Weinbaum Yeshiva High School

Yeshiva High School

"Engage, Challenge, and Inspire"
Location
7902 Montoya Circle
Boca Raton, FL 33433
Palm Beach County
United States
Information
Type Jewish Private
Religious affiliation(s) Modern Orthodox Judaism, Zionism
Founded 1998
Founder Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Status Open
School district Palm Beach
Principal Rabbi Jonathan Kroll
Grades 9–12
Age range 14–18
Number of students 290
Average class size 14
Language English and Hebrew (Spanish, Arabic & Sign Language)
Hours in school day 8 Twice a Week, 9 Twice a Week, 6 Once a Week
Campus type With basketball court
School color(s) Navy, Orange, and White
Song Nigunim
Athletics 12 FHSAA Teams: Boys & Girls Varsity Soccer, Varsity Basketball, Jr. Varsity Basketball, Varsity Tennis; Boys Varsity Volleyball, Girls Varsity Softball, Girls Varsity Volleyball, Boys Varsity Golf
Nickname YHS
Team name Storm
Newspaper Yeshiva Highlites, Brainstorm, Ashreinu, Moed, Dimensions
Communities served Serves all of South Florida
Feeder schools Hillel Day School of Boca Raton, Brauser Maimonides Academy
Alumni 471
Website http://www.yeshivahs.org

Yeshiva High School of Boca Raton (YHS) is a private Jewish high school yeshiva located in Boca Raton, Florida, in Palm Beach County. The school provides a Modern Orthodox education and has both male and female students in grades 9–12.

The school has over 300 students who come from as far south as Miami and as far north as West Palm Beach. The school is located on the campus of the Boca Raton Synagogue in the heart of the Montoya Circle community. For the school year 2016 the school plans on moving to a building on the campus of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

The school was founded by Rabbi Kenneth Brander.[1]

Curriculum

The school year is separated into three trimesters, including both religious and secular instruction.

Single-sex religious classes ("Judaic Studies") are held in the morning and include Chumash (Bible), Navi (Prophets), Torah She Ba'al Peh (Oral Law), Instead of diverting much needed attention to secular studies, the curriculum focuses heavily on Talmud studies. and Hebrew. College preparatory subjects ("General or Secular Studies") are taught in mixed-sex classes in the afternoon and are separated by level. Core classes include English, science, math, and history, and Jewish History with electives such as Spanish, Arabic, Sign Language, Business, Photography, Videography, art, graphic design.

The school offers various Advanced Placement classes, including AP European History, AP United States History, AP English Literature, AP English Language and Composition, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Physics, AP Environmental Science, AP Studio Art, AP Statistics, AP Psychology, AP Human Geography and AP Calculus AB and BC. Many students also participate in Yeshiva University's Model United Nations.

Athletics

The school hosts a range of athletics separated by gender, including varsity boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, boys baseball, girls volleyball, and boys golf, boys flag football and junior varsity boys and girls basketball. These teams compete in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) state league.

The sports teams are known as the Yeshiva Storm.

Drama

The school's drama program is run by Ms. Jill Lustig and produces one girls Broadway musical and one co-ed comedy each year. The 2013 productions were The Music Man and "An Evening of One-Acts." Past musicals include Seussical the Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls, The Fantasticks, Into the Woods, Once Upon a Mattress, Annie, The Best of Broadway, The Sound of Music, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; past comedies include The Odd Couple, The Importance of Being Earnest, Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Actor's Nightmare, and Neil Simon's Rumors, Fools, The Man Who Came to Dinner & The Good Doctor.

Community service requirements

Students must complete 7 hours of community service each trimester, totaling 21 hours by the end of the school year and 84 hours by the end of the students' high school careers.

School year

The school year begins late August and runs through early to mid June, with breaks for Jewish holidays and a winter vacation in late January. There are no Midterm exams in January, but finals exam are at the beginning of June.

School publications

The school publishes a student-created weekly e-mail newsletter called Yeshiva Highlites, detailing recent school events and is received by more than 2,300 inboxes. An archive of the newsletter from 2002 until today can be found at .

The school arts and opinion magazine, written and headed by students is called The Brainstorm and is published three times a year. The school also publishes the Moed, a magazine of holiday information and insights written by students, before the major Jewish festivals throughout the year. In 2010, the school began publishing a weekly parsha publication called Ashreinu. The school annually publishes a yearbook, and a literary journal named Allie's Mitt.

In 2012, the school introduced Dimensions, a science and technology journal that publishes multiple times a year. Dimensions can be found at [wyhs.net/dimensions].

Committees and clubs

There are numerous committees that students can join. Students can join more than one committee. If a student envisions a committee that is not yet held at the school, he/she can start one. Present committees and clubs include Ashreinu Weekly Parsha Publication, Brainstorm (Student Newspaper), Chesed & Tzedakah Committee, Committee for Israel Action, Girls Choir, Holiday Committee, Production (Video, Photography, A/V) Committee, Publicity Committee, Public Relations Committee, Torah Affairs Committee, Moed (preHoliday Torah Publication), WakeUp (Environmental) Committee, WIPAC Club, Geography Club, Bio Medical Club, Chess Club, Cultural Awareness Club, Debate Team, Health and Wellness Club, Juggling Club, Math Club, Stock Market Challenge, Chazak School Band, Drama, Yeshiva Highlites E-mail Newsletter, Model UN, and Yearbook.

School band

There is a school band called Chazak (formerly known as Under-Construction), which plays regularly at school events and at community events out of school such as the South Palm Beach County Jewish Community's "Israel Under the Stars" Yom Ha’Atzmaut/Israel Independence Day program, Journal Dinners, private parties, and paid functions.

History

As early as 1993, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, then rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue, held discussions with the communal leadership of South Palm Beach County about the creation of the first yeshiva high school between North Miami Beach and Atlanta.

In 1996, he organized The Committee to Form a Yeshiva High School, and in 1997 it hired Rabbi Perry Tirschwell as its Head of School to create the school. Mrs. Ora Lee Kanner, who joined Rabbi Tirschwell before it opened, rose from Director of Judaic Studies to Assistant Principal to Principal (in 2008).

Mrs. Pam Turk, who was involved in the school from the beginning, was the school’s founding president. The school opened its doors to forty-one 9th and 10th graders in September 1998, and has grown quickly in its short history. The school graduated its first class in June 2001. The school was named in loving memory of Jack and Bessie Weinbaum in 2003. The school is located in Jacobs and Rubin Youth and Senior Center of the Boca Raton Synagogue in suburban, central Boca Raton. The center is named for Dr. Merv and Elaine Jacobs and Mr. Lenny and Sima Rubin who both were part of the founders of the Boca Raton Synagogue and instrumental in the early years of its existence. In the summer of 2004, the school more than doubled its space, and Dr. Sam Lasko assumed the presidency of the school. In 2010, Mr. Jeff Harris assumed the presidency.

In June 2012, Rabbi Tirschwell stepped down after 15 years at the helm of the school. Executive Director Shimmie Kaminetsky and Principal Mrs. Ora Lee Kanner are running the school during the 2012–2013 transition year, as the school is in the midst of a search process for a new Head of School, who will begin in Summer 2013.

On February 20, 2013, the Board of Trustees announced that it had selected S.A.R. Associate Principal Rabbi Jonathan Kroll as Head of School. The announcement came after a rigorous vetting process undertaken by the newly formed search committee.

In 2015 the school was renamed Yeshiva High School and construction on its new campus began.

References

  1. ↑ Suzanna Laurenti (June 12, 2001). "School Celebrates Landmark". Boca Raton News. Retrieved April 30, 2014.

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