DEVELOPER GIVES HEBREW ACADEMY A PERMANENT HOME.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX

WEST HILLS - They finished applying the last of the pale yellow and tan paint on Friday and affixed the letters to the front of the building at 7011 Shoup Ave. Finally, after 34 years, the Kadima Hebrew Academy has its own home.

A little bit of Brooklyn Heights in West Hills.

It's called the Evenhaim Family Campus and is a gift that will keep on giving.

Developer Shawn Evenhaim, who this morning will host a Hanukkah HaBayit, or dedication for the community, is responsible for ending the school's vagabond existence. It's had numerous temporary homes over the past three decades.

In June 2003 Evenhaim bought the seven-acre site that formerly was home to Pine Grove Psychiatric Hospital in a bankruptcy auction with just this event in mind.

A dozen bidders showed up, and by late afternoon it was down to Evenhaim and one other developer.

``He looked at me and said what's going to happen? And I said I'm going to have it. It was not a business transaction for me. It was the best thing the school could have found in the West Valley,'' said Evenhaim, who has two sons enrolled at Kadima.

He's going to have a lot of help celebrating, today, too, since 700 people have sent RSVPs. The invites include Mayor James Hahn and Ehud Danoch, consul general of Israel.

Evenhaim doesn't want to disclose how much he spent to give the institution, the first Jewish day school in the west San Fernando Valley, the campus on four acres of the property. But a six-pack of zeros followed the first digit on the check that he wrote.

``We feel as developers we have to give back to the community,'' said Evenhaim, who specializes in residential infill projects throughout the Valley and will also build 18 homes on the property.

He is on the school's board and his company has also adopted a women's shelter in Sylmar.

Today's event is a homecoming, too.

The new campus is just across a concrete tributary of the Los Angeles River from where the school first opened in a collection of trailers in September 1970 with eight students, seven young boys, one girl and a teacher.

Classes started in September and 185 students are enrolled in grades kindergarten through eight. The goal is an enrollment of 500 students.

This is a fitting time of year to hold the campus dedication since students at the school a while back convinced the U.S. Postal Service to print a stamp commemorating Hanukkah.

The school's facilities include a library, computer room, gym, swimming pool and a full kosher kitchen overseen by Rudy Gonzalez, the former head chef at La Scala, once one of the city's most exclusive restaurants.

Next year facilities for preschoolers will also be offered, said head of school Barbara Gereboff.

The school seems a good fit in the neighborhood. The West Hills Retirement Center and West Valley Convalescent Hospital are neighbors to the north, and there are residences to the south.

William Joseph, the hospital's administrator, recalls being a bit concerned when he learned a school was moving into the neighborhood.

Not anymore.

``Now they have my 100 percent backing and I'll do whatever I can to make them a success,'' he said Friday afternoon. ``I want this to be a win-win situation for both of us. Differences can always be overcome.''

Down the street, Albert Duke, who's taking care of his elderly father these days, was re-potting some plants.

Yes, he agreed, the school fits in nicely, although parking can sometimes get congested.

``They're very quiet. They are just the kind of neighbor I'd like to have around,'' he said.

Over at the school, Gereboff, her staff and some volunteers were overseeing final preparations for today's big event. But she had time to give an unexpected visitor a tour.

The name Evenhaim translated from Hebrew to English means rock or foundation of life.

``He's truly earned his name by giving life to future generations of children,'' she said.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com