Eighth graders get a taste of HALB’s high schools

The boys’ and girls’ high schools of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach each welcomed incoming eighth graders to their campuses last week. The soon-to-be elementary school graduates experienced a day in the life of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls and the Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys. Each school supplied a report.

SKA

A record-breaking number of eighth graders from elementary schools throughout the metropolitan area got a taste last Thursday of what their high school experience at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls would be like. 

SKA student ambassadors offered aspiring high schoolers a glimpse of what some of what SKA has to offer, along with the warmth and energy it projects. Head of School Helen Spirn, Grades 10–11 Principal Raizi Chechik, Associate Grade 9 Principal Elana Flaumenhaft, Associate Grade 12 Principal Deena Kobre and Admission Liaison Lisa Fogel personally greeted each of the girls they had met during the interview process and open house.

After refreshments, the eighth graders heard from ninth grade SKA student panelists who answered questions about the school and discussed their own experiences there. The SKA students described what it’s like to enter a new school, sometimes coming alone from a grade school, and how welcome they were made to feel. Each panelist mentioned how eager everyone was to make new friends and how hard the administration and faculty worked to make them feel comfortable and cared for. 

“Don’t think you’re the only one who’s nervous,” one panelist said. “Everyone who comes is open to meeting new people and freshman retreat the first week of school is a great place to start.”

The eighth graders had the opportunity to choose elective classes and student workshops in which they would like to participate, giving them the opportunity to experience the creative classes and programming available at SKA. A gift pack and special SKA cookies given out at the close were a tasty reminder of the day.

DRS

The Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys hosted over 140 prospective eighth grade applicants from 15 different elementary schools last Wednesday, providing them with a chance to experience what it’s like to be a DRS student for a day.

Throughout the day, the students — who came from YCQ, HANC, Har Torah, South Shore, Yeshiva Ketana, HAFTR, HALB, Derech HaTorah and other schools — were warmly greeted by administrators and student leaders. Each visiting student received a personal schedule for their day. They had an opportunity to study Gemarah on a high school level in Rabbi Kaminetsky’s shiur, practice creative writing techniques in Mrs. Wellner and Ms. Foster’s English class, solve and prove mind-bending mathematics tricks in a math class with Ms. Flynn and Mr. Weinstein, dissect the inner workings of contemporary p’sak halacha in Rabbi Farber’s shiur, and meet and ask questions of Rabbi Storch and Dr. Kirshenbaum.

Following a Carlos and Gabbys, the students tasted DRS’s extracurricular activities and participated in a multimedia trivia game challenging them in a range of subject areas.