Transformational Campus Will Become Home to Early Childhood Education and Parenting Centers, Community, and Sacred Spaces
Aaron Milken
Stephen Wise Temple is proud and honored to announce the addition of Aaron Milken Center at Wise to its thriving and evolving hillside campus. The new facility, made possible by a $12 million matching grant from the Lowell Milken Family, will become the new home for the Early Childhood Education and Parenting programs at Wise and will provide community and sacred spaces to grow and nurture long-lasting relationships among members and visitors of all ages.
Aaron Milken Center at Wise will join Wise School and Stephen Wise Temple as a third pillar of community, growth, engagement, and learning on a beautiful campus overlooking the San Fernando Valley, perched in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Aaron with his father Lowell
The Lowell Milken Family has chosen to name this transformative project in memory of Aaron Milken (1994–2018), beloved fourth son of Lowell Milken and Sandra Salka Milken. Aaron and his three older brothers—Jeremy, Ryan, and David—flourished in the Stephen Wise Temple parenting and preschool programs.
“It is our hope that the Aaron Milken Center will not only perpetuate Aaron’s memory but enliven it. With this new campus, we will build on the program that he and so many children have benefitted from, while expanding it physically, conceptually, and professionally,” said Lowell Milken. “We see the Center contributing tangibly to our heritage and experience as a Jewish community, benefiting Stephen Wise Temple—an institution dear to our hearts—while reaching meaningfully and innovatively toward the future.”
Aaron playing with friends on the Wise Early Childhood playground
“Aaron Milken Center represents the next chapter in the Wise community’s extraordinary commitment to early childhood education, support for parents as they strive to raise their children to become mensches (people of integrity), and the creation of a vibrant community for young families,” said Wise Senior Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback. “This project is a tangible expression of our belief in the Jewish future. Families with young children represent a unique opportunity for a community such as ours—we can enrich the Jewish life of children, their parents, and even their grandparents, touching three generations at the same moment. I feel a great sense of gratitude to our community and especially to the Lowell Milken Family. May we move forward with energy and enthusiasm, inspired by what this makes possible for Stephen Wise Temple and beyond.”
“As we build a transformative structure, we are equally excited to develop a curriculum deserving of this magnificent space,” said Head of School Tami Weiser. “Aaron Milken Center will be a leader in early childhood education, professional development, and parent enrichment. We are excited to create a developmentally academic program that employs emergent curriculum and is infused with Jewish values.”
“As an early childhood educator, I cannot wait to be able to share with our youngest students and their families the rich and engaging program, facilities, and community Aaron Milken Center will inspire,” said Jen Shankman, Director of Early Childhood. “The possibilities are truly amazing and we are deeply grateful for this opportunity to transform such an integral part of our Wise community.”
Visit AaronMilkenCenter.org for regular updates about this exciting new project. Our planning committee, led by Wise member Leandro Tyberg, is working diligently on the designs for the new facility.
For giving opportunities or general information, please contact Jessica Lebovits Mannon, Director of Development, at [email protected] or by phone at 310.889.2276.
