| How are you different?
All yeshiva high schools offer programs in
Limudei Kodesh and academics. But here is where
we differ:
· We are a small school - by
design. Education is not like a business where the bigger
you are, the better you are. In a big institution,
students fall between the cracks and do not get
individual attention. In a small school everybody
counts. A small school is a warm school.
· We have a unique chevra. We do not
have a feeder school so all incoming students
start off on the same footing. We have no “insiders” and “outsiders”.
Our merit-based admissions policy ensures that
all students are screened by professional educators
for both midot and academic performance. We accept
no compromises when it comes to the quality of
our student body.
· We teach students to think
independently. Both our Limudei Kodesh and academic programs
emphasize independent research, conceptualization,
articulation and presentation skills. Our Limudei
Kodesh program is founded upon the highly analytical
and conceptual Brisker Derekh popularized by “the
Rav,” HaRav HaGaon Joseph B. Soloveichik,
ztz”l. The Rav’s brother, HaRav HaGaon
Aharon Soloveitchik ztz”l, served for many
years as the head of our Va’ad HaChinuch
and gave weekly shiurim to our Junior and Senior
talmidim.
· We teach what matters. All schools
teach “stuff”, but we also inculcate
our students with core Jewish values. These include:
o Ahavat Eretz Yisrael, an understanding of
the history, geography, politics and language
of the State of Israel and the centrality of
Eretz Yisrael to us as Torah Jews. Our program
includes courses on Zionism, the history of anti-semitism,
news and media monitoring and special school-wide
programs to mark special dates and events like
Yom HaZikaron and Yom Yerushalayim. Our goal
is to produce graduates who can act effectively
as spokesmen and ambassadors for Israel and the
Jewish people on campuses and in the workplace.
o Ahavat Yisrael, the unique connection that
we share with all Jews. It obligates us to act
whenever Jews are threatened or in danger. It
requires us to love and reach out to our brethren,
including those with whom we may disagree profoundly
on religious or political grounds.
o Kavod HaBriyot, the notion that all people
count. As Torah Jews, we owe a duty of dignity
and respect to every person, strong and weak,
rich and poor, Jew and non-Jew. Kavod HaBriyot
is the core notion underlying the Jewish notion
of chessed.
o Tzniyut. Personal modesty and temperance in
dress, speech, lifestyle and conduct are obligations
incumbent upon all Torah Jews, male and female.
Sobriety, not ostentatiousness, is the preferred
standard for the Torah Jew.
o Yosher. Integrity. Jews should live their
lives in accordance with the values that they
profess. Hypocrisy undercuts the system of Torah
values and can result in Chilul Hashem.
o Hakarat HaTov to America, a medinat chessed,
for all that it has done for us, as Jewish Americans,
and for the State of Israel. As Torah Jews, we
must respect this country’s institutions,
leaders and laws, publicly acknowledge our community’s
debt to this country, and be actively involved
in its political processes.
· We view Torah as a mission
to the world. Our goal is to produce boys who relate to the
world as proud Jews. That means not only practicing
a Torah-true life in private or at home, but
also carrying the message of Torah into college,
graduate school, and into the workplace. An important
focus of our Limudei Kodesh program is therefore
to enable our students to articulate why they
believe and practice what they do in a way that
will command respect from the listener, Jew or
non-Jew. We seek to prepare them to confront
the spiritual as well as the professional challenges
of America’s modern secular society.
· We build character and leadership. We teach our students the lesson of Amalek -
that evil must be confronted. It must be confronted
with deeds, not just with words. Our program
of Jewish activism demonstrates to our students
how they can practically make a difference in
the political arena, how they can effectively
employ the electronic media and the press, how
to communicate respectfully and responsibly with
elected officials. It also equips them with critical
organizational, articulation and presentation
skills.
· We are educational innovators. Almost
every year we introduce new and challenging educational
and enrichment ideas and programs, some of which
involve cooperative efforts with universities
and university educators. We also arrange for
unique experiential programs as part of our Jewish
activism and Zionism efforts. We devote significant
financial and creative resources to these efforts.
Among the unique programs we have currently offer
are an innovative freshman Beit Medrash program,
the Kol Yosef “Law Review”, weekly
college-level shiurim with college rebbeim, a
college-level study skills course offered to
freshmen and sophomores, a proprietary in-house
SAT preparatory program, freshman year diagnostic
testing and monitoring, Project Mitnadvim service
on Israeli military basis or in hospital wards,
and the Write-On ambassadors for Israel program.
· We have a proven track record
of success. Truly gifted students will produce extraordinary
results wherever they go to school. However,
year in and year out, our student body achieves
above-average results (see below). We don’t
just promise results - we deliver them, year
after year.
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