Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles
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Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles (YULA) is a college-preparatory Orthodox Jewish high school in Los Angeles, California. YULA includes separate campuses for boys and girls; both are located within the Pico-Robertson district of the city. Each school has a student body of approximately two hundred, with students hailing from various areas of Los Angeles. A good deal of students reside in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, while others live in the Fairfax District and the San Fernando Valley. Despite the name, YULA is not currently affiliated with Yeshiva University in New York City. The boys' campus is, however, loosely affiliated with The Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, which is located nearby.
As of 2007, the Girls' School principal is Rabbi Yosef Furman. The Boys' School principal is Rabbi Heshey Glass. The girls' and boys' new General Studies director is Dr. Michael Parmer.
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[edit] The Dual Curriculum
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Students at YULA partake in what is known as a dual curriculum. As such, the learning day is split in to two parts. One part is devoted to the general studies such as history, mathematics, science, and English, while the other part of the day is devoted to Judaic studies. YULA offers its students a number of Advanced Placement courses, including AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP European History, AP United States History and AP Art. The advanced curriculum of YULA facilitates student acceptances to the most prestigious universities and yeshivas in the world.
Former headmaster Rabbi Dovid Landesman was recently replaced by principal Glass. Rabbi Landesman went to a new all-boys, Orthodox Jewish high school Esh Tamid, after leaving very recently due to differing opinions of the proper way the school should run and its main philosophy as well as the role of the principal in general. Rabbi Dovid Landesman was and remains today one of the most accomplished and influential Rabbis ever to have held a position in YULA.
The YULA Boys has the AGT, or advanced Gemara Track, led by Rav Nachum Sauer, head of the Kollel of Los Angeles.
The girls' Torah studies classes are divided into three levels, or tracks; A, AE (Advanced Accelerated) and C (Honors).Students in the C Track are rewarded 1 point extra on their GPA. The AE track is rewarded .3 points.
[edit] YULA Athletics
YULA competes against other schools in basketball, baseball, cross-country track, tennis, soccer, volleyball and flag football. Its teams are called the Panthers. The YULA Panthers have won Yeshiva University Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament more times than any other school. They defeated ICJA this past year, 2007, in the championship game.
[edit] Staff and Faculty
The teachers and staff at YULA are from both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds. Some of the foremost educators at the high school, both secular and religious, have been there for over a decade; others have written numerous influential works in their fields. Dr. Paul Soifer, Ph.D. in Russian history and former president of a valley branch of the JCC (the Jewish Community Center) has written numerous volumes of "Cliffsnotes" for AP examinations in the fields of Government and US History (various volumes written in conjunction with coauthor Abraham Hoffman), as well as "Soviet Jewish folkloristics and ethnography: An institutional history, 1918-1948 (Working papers in Yiddish and East European Jewish studies)". Dr. Soifer is famous at YULA for chucking pen caps at students when they are insolent or give incorrect answers in class. Ms. Janice Frew, a longstanding faculty member, was recently honored for her academic tenure of over ten years teaching at YULA. She has been teaching English for over twenty years, and previously taught at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica. Students at YULA often regard her class, and it's unique approach to literature through a study of symbolism, as one of the most challenging and inspiring at the school. Bluma Drebin was awarded the Milken Award of Education and given a $10,000 award.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Judah Siegal (Class of '04); Editor of UPenn Economics Review
Ben Shapiro (Early Graduation in '00); Author of "Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth" and "Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future", and political columnist
Reb Dovid(Class of 1965) : President of Harvard law, graduated magna cum laude class of 1973 Yale Law.As well, has published 2 books, and is an expert authority in practical Jewish literature.
Sharyar Mangoli(Class of 1969) : Dean of admission at Persian International School of Study. Has a master in persian architecture and is now aquiring a P.H.D in Former Underground Caves of Kannas.(the persian capital)
