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Kehillah Jewish High School

Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEH : Kehillah Jewish High School

Kehillah Jewish High School is a dual-education preparatory school located in Palo Alto, California, United States, in the Bay Area. Founded in 2002, Kehillah has increased in size every year since its inception. Currently, thre are 97 students, 27 of whom are seniors. 2006 will be the school's first graduating class. The word kehillah in Hebrew means "community".

Admission

High School shapes young lives forever. Choosing the school that is best suited to guide a young person's quest for knowledge, meaning and identity requires a good deal of homework by prospective students and their parents. We invite you to consider Kehillah Jewish High School: a young, vibrant learning community committed to excellence of mind and character. You will be inspired.

Kehillah Jewish High School welcomes students reflecting the diversity of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish People) who share a common commitment to the exploration of the Jewish Heritage. Kehillah's entrance requirements ensure that each enrolled student is motivated to achieve excellence in learning. While Kehillah's students will reflect diverse individual interests, talents, and abilities, all students must be capable of meeting appropriate grade-level requirements in a challenging academic setting. To this end, applicants are required to submit scores from an approved, nationally-normed, standardized test taken in the 7th or 8th grades, take Kehillah's admissions test, the SSAT, which includes a writing sample test, and submit transcripts from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Applicants will also furnish Kehillah with teacher and administrator recommendations and a written personal statement.

Creating a community that inspires a commitment to learning, deep levels of trust, mutual respect, interpersonal sensitivity and tolerance requires an affirmative commitment to community building on the part of the applicant. Kehillah seeks students who are capable of upholding the Jewish principle of vehavta l're'echa kamocha, which is known as the "Golden Rule" and which, in the school context, means: treat your fellow students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents as you would wish to be treated. 

Case For A Jewish High School

The education of children is the most important responsibility of parents. Today's parents face multiple challenges in this regard. Thoughtful parents demand for their children an education which aims at professional success, ensures mastery of the core curriculum of human culture, promotes the process of lifelong inquiry and study, develops values, and provides cultural and religious instruction, all in an environment which is physically and emotionally safe.


With the decline in California public schools over the past three decades, that system has become even less capable of meeting these educational goals. It is remarkable that while California was once distinguished as a national leader in public education, California now ranks near the bottom position among states in student performance and in dollars spent per student. Facilities are generally aging and crowded beyond their design capacities. Ineffective teachers have proven difficult to replace, while the most inspired teachers often leave to find positions in private schools where students are more motivated, salaries are higher, and where class size is smaller. Colleges and universities are reporting that an increasing number of applying students are poorly prepared for serious college work.


Public and secular independent schools focus on the California curriculum and on academic preparation for college, but not on values, leadership, compassion, and identity. The high school years are an important formative time for students, and the integrated study of values, identity, the characteristics of an admirable life, and the deep familiarity with our people's history is transformative. Public and secular independent schools are incapable of meeting this need.


Jewish day schools present an attractive alternative for those families who increasingly view public schools as less than ideal environments for educating their children. Over the past few decades, the proportion of Jewish children enrolled in public schools has declined from over 90% to only 65%. Both secular independent school and Jewish day school enrollments have risen, but enrollment at Jewish day schools has risen dramatically.


Within the last 30 years, day school enrollment has burgeoned throughout the United States. The number of children attending supplementary Jewish schools (after school and weekend) has fallen from about 550,000 to 270,000, while the number enrolled in full-time Jewish day schools has tripled, from about 70,000 to 200,000.


There are now 700 Jewish day schools (full-day schools that combine secular and Jewish studies) in the United States. Among those children receiving some Jewish education, fully 37% of them are doing so in the context of a Jewish day school. The National Jewish Population Survey (2000) reported that 23% of people aged 18-34 attended a day school, and that 29% of those aged 6-17 are enrolled or were enrolled full time in day school. These percentages are two to three times higher than in older age groups.


Jewish day schools appeal to many Jewish families who have become disillusioned with after-school supplementary Hebrew and religious education. This is so because the supplementary schools are perceived by many to have failed in their task of producing graduates who are even minimally knowledgeable as Jews. In part, this is due to ever-decreasing numbers of hours of study required by supplementary schools: the average 12 hours required in the early part of the 20th century generally has been reduced to 4-6 hours weekly, especially as other extracurricular activities compete for children's time. Also, very qualified teachers willing to work for such limited hours are hard to find. Hence, parents who might have elected to send their children to secular public or independent schools with after-school supplementary education in Judaism are now opting in increasing numbers to send their children to all-day Jewish schools. What might have been a barrier to the growth of Jewish day schools is the traditional unwillingness on the part of American Jews to show "national disloyalty" by removing themselves from the public schools. In fact, this attitude appears largely to have disappeared in light of modern generations' security regarding their integration into American civic life. Melting Pot is a dated ideal; it has given way to the ideal of diversity and mutual respect. For at least 30 years, American Jewish scholars have successfully documented that children who graduate from Jewish day schools enter mainstream American universities, graduate schools, careers, and culture with great ease and success.


Jewish day schools seem to be proving their effectiveness not only in graduating students well able to compete for limited positions at colleges, universities, and yeshivot, but also in graduating students who emerge with a significant body of Jewish literacy. This strong foundation of competency in Jewish text, history, and philosophy translates into preservation of Jewish identity and commitment.


In light of the more concentrated Judaic curriculum offered by day schools, it is not the least bit surprising that study after study has concluded that graduates of full-time day schools are more than twice as likely as graduates of supplementary schools to marry Jewish partners, to join synagogues, to observe Jewish rituals, Shabbat, and holidays, and to become involved members of the Jewish community upon reaching adulthood (1990 National Jewish Population Survey, Avi Chai Foundation Report, 1993; Federation CJA, 1989, to name but two). These statistics in turn serve to encourage parents fearful of their children's assimilation, intermarriage, and abandonment of Jewish tradition to consider the day school alternative.


For the first time in our long history, we are all Jews by choice. And education is a necessary precondition to choice.


We as Jews have an opportunity to give our children familiarity with our cultural treasures, at that important time in a child's development when identity is formed. Our children will find context and meaning that will provide lifetime guidance and inspiration.












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