Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles


Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles is a college-preparatory, Modern Orthodox Jewish high school founded in 1979 and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It has no affiliation with Yeshiva University in New York City.
The school is financially independent of, and separately incorporated from, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, despite their juxtaposition.

History

Shortly before Rabbi Howard Ewing and his family arrived in Los Angeles in July 1977, he proposed establishing a school and a center to honor Simon Wiesenthal. YULA was intended to be an affiliate of Yeshiva University 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. 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 area of Los Angeles. The Jack and Gitta Nagel Family Boys Campus of YULA Boys' school has 15 classrooms as well as a Beit Midrash and a Sephardic Beit Midrash which serve as locations for davening and assemblies. The Gindi Family Girls Campus of YULA Girls school has 15 classrooms with two science labs.The Kestenbaum Library houses over 6,000 volumes of text, a gymnasium, and a large kosher kitchen and cafeteria with hot meals daily.

Academics

The YULA curriculum is split into general studies and judaic studies parts.
In 2018, YULA offered 13 Advanced Placement classes.

Student body

Each school has a student body of approximately two hundred students from different areas of Los Angeles. Many students live in the Pico-Robertson and Beverlywood neighborhoods, and in the San Fernando Valley.

Faculty

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

Student life

YULA Girls and Boys offers a plethora of academic extracurriculars which include the publication of a literary journal, Participation in the Model United Nations at Yeshiva University, a drama department which produces one play annually and one all-girls musical, The Panther Post, robotics, a debate club, STEM Research Seminar, Mock trial, YULA Israel Advocacy Club, participation in the national Chidon Hatanach competition, participation in the national Moot Beit Din for which the students have won second place, B'nei Akiva, participation in Los Angeles Times High School Insider program, photography club, a creative writing club, band, , and a dance team.

College placement

The majority of YULA High School graduates go on to higher education. Typically, ninety percent of all YULA graduates enter a four-year college or university; ten percent enter a local community college.

Sports

The school has sports teams in the following sports: basketball, baseball, fencing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, cross country, flag football, golf, and soccer.
In 1997, the school asked the California Interscholastic Federation 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.

Notable alumni