsky.

Like Gelfand – a veteran teacher and school administrator who was appointed CJA principal at the end of the last school year – Balaban is a former student at CJA (known as the Calgary Hebrew School in Gelfand’s day). They share a passion for making the school the best it can be, and Balaban looks forward to the day when he will bring his toddler son to CJA to begin his own educational journey.

In other words, Balaban has skin in the game.

This bodes well for current and potential students, their parents, and an invigorated staff. Front and centre is a skilled learning leadership team, which is a blend of long serving and new educators. Veteran members include Avi Sherman, currently serving as head of Judaic studies and interim vice principal, and Alex Kouperman, the Athletics/Student Voice Learning Leader. New additions to the team include Early Years Coordinator Colleen Bartlett and GAIN Coordinator Tammara Behl.

Balaban and his colleagues know that they have their work cut out for them; it is no secret that the CJA has had its share of challenges over recent years.

Things came to a head last year as teachers sought to join a labour union. The effort was eventually abandoned, but not before additional faultlines threatened the stability of one of Jewish Calgary’s most important communal institutions.

“There were a lot of unhappy people with very valid concerns that were brought up not just over the last year, but over many years,” recalls Michelle Jacobson.

“We are rebuilding the experience for our students…and making sure that the teachers feel supported and encouraged to do the things they want to do to make CJA the best place it can be for our children,” Jacobson added.

“We are a private school that must run like a thriving business,” says Jordan Balaban. “When our enrollment improves, and our revenue improves, we have the ability to fund programs and experiences for the students that promote academic excellence, pride in their Jewish identity, and a thriving culture.”

“In just my first four weeks, I see so much untapped potential and I am looking forward to building on the foundation, community, and warmth that already exists in the school,” Balaban adds.

Increasing school enrollment is critical to the success of CJA going forward, says Balaban.

“We need parents and students to buy in, and I’m already seeing it happen in real time. It’s very encouraging and exciting!”

After Greengate Power sold most of its assets a couple of years back, Balaban moved on to other things, including bonding with his newborn son and enjoying a three-month sabbatical in New Zealand with his wife Zoe – also a CJA alum – and their son.

Balaban then started thinking about new career steps.

“I was looking at the venture capital start-up eco-system,” said Balaban who did some advisory and mentorship work.

“There was some fulfillment in that but it didn’t feel like what I really wanted to do.”

After years of volunteering on not-for-profit committees and boards – including a dozen years on the board of Calgary Jewish Federation – Balaban joined the CJA board this past September.

“It became very clear to me after that first meeting that a lot of really important business activities were being managed by the board of directors, which should function as a governance board,” recalled Balaban.

“It dawned on me that the role I have now taken on would be perfect for me.”

“Jordan has done so many great things in his career, and he is so well-connected within the community, recalled Jacobson, adding, “He came to us with an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

While Balaban’s CEO post is a paid position, the return on investment will be significant, given that his choice to serve the school is, primarily, a labour of love, Jacobson says.

The CJA board launched a search last summer for a Head of School whose job it would be to manage the business end of running the school, allowing the principal to focus on teachers, students and families, says board co-chair Eytan Donsky.

They interviewed several candidates but did not find the right person for the position.

“We were very confident in Shelly’s ability to come into the school as a strong leader as principal,” recalled Donsky, adding that the board opted to suspend the Head of School search while Gelfand settled into her role and the lay leadership refined their thinking about the Head of School role.

And then along came Balaban.

“He could be doing many, many other things,” says Donsky, “but he’s doing this because he believes in the future of the school. And we believe in him.”

“When it comes to strategic planning, recruitment and retention, you need day to day management to make sure you’re doing a good job,” Balaban told AJNews.

“It is very typical for private schools to have somebody in this role,” he said, adding that the top private schools in Calgary are the arena in which CJA is competing.

“Judaic Studies are offerings that only CJA and Akiva Academy provide, so it goes without saying that you’re going to get that here, but there is a standard of academic excellence that people expect when they send their kids to Jewish day schools,” says Balaban.

“That’s totally fair,” Balaban says, while adding that the belief among some parents that CJA is slipping when it comes to the Alberta curriculum is more perception than reality.

The Fraser Institute annual rankings of Alberta schools, based on Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) scores, reveal that while Calgary Jewish Academy results trail those of self-selecting private schools, CJA sits in the top five percent of Alberta schools.

“We are a community school. We try and take anybody who wants a Jewish education,” explains Balaban.

As a result, the school serves more kids with identified needs than is typical at the private schools most often compared with CJA, says Balaban. “The dual curriculum [roughly 60 percent Alberta curriculum and 40 percent Judaic Studies] challenges our students.”

It seems that community building and the dual curriculum have not hampered – and may well have helped – generations of Jewish day school students.

“If you look at the success of our alumni, it is astounding. I don’t know if we are doing a good enough job communicating that,” Balaban says.

“I’m still best friends with all of the people I went to school with at CJA. Every one of them is unbelievably successful,” among them physicians, entrepreneurs, lawyers, philanthropists, and the list goes on.

“I think our achievements have much to do with the relationships that we cemented here in this building. The community we built here really helped us to thrive,” Balaban said, emphasizing the power of Jewish values learned and lived at CJA.

Parents may bring their kids to CJA because it is a Jewish school, but school leaders agree that students are more likely to stay if they feel that the school also delivers when it comes to secular studies.

“We need to be the best school we can be, not just the best Jewish school,” Jacobson said.

When AJNews sat down with Balaban last month, he was beginning his fourth week as CEO.

“It’s a lot of just drinking from the fire hose,” Balaban quipped as he described his learning curve.

“I’ve been talking with parents about their concerns, talking to funding partners about how those relationships work, talking to government, board members, trying to understand the numbers behind the school, the opportunities for revenue generation and improvement of the bottom line.”

“We can really provide a more enriching experience for students, parents, teachers and our community at large,” Balaban says.

While he has ideas for new initiatives, he is keeping his powder dry for now, with the exception of one ambition, to increase the school’s current enrollment of 208.

“We’re stabilizing and enhancing and then we can innovate,” Balaban said. “You want to make sure the foundation is rock solid before you start building,” he added.

Teamwork is critical, says Balaban, who is pumped about the potential of the school administrative team, beginning at the top with Principal Shelly Gelfand.

“Shelly has been incredible in resetting the school culture with both the students and the teachers,” noted Balaban. “Numerous people have told me that this place feels like a new school in some ways. It’s pretty remarkable considering it’s only been about two months.”

For her part, Gelfand says she is grateful to be teaming up with Balaban.

“He comes with a wealth of business knowledge, and he is connected to the Jewish community,” said Gelfand. “He went to CJA and obviously understands the context of the school and why it is such an important component of our Jewish community.”

In addition to working with Gelfand and Silver, Balaban is delighted to be interfacing with teachers and students.

Following in the footsteps of his late father Jack Balaban, OBM, Jordan has coached basketball at CJA as have his brothers Dan and Michael. This year, in addition to his CEO duties, Jordan is once again coaching the junior and senior boys’ teams.

“There’s something special about competing together with your Jewish brothers and sisters against all the other schools in the city. There are bonds that are formed that, in my personal experience, were cemented in the gym, Balaban said.

“Shelly and her teaching staff have the opportunity to connect with the kids in the classroom. For me, the gym is my classroom, my opportunity to connect with the kids in my own way,” adds Balaban, who continues to serve on the board of Maccabi Canada, having competed in basketball on Team Canada in both the North American Maccabi Games and Maccabiah in Israel.

“This school is the beating heart of the community,” says Balaban, adding, “In this post-October 7 world, there is no better way to build Jewish identity than having strong and thriving Jewish day schools and summer camps.”

A fan of Start-Up Nation author Dan Senor’s popular podcast, Balaban gives voice to Senor’s oft-repeated mantra that the most important investment a Jewish community can make is in its day schools.

While he is firmly focused on the future of his alma mater, Balaban also plans to work with Dana Silver in looking back to the many members of the Jewish community who benefited from their education at CJA and its predecessor schools.

“Tapping into this amazing pool of successful alumni who can give back to our school community is part of the enhancement we want to do,” Balaban said.

Also vital to the community are past and current parents.

“I love the school. It is the hub and the heart of the community,” says veteran CJA parent Dahlia Libin, adding that she has never questioned her choice to send her daughters Mila, currently in Grade Eight, and Sophie – who graduated two years ago – to CJA.

“Having our kids in a Jewish environment has been a priority for our family,” said Libin. “When you are raising a Jewish family in Calgary you can’t do it alone. You need a community. That’s what CJA has provided for my girls.”

“They aren’t just learning Hebrew and the holidays. Their teachers have helped to instill confidence in them and a pride in being Jewish and Zionist that will help them to be resilient in a world that is increasingly challenging for Jewish people,” Libin added.

She is equally pleased with the academic success her daughters have had when it comes to the Alberta curriculum.

“My kids have been able to learn in a supportive environment where the class sizes are not huge and their teachers know them well,” Libin said.

“The small class sizes end up being a very good thing because you get really close with your classmates over the year and those are friendships you will have for a long time,” says Mila who adds that the junior high students tend to be close with one another across all three grades.

“The teachers do a good job of explaining things and there is a good assignment to projects to test ratio,” says Mila, whose favourite subject is math.

“I like Judaics a lot too. The teachers are from Israel, and they are funny and nice,” says Mila, adding that, in general, CJA teachers really care about their students and go out of their way to provide them with enrichment opportunities like, for example, advanced math.

Mila participates avidly in extracurricular activities. As vice president of the CJA Student Council, she enjoys planning fun activities for the kids including recently held activity days for younger grades, an upcoming school sleepover and various non-uniform days. And Mila loves competing on the school volleyball, basketball, badminton, track, and field hockey teams.

Mila has also benefited from school trips that are offered to students in grades 5-9. Last year’s Grade Seven trip to Ottawa was a highlight. This year, Mila and her classmates look forward to going to Washington, DC, where they will visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Grade Nine typically culminates in a trip to Israel, though they were suspended in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas terrorists in Israel.

“I hope my class will be able to go next year,” said Mila, who, overall, gives her experience at CJA two thumbs up.

The best is yet to come for The Calgary Jewish Academy, says Dahlia Libin.

“I’ve met some of the new teachers, and I have even more optimism for where the school is going,” she adds.

Principal Shelly Gelfand is proud of the way this year’s CJA staff – which includes many new teachers – is coalescing.

“Staff that have been here for quite a few years are dedicated and passionate about the school, about our students, and about our families. So are the new staff. A brand-new team has come together and I see everyone meshing, calibrating, and bringing joy into the hallways and into the learning,” Gelfand said.

Jordan Balaban – who knows a thing or two about team play – will be helping to support all that and more as he settles into his old-new calling: taking care of business.

Plans are currently in the works for a CJA Winter Open House, details TBA. In the meantime, parents can contact the school at communications@cja.ab.ca or go to cja.ab.ca for more information or to book a personalized tour.

Maxine Fischbein is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.