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Arlene Lepoff Agress
Project Director, Jim Joseph High School Affordability Initiative
Director of Day School Accreditation

(818) 464-3398
aagress@bjela.org

Arlene has worked in Jewish Education in both Los Angeles and New York for more than 30 years.  She has held teaching and administrative positions in religious schools, day schools, and adult leadership education.  She also possesses extensive background and experience in education in non-formal settings.

Arlene received her Masters in Education from UCLA, interning at the Fernald School, the Neuropsychiatric Institute, and the Newport-Mesa School District.  She attended the Teachers Institute of the University of Judaism and has also completed a Cognate degree in Theatre Arts at UCLA.  Arlene holds a lifetime California Teaching Credential and has held positions at Sinai Temple, Camp Ramah, Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Los Angeles Hebrew High School, Temple Beth Haverim and Kadima Hebrew Academy in Los Angeles, as well as the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York.  She is an author of “Why Be Different:  A Look Into Judasim,” a middle school textbook, as well as “Relating to Jews Who Are Different From Ourselves,” in Hadassah’s Jewish Parenting Book.

Arlene has worked at the BJE for over 17 years.  She is currently serving as the Project Director of the Jim Joseph High School Affordability Initiative, as well as the Director of Day School Accreditation.  Arlene works closely with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the California Association of Independent Schools, serving as the liaison between the accrediting agencies and BJE Day Schools and Yeshivot.