Ahuva Halberstam, High School Head
Phone: 212-246-7717, ext. 11627

Rabbi Dov Lerea, Dean of Judaic Studies
Phone: 212-246-7717, ext. 11636

The Academic Experience
The Abraham Joshua Heschel High School is committed to maximizing the academic potential of each student by incorporating teaching strategies that engage a broad range of learning styles. It involves students deeply in the process of learning and provides stimuli to promote critical thinking and a love of learning.

Curriculum Overview
Ninth Grade
Ninth graders study the ancient world from multiple perspectives. They read and interpret selections from the literature of the ancient world, examine primary documents and artifacts, learn how historians and archaeologists contribute to our knowledge of the past, engage in cartography and delve into the cultures and histories of the ancient Near East, the Far East, Greece and Rome. Students learn how to utilize the resources of the museums of New York City and the resources of the World Wide Web in an effort to bring the ancient world to life. Ninth graders learn the basic elements of research in a wireless networked environment and how to judge the quality of the content they locate. Teachers emphasize the importance of writing clearly by requiring students in all disciplines to write frequently. A writing lab allows students to hone and polish their writing skills.

Art and Music History expand the students’ grasp of ancient humans and the society in which they functioned and give context to student-created art and music. Ninth graders may elect to study Latin as an expansion of the study of the ancient world or choose to begin the study of French or Spanish. Hebrew classes include literature, grammar, writing, speaking and the history of the evolution of the language and its vocabulary and orthography. Bible classes focus on the themes of Creation and Covenant including study from the first 20 chapters of Genesis and the first 24 chapters of Exodus illuminated by rabbinic interpretation. Readings from prophetic writings complement biblical themes.

Rabbinics classes study selections from Sanhedrin/Makkot on the system of punishment, theories of evidence and capital offenses as well as selections from Shabbat.

Ninth graders explore Greek and Roman contributions to math, science and engineering. They study conceptual physics as the underpinning of further science advancement. Those who have completed Algebra in eighth grade study Geometry while the others take Algebra. The schedule comprises both shorter, fifty-minute classes and longer blocks for more intense study, art and music studio time, and lab classes.

Beyond Grade Nine
A thematic, integrated curriculum is being developed under the direction of the faculty. In grades 10, 11, and 12 students will study the post-medieval world and its literature, American history and literature, and Twentieth Century European and American history and literature respectively. Math and science are required in grades 10 and 11 and recommended for grade 12. Math courses offered, in sequence, are Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Calculus and math electives including Satistics, Discrete Math, and non-Euclidean Geometry. Chemistry and Biology are offered in grades 10 and 11 and science electives including Advanced Biology, and Advanced Physics may be elected in grade 12. Bible classes will include the study of the books of Prophets and Wisdom Literature and Torah Sheb’al Peh classes – Talmud, Jewish thought and philosophy – will offer study around increasingly sophisticated thematic units. Hebrew will be required through grade 11. Advanced Bible, Torah Sheb’al Peh and Hebrew courses will be elected in grade 12. Students may study a second foreign language from among Latin, French and Spanish for a minimum of 2 and up to 4 years. Electives in the fine arts include Art History, Studio Art, Instrumental and Vocal Music, Theater Arts, Computer Programming, and Journalism. Physical education classes complete the course offerings.

The Co-curricular Environment
Tefilla: Students choose among several tefilla options each morning. Tefilla time affords each student an opportunity to begin the day with prayerful reflection.

Scholars-in-Residence: Our Beit Midrash will host a Scholars-in-Residence program in which rabbinic students across the denominations and genders engage in Torah and Talmud study. The art and music studios will house both artists and musicians who share with students the experience of making art.

Rosh Hodesh Speakers Forum: A monthly Rosh Hodesh Speakers Program is offered to both parents and students. Emmanuel Ax, the renowned musician, and Dr. Barry Coller, the David Rockefeller Professor of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs, and Physician-in-Chief of Rockefeller University are featured first-year speakers.

Community Outreach and Service, Tikkun Olam: Students participate in community service and outreach in each of their high school years. Opportunities for tutoring, working with the elderly, with young children and in shelters will be posted regularly.

Internships: Dr. Terry Ann Krulwich is the liaison for science research internships and will coach students for the Intel Competition. Internships will also include work in museums and studios, among other opportunities.

Assemblies: School wide assemblies afford students the opportunity to participate in Town Meetings (student/faculty/administrative governance), Ethics Labs and discussions of current events.

Advisory: The advisory program heightens the overall sense of community in the school by providing interaction between faculty and students outside of course work and skills development. Each student is assigned to a faculty advisor/mentor who becomes the point-person for each student’s academic, social, emotional and spiritual growth.

The Faculty
The first faculty comprises outstanding educators with superior academic credentials and significant high school teaching experience. Faculty members are characterized by a joy for working with adolescents. They embody and model for students intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, a sense of humor, and impeccable integrity. The faculty engages in team-teaching and team-preparation to enhance meaningful learning.

Extra-Curricular Life
The Abraham Joshua Heschel High School addresses all aspects of students’ growth and development and encourages students to participate with each other in student government, athletics and extracurricular activities.

Student Government
Students elect a chair person, vice-chair and representatives who join with faculty and administrators to discuss all issues pertaining to student life. They will write a constitution and help create an “honor code,” the principles by which all school members will abide in the “just society” of the high school.

Athletics
The Abraham Joshua Heschel High School competes with other independent and public schools in New York City through membership in various leagues. Coaches stress fitness, teamwork, sportsmanship, and personal responsibility. Initial offerings include basketball, tennis, volleyball, soccer and individualized programs in weight training and exercise.

Clubs
Students are encouraged to cultivate their current interests and to pursue new ones through extracurricular programs. A faculty advisor oversees all clubs offered that might include the following:
• Art: Ceramics, watercolors, oil
• Chess
• Choreography
• Debate
• Drama
• Dance
• Literary magazine
• Math Club & Team
• Mock Trial
• Model U.N.
• Music: Chamber, Instrumental, Jazz, Composition, Choir
• Newspaper: Tamar Lewin, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the New York Times, has agreed to coach the newspaper staff of the High School.
• Photography
• Science Fair and Competitions

The Sha’ar (gateway) Program
It is our desire to recruit and admit young people who have not attended a Jewish day school during their elementary and/or middle school years. We seek highly motivated students interested in exploring the role that Judaism can play in their lives. We believe that the expansion of our student population by the inclusion of young people of varying Judaic studies backgrounds (or none at all) enhances our mission and our community. The Sha’ar (gateway) program provides intensive enrichment in Hebrew language and Judaic studies to facilitate eventual integration with those continuing from Jewish day schools.

Applicants need not have a prior knowledge of Hebrew language. The Sha’ar program is designed to develop Hebrew language abilities, quickly enabling students to move into the exciting arena of study of classical texts that forms the heart of the Judaic Studies program. This intensive Hebrew language study will be geared to the level of the individual student (ranging from those students with little or no previous Hebrew language knowledge to those with afternoon Hebrew School background). It will emphasize skills of Hebrew reading of both classical and contemporary texts; fundamental rules of Hebrew grammar and the basic distinctions between classical and modern forms; the development of a substantial introductory vocabulary to enable reading comprehension, and participation in an environment of spoken Hebrew in which Hebrew is increasingly the language of instruction and classroom discussion.

The Sha’ar program will also acclimate students to the broader world of Jewish studies and support their intellectual and emotional integration into the world of classical Jewish texts, Jewish philosophy critical and pivotal moments in Jewish history, the world of Jewish life and religious observance, and the universe of twentieth to twenty-first century Jewish life around the world. The Zionist Movement, the Holocaust, the creation of The State of Israel, and the Diaspora cultures which so deeply enrich Jewish life in the modern period will be explored.

The Heschel School is rooted in an abiding appreciation of the pluralism inherent in Jewish communal life. Welcoming students from other educational institutions complements the social, intellectual, and religious universe that has been ours from the school’s inception.

Jewish Life
At the center of Jewish life at the Heschel High School is the spiritual growth and the deepening of Jewish commitment of each student. Formal and informal settings for prayer encourage students to grapple with their relationship to God, Torah, and the Jewish people. The School fosters a religious environment characterized by mutual respect and sensitivity.

Each school day begins with tefilla (prayer). Recognizing the diversity of Jewish backgrounds of our students and faculty, a variety of prayer groups meet. Faculty advisors help students to develop a meaningful tefilla experience and serve as religious role models for each prayer group. School-wide prayer experiences foster the unity of our religious community.

The culture of our School is rooted in the rhythms of the Jewish calendar, the Hebrew language, Torah study, and love for the land of Israel. Students celebrate Jewish holidays, as a community by synthesizing the traditional rituals of the holiday with text study, music and art. Through shabbatonim and other retreats, students share the experience of Shabbat with their classmates. Tikkun Olam activities bring students together as they reach out to the larger community, Jewish and non-Jewish, and engage in gemilut hesed (acts of loving-kindness) on an ongoing basis.

The Heschel High School is committed to creating a Jewish environment in which all students feel comfortable. Kashrut is observed at all school events, and school activities and assignments are scheduled to accommodate the observance of Shabbat and Jewish holidays. We strive to build a vibrant Jewish community in which the particular religious commitments of students and their families are nurtured while emphasizing the common covenantal bond that all Jews share.