Kehillah Jewish High School
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| Established | 2000 |
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| Type | Independent coeducational secondary |
| Affiliation | Jewish |
| President | Wendy Harris |
| Students | 107 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | Palo Alto, CA, USA |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Website | www.kehillah.org |
Kehillah Jewish High School is an independent college preparatory high school located in Palo Alto, California. Kehillah is a Hebrew word meaning "community." The school is one of a series of pluralistic (community) Jewish day schools in the United States at the high school level founded within the past 12 years.
In the fall of 2005, the school moved from San Jose to its new campus at 3900 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, California.
The school is a recipient of grants by the Levine-Lent Family Foundation, Leonard and Vivian Lehmann, The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties [1], and the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley [2].
Kehillah Jewish High School was founded in 2000 and opened in the fall of 2002 on the Blackford High School campus in San Jose with 32 9th grade students. Rabbi Reuven Greenvald joined Kehillah as its Head-of-School in the summer of 2004 and left in March 2007. He was replaced by Lillian Howard, who most recently served as the founding Head of School of the Shoshana S. Cardin School in Baltimore, Maryland.
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[edit] Campus
The new 50,000 square foot campus at 3900 Fabian Way in Palo Alto, California was completed for the 2005-2006 academic year. It is situated across the street from the planned Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life [3], a major new development for the Palo Alto JCC and the senior home. The facility was originally constructed in 1997, and was extensively remodeled in 2005. The building includes 27 classrooms, four break-out and tutorial rooms, high-end physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science laboratories, music and art rooms, a photo lab, a library and assembly space, student and faculty work and meeting spaces, faculty and administrative office clusters, and a beit-midrash for tefillah (prayer) and chavrutah study. Also, as of 2007, the gym room has opened and students are allowed outside during their free periods. Each teaching space is equipped with extensive electronic media and SMARTBoard technology.
[edit] Student life
Student life at Kehillah is found in athletics, publications, clubs, and committees. Many student activities are organized by the Director of Student Life. The sports program has expanded to include Boys' and Girls Basketball, Girls' Volleyball, Soccer, Coed Tennis, and Coed Dance. The teams play in the Christian Private School Athletic League (CPSAL).
Annual trips give students in each grade opportunities to socialize, learn outside the classroom, and participate in service projects. According to the school, during the 2007-2008 school year the 9th graders will travel to the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, California, the 10th graders plan to go to San Diego, California to help with relief from the October 2007 California wildfires, the 11th graders will go to Waveland, Mississippi to assist in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, and the 12th graders are planning a 3 week trip to Israel.
The school produces five theatrical productions annually. During the 2007-2008 school year, the theatrical season includes "The Zoo Story" by Edward Albee, "Proof" by David Auburn, the musical "Pippin", William Shakespeare's "The Tempest", George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion", and "The Laramie Project" by Moisés Kaufman. The plays are sometimes directed or co-directed by students.
Other extracurricular activities include Yearbook, Chess Club, Speech & Debate, Chamber Musicians Club, Student Government, Israel Club, "Mish Mosh" (the school's improvisational comedy troupe), and Students Taking Action Now: Darfur. Kehillah's Jewish High School Jam Band won the 2007 KFOX "School of Rock" radio competition. "Joe", a band that includes two students from Kehillah, also won a KFOX award; they won the award for best under 18 band.
In 2007, the school's first ever homecoming event, dance, and spirit week took place in Mid-December.
[edit] Academics
Kehillah has a dual curriculum combining Jewish Studies and General Studies, taught by nineteen faculty members.
[edit] Physical Education and Athletics
Although Kehillah does not have a standard P.E. program, it does have many options for students to get their P.E. credit requirement (two semesters). A Krav Maga (Israeli martial arts) class and a Yoga class are offered as electives. Students can also participate in the sports program to get their athletic requirement. Currently, KJHS offers five varsity sports: boys' basketball, girls' basketball, girls' volleyball, coed soccer, and coed tennis.
[edit] Tuition
Tuition for Kehillah Jewish High School was $24,000 for the 2006-2007 year and $25,500 for the 2007-2008 school year. There is also an activity fee and students purchase their own books. A Kosher Lunch is available for purchase in the school's multipurpose room. The optional senior Israel trip costs an additional amount to be determined every year. A needs-blind grant of $3,000 per year for four years was given to each student entering during the 2007-8 school year. Kehillah awards about 22% of its total gross tuition back to families in the form of needs-based financial aid.
[edit] Post-graduation
Almost all students continue to a 4-year college (over 99%). Some students defer for a year and study or travel in Israel for a year. Students from Kehillah typically go on to attend a range of colleges, including Ivy League universities, the University of California and other well regarded schools. [4]. Kehillah alumni are currently attending such schools as Georgetown University, Stanford University, Smith College, University of Southern California, Boston University and Hamilton College.
[edit] Technology
Kehillah places an emphasis on technology in the classroom. Each classroom has a digital projector installed projecting onto a SMARTBoard.
The school building is covered in a wireless network for student and faculty use.
Kehillah has a Computer Lab with nearly twenty Dell desktop computers, however, due to recent events, the number of laptops has dwindled down to 7.
[edit] JCC
A JCC (Jewish Community Center) is being built across the street from Kehillah Jewish High School. Once complete, in mid-late 2009, it will boast both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a retirement home, a gym, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and many other things that students from the school might have access to.
