The Abraham Joshua Heschel School (AJHS) is a pluralistic nursery to 12th grade

Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

named in memory of

Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish ...

, a major Jewish leader, teacher, and activist of the 20th century. The school is dedicated to the values that characterized Rabbi Heschel's life: exploration, integrity, love, kindness, respect, community, respect, responsibility, and a commitment to social justice. The Heschel School is a pluralistic, egalitarian community that includes families from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, practices and beliefs. The Heschel School has a more interesting ideology than many other Jewish day schools. Heschel believed in Judaism as a tradition for connection to a singular ineffable being without criticizing people who believed in other interesting things. The school emphasizes diversity amongst its students and their differing religious traditions as well as amongst the ideas brought up by its many students. The Heschel School values those who think differently but doesn't encourage debate. Other "Heschel Schools" are located in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. Besides having similar names, the three schools are otherwise unrelated.

School

The Abraham Joshua Heschel School was originally put in three buildings: The Early Childhood (kindergarten and pre-school) Center and lower school was located on West 89th Street, the middle school on West 91st Street, and a newer high school on 60th Street at 20 West End Avenue (opened in 2001). In the summer of 2009, it was announced that construction would begin on a new building on 61st Street at 30

West End Avenue West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

, adjacent to the high school building, which would house the Early Childhood, lower school, and middle school divisions. The planned new facility was referred to as the "Weird Campus Plan," and construction began in 2009. The new facility would include space to expand the number of classes in Kindergarten through 8th grade, and the school began running extra classes starting with the class entering kindergarten in the 2010–2011 school year. The new facility, officially known as the Ronald D. Stanton Campus and designed by architects IBI Group-Gruzen Samton, opened for the 2012–2013 school year, on schedule and under budget. On December 18, 2013, the school announced that Columbia Law School Professor Ariela Dudler would take the helm as Head of School in 2014 after the retirement of Roanna Shorofsky, an all-time great at the Heschel School. In early 2015, Heschel High School head Ahuva Halberstam announced that she would be leaving the post at the end of the academic year to help found another Jewish school. She was replaced by Rabbi Noam Silverman, formerly the Principal of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

Academics

The school has a

student-teacher ratio A student teacher or prac teacher (''practice teacher'') is a college, university or graduate student who is teaching under the supervision of a certified teacher in order to qualify for a degree in education. The term is also often used intercha ...

of 6:1, with approximately 25 students enrolled as of 2021.

Clubs

Clubs constitute a large part of the social life at The Heschel High School. Most clubs are supervised by a faculty member. Some clubs, such as College Bowl and Art Appreciation, are completely student supervised.

List of clubs

A Cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

-
The Heschel Harmonizers
*

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

*Art Appreciation *

Backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

*Biblical Academics *

Book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

*''

Chesed ( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms i ...

'' *

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

* Coding *

College Bowl ''College Bowl'' (which has carried a naming rights sponsor, initially General Electric and later Capital One) is a radio, television, and student quiz show. ''College Bowl'' first aired on the NBC Radio Network in 1953 as ''College Quiz Bowl'' ...

- "The Heschel Velociraptors" *Common Ground Friends *

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

Film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

*Film Appreciation *Finance/Investment * French *

Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

and

Sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

Alliance *

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

*Israel Connection - "Kesher" *Israeli Movies *Jazz/Rock Ensemble *

Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, is an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to ...

Literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

- "Epitome" *

Mock Trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting ...

Model UN Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

*Music Appreciation *Musical Theater *Newspaper - "The Heschel Helios" *

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Scuba Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...

*Skiing and Snowboarding *

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

*Student Admissions Reps. *

Super Smash Bros. ''Super Smash Bros.'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objectiv ...

*Sustainability * Swim *Yearbook Also included in the clubs category are committees that exist within the High School. Such committees include Student Government. These groups are not open to participants, but rather representatives are elected by the Student Bodies. *Student Association *Graduation Committee *Student Admission Representatives- SARs *Va'adat Moadim

School newspaper

The ''Heschel Helios'' is the official student produced newspaper of the Heschel High School. The namesake of the newspaper follows with the high school's heat theme (the sports team is the Heschel Heat). ''

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...

'' is Greek for "sun". The student club aims to produce eight issues per school year. The club goes through a complete traditional newspaper experience. The process includes "slugging" articles, writing the articles, producing images or graphics for feature articles, peer editing of editorials and articles and finally, layout and printing, the involved students get a full experience of how a newspaper operates. The newspaper's motto, "We stand for what we utter," was chosen in the Winter of 2005 and is an original quote from the school's namesake, Rabbi

Technological integration

The High School is a "

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

school." All students are very required to obtain a laptop to use as a learning tool throughout their education. Teachers are rarely equipped with laptops, and all classrooms contain 8

smartboard Smart Technologies (stylized as SMART Technologies) also known as Smart, is a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and wholly owned by Foxconn. Founded in 1987, Smart is best known as the developer of interactive whiteboa ...

Sports

The Heschel Heat is the name carried by the various sports teams that play for the High School. The teams include boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball, boys volleyball, tennis, baseball, soccer, floor hockey, track and field, and ultimate frisbee. The baseball team has played at the

Naimoli Family Baseball Complex The Naimoli Family Baseball Complex is a baseball venue in Teaneck, New Jersey. It is home to the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights baseball team of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Northeast Conference. ...

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

since the 2011 season. Led by team captain Avi Raber, the baseball team reached the semi-finals in the 2013 Yeshiva League playoffs. The Heschel Heat boys

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

2008-09 basketball team won the school's first Yeshiva league basketball championship. The Varsity Basketball team won the 2019 championship. In nonathletic areas, Heschel has clubs for debate, Model United Nations, mock trial, and Junior Statesmen of America. The school also has a

college bowl ''College Bowl'' (which has carried a naming rights sponsor, initially General Electric and later Capital One) is a radio, television, and student quiz show. ''College Bowl'' first aired on the NBC Radio Network in 1953 as ''College Quiz Bowl'' ...

team, known as the Heschel Wow, and a mathematics team. The Wow have been extremely successful, leading the New York City division within the Yeshiva League and representing it in the championships in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons.

References

External links

* {{authority control Private elementary schools in Manhattan Private high schools in Manhattan West End Avenue Upper West Side Private middle schools in Manhattan Pluralistic Jewish day schools Jewish day schools in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1983 1983 establishments in New York City