The Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles (abbreviated YULA, pronounced ) is a

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or parochial school, parochial schools primaril ...

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish high school founded in 1979 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. It has no affiliation with

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

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 ...

. The school is financially independent of and separately incorporated from the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

, despite their juxtaposition.May, Meyer H. (Rabbi and Executive director of the

).
Rabbi Hier
" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. September 2, 1990. Retrieved on January 11, 2016.

History

YULA was proposed by Rabbi Marvin Hier in 1977 along with a center to honor

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was a history of the Jews in Austria, Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He surviv ...

, shortly before he and his family arrived in Los Angeles. YULA was intended to be an affiliate of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

offering secondary and tertiary education, but ultimately, it became solely a high school. As time passed, the Los Angeles Orthodox Jewish community perceived that Hier had placed more attention on developing the Wiesenthal Center, as opposed to the educational center.Teitelbaum, Sheldon and Tom Waldman. "The Unorthodox Rabbi : By Invoking the Holocaust and Bullying the Establishment, Marvin Hier Has Made The Simon Wiesenthal Center the Most Visible Jewish Organization in the World." ''

''. July 15, 1990. p
6
Retrieved on January 17, 2016. "Their fears were well-grounded--the school never evolved into a full-scale affiliate of Yeshiva University in New York. Today, YULA is, in essence, a high school." The school was ultimately founded in 1979. Yeshiva University of Los Angeles purchased a $2.25-million facility for high school classes, located on Robertson Boulevard, in late May 1990. Rabbi Hier had outbid Sephardic Jewish and Sikh organizations for the site. Prior to the purchase, Hier had asked for $5 million in additional federal funding for the Wiesenthal Center. In response, there were serious considerations for establishing a new Orthodox Jewish high school in Los Angeles, and some parents at YULA had threatened to remove their children.

Campuses

YULA has separate campuses for boys and girls within the

Pico-Robertson Pico-Robertson is a relatively densely-populated neighborhood in the Westside of Los Angeles, California, flanked on the north, northeast, and west by Beverly Hills, on the east by Carthay and Mid-City, on the south by Mid-City, Beverlywood and ...

area of

Los Angeles 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' ...

. The campus of the boys' school has 15 classrooms as well as a

Beit Midrash A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knes ...

and a

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

which served as locations for

davening Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...

and assemblies before the COVID-19 pandemic. The campus of the girls' school also has 15 classrooms, as well as two science labs. Boys exterior

Academics

The YULA curriculum is split into general (secular) studies and Judaic studies components, providing both separate and cumulative GPAs for coursework completed. Coursework that is placed as AP or Honors is given a one-point boost on a

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

scale, assigning a score out of 5 instead of 4. This enables students to acquire cumulative or split GPAs greater than or equal to 4.0 without achieving straight "A's." In 2018, YULA offered 13

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

classes.

Composition

Each school has a student body of approximately two hundred students from different areas of Los Angeles. Many students live in the

and

Beverlywood Beverlywood is a neighborhood in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. History Beverlywood was developed in 1940 by Walter H. Leimert, who also developed Leimert Park. The neighborhood consists of 1,354 single family homes, and wa ...

neighborhoods, and in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. The Boys' School has 29 full-time equivalent faculty, while the Girls' School has 36 full-time equivalent faculty.

Student life

Sports

The school assigns teams to compete in basketball (varsity & junior varsity), baseball, fencing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, cross country, flag football, golf, and soccer. In 1997, the school asked the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

(CIF) to move the November cross-country championships to a day other than Saturday; Orthodox Jews would not participate if the competition was held on a Saturday. The initial request was denied, but the school said they planned to file an appeal. In 2009, the boys' basketball team forfeited two games against the Oakwood Gorillas in the CIF Liberty League, because the opposing team had drafted a 17-year-old girl– the all-boys team would violate religious practices by playing organized sports with a girl after their bar mitzvah. Rather than press the issue, as the other team was determined to uphold their

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

right to maintain women members of the team, YULA chose to forfeit the two upcoming games against Oakwood. YULA asked the league to reconsider the forfeitures after an upset win placed them in contention for the playoffs, and shrink their season from 20 games to 18, but the request was denied.

Notable alumni

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...

, American political commentator, columnist, author, radio talk show host, and attorney *

Noam T. Wasserman Noam T. Wasserman is an American academic. He is currently the dean of the Yeshiva University Sy Syms School of Business. Previously, he held the position of professor of clinical entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California and the d ...

, American dean, professor, and academic

References

External links

YULA.org
*Articles about
Yeshiva University High School
at ''

'' {{authority control Jewish day schools in California Jews and Judaism in Los Angeles High schools in Los Angeles Private high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1979 Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States 1979 establishments in California