Dean Goldfein still remembers opening day of the Contra Costa Jewish Day School back in 2001, when he welcomed a small student body of 23 children into two rented classrooms.
He’s been welcoming students to the K-8 school in Lafayette ever since. Now, after 25 years as head of school, Goldfein is set to step down from his full-time role. Principal Eden Allswang Bruner will assume the top post on July 1.
“It’s hard to leave because I still enjoy coming to work every day,” said Goldfein, who was hired in 2000. “But it felt like the time was right. We accomplished a lot.”
Goldfein, 58, noted that CCJDS’s initial enrollment of 23 has grown to 183 students, who come to the school from across the East Bay. What started in those two rooms is now an expansive 18,000-square-foot campus adjacent to and leased from Temple Isaiah, with a kosher kitchen, multi-sports facility, music and drama spaces, an art room and a state-of-the-art science lab. The roster now includes more than 40 faculty and administrative staffers.
“I’ve been guided by the founders’ vision, to build a school based on academic excellence and a strong Jewish community,” he said.
To that end, under Goldfein’s leadership, CCJDS has sought to emphasize general studies alongside a Judaic studies curriculum probing Jewish texts, modern Hebrew, Jewish holidays and the centrality of Israel, culminating in an annual trip to the Jewish state for eighth graders.
“We started with nothing,” recalls CCJDS board president Anat Yoder. “No building, no school. Dean had to convince the community, and he took us all the way to a mature school with an endowment campaign, leaving the school in a strong financial place.”
A San Francisco native, Goldfein earned a bachelor’s in history from UC Berkeley and a master’s from the University of Virginia. Prior to joining CCJDS, he served as dean of students and a history teacher at Sacred Heart Preparatory and taught English at the then-Brandeis Hillel Day School, both in San Francisco.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Goldfein will work part time as head of school emeritus, supporting his successor, working on special projects related to fundraising and strategic planning, and helping to organize the school’s 25th anniversary celebrations.
Meanwhile Bruner, 56, becomes head of school after many years working alongside Goldfein.
She joined the CCJDS staff in 2011 following 10 years as director of development and marketing for the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services. The Los Angeles native earned a bachelor’s from Harvard and a master’s from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She went on to work as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, including a stint in Moscow. Her own children attended CCJDS, which first attuned her to the school’s strengths.
“What drew me [to the school] was the opportunity to use my skills,” Bruner said. “I’ve learned so much on the job here. I’ve seen from Dean how being a good leader means hiring great people, empowering them and giving them autonomy. He has modeled how to keep to the school’s mission, even in the midst of chaos.”
Chaos aptly describes the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Like other schools, CCJDS switched to remote learning, yet it was among the first private schools in the region to reopen for in-class instruction.
“Covid revealed the strength of the community,” Goldfein said. “We were scared, but we were also compelled to come back quickly.”
Likewise, when Tehiyah Day School of El Cerrito abruptly closed its doors in 2018, CCJDS was one of the main East Bay schools that stepped up to accept displaced students and their families.
As for the near future, Bruner said she and her colleagues have been “doing a lot of planning.”
“We want more people to check us out and discover what an incredible combination of school and Jewish experience we provide,” she said. “I have great admiration for the staff, so it’s a priority for me that the transition be smooth for them. I also have relationships with current and new students. I know all [our] students’ names.”