Head of School Announcement

Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, Virginia is pleased to announce the hiring of Aviva Walls as Head of School with a starting date of July 1, 2020. The Gesher Board of Trustees selected Ms. Walls from a pool of more than twenty qualified candidates after a nine-month search process advised by Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.

Walls is in her seventh year at the Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles, California. She started in 2013 as Director of College Counseling and Academic Guidance before taking over as the Dean of Academic Affairs.

In her current role, Aviva serves on the Educational Leadership Team and coordinates with Department Chairs to meet the educational and resource needs of Shalhevet. Walls is part of a leadership team that also grew enrollment at Shalhevet from 160 students to over 260 in the past six years while maintaining the school’s commitment to its vision and mission.
Walls has also taught high school economics, and held leadership roles in the Undergraduate Admissions departments of New York University and Barnard College.

“Aviva is a dedicated professional, and is excited to be a catalyst for Gesher to reach new heights as we move forward into the future,” Phillip Blumenthal, President of the Board of Trustees for Gesher, said in a statement.

“Aviva’s visit to our community in December confirmed the unanimous view of her references that she possesses the leadership skills and commitment to the mission of Jewish day schools, to academic excellence, and to Jewish literacy to be an extremely successful Head of School at Gesher.”

Walls received a Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and a Master of Business Administration from New York University, Stern School of Business. She has also earned certificates from the Day School Leadership Training Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the YULEAD Yeshiva University’s School Partnership emerging leaders program.