Mitchell Daar’s homecoming

Mitchell Daar, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School’s new Head of School. Daar was most recently Head of School at Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia.

Mitchell Daar loves to tell this story: While getting his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, he once found himself to be the only person raising his hand in a room of 500 people.  

A recruiter from Google had asked the students, “Raise your hand if you liked going to work before you got to business school.” 

At that time, Daar had just finished his tenure as a middle school math teacher at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, teaching algebra, geometry, and statistics. Outside of the classroom, he had coached basketball, softball, and soccer, and had led Tiyul, the school’s annual eighth grade trip to Israel. 

It was, as Daar described it, a “dream existence out of college.” And Bernard Zell was more than just a meaningful job; it was Daar’s first alma mater. He had walked through the doors of the Lakeview day school almost four decades ago, as a nursery student. 

Raising his hand in that large room in business school, Daar thought, “I have something that all these other people are looking for. What do I do with this?” 

Then something fortuitous happened. Bernard Zell unexpectedly needed a math teacher, in the middle of the year. Daar switched to taking his business school classes at night, returned to teaching, and built an eighth-grade math curriculum based on his MBA experience. He also served as Director of High School Counseling.  

“I’m back” is a theme of the story, Daar joked. 

This past summer, Daar’s theme truly came full circle when he returned to Bernard Zell once again, this time after eight years, as Head of School. Relocating to Chicago with his wife and three young children, he comes with deep leadership experience in Jewish day schools. Most recently, he served as Head of School at Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia, as Director of Enrollment Management and Strategic Initiatives at Rodeph Sholom School in New York, and as Associate Middle School Head at The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, also in New York. 

Tamar Jacoby, Chair of Bernard Zell’s Board of Trustees, describes Daar’s business acumen and his holistic understanding of child psychology as a unique combination of gifts. “We’re extremely lucky he’s brought those things to us,” she said. 

As Bernard Zell celebrates its 80th year, Jacoby sees Daar’s role as continuing to build on the legacy of the school. Her own two children are current Bernard Zell students, and, like Daar, Jacoby is herself an alumna. “I’m hoping that my great-grand-children in another 80 years are celebrating the 160th year,” she said. 

Karen Leavitt, who served as Bernard Zell’s Interim Head of School for the 2025-2026 academic year, has deep roots at Bernard Zell herself—Leavitt’s children are alumni, and she has held multiple positions in the school, including Head of Lower School. 

Leavitt is enthusiastic about Daar’s fit for the role. “He’s going to be a very relational leader,” Leavitt said, adding that that will make it easy for Daar to transition back into the school community. Leavitt shared that, while the families and some of the teachers will be new to Daar, , “The bones of BZ are really the same: values-driven, family-oriented, community-focused. The caring place that we are is the same.” 

“Year one will definitely be relationship-centric, getting to know the people and the way things work,” Daar agreed. “I have a deep history with this school, but I am also very much new. I haven’t been here for eight years; I don’t [fully] know the school yet in its current iteration. I am eager to learn and understand.” 

Jacoby is on the same page. “Our biggest goal is for him to listen and learn and think about it. And then for him to come to us and say, ‘This is where I think we can go,’” she said.