HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM GUIDE 2026-2027
Abraham Joshua Heschel School is an independent Jewish day school named in memory of one of the great Jewish leaders, teachers, and activists of the 20th century and dedicated to the values that characterized Rabbi Heschel’s life: intellectual exploration, integrity, love of the Jewish people and tradition, 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. Boys and girls, men and women participate equally in all aspects of the school’s religious, intellectual, and communal life. The Heschel School regards the texts of the Jewish tradition and the history of the Jewish people as fundamental resources for developing ideas, beliefs, behaviors, and values to shape and inspire the lives of individuals in our time. In an open and engaging academic setting, the school’s curriculum interweaves the best of both Jewish and general knowledge and culture throughout the school day. The school’s approach to education is governed by profound respect for students. It nurtures their curiosity, cultivates their imagination, encourages creative expression, values their initiative, and engenders critical thinking skills. The school is committed to the development of the whole child and supports each student’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual growth. In addition, the school seeks to create an environment that encourages the professional and personal growth of teachers, administrators, and staff. Among the central goals of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School are the following: • Fostering a lifelong love of learning. The school seeks to develop the understanding that the discovery of personal meaning and the growth of individual identity can emerge from the rigors of study. • Creating an environment of intellectual challenge and academic excellence. • Creating an ethical learning community that inspires its students to become responsible, active, compassionate citizens, and leaders in the Jewish and world communities. • Cultivating the spiritual lives of its students and the nurturing of their commitment to Jewish values. The school helps students learn about and respect a range of Jewish practices and encourages them to embody these traditions in the way they live their lives; students learn the skills that enable them to participate fully in Jewish life. • Building of bridges between different sectors of the Jewish community, and between the Jewish community and other communities, as expressions of our religious imperative to unite human beings through justice, shared humanity, and mutual respect. • Fostering in its students a deep commitment to and a lifelong relationship with the State of Israel and its language, culture and people, in recognition of the centrality of the State of Israel to Jewish identity and to the Jewish people.
HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM GUIDE 2026-2027 TABLE OF CONTENTS ENGLISH....................................................................................................................................................................4 SOCIAL STUDIES .................................................................................................................................8 MATHEMATICS.........................................................................................................13 SCIENCE.........................................................................................................17 COMPUTER SCIENCE .........................................................................................................................21 LIMUDEI QODESH (Jewish Studies) .................................................................................................22 HEBREW.............................................................................................................................28 WORLD LANGUAGES
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ELECTIVES .........................................................................................................................................32 PHYSICAL EDUCATION ....................................................................................................................39
ENGLISH The English program at The Heschel School is predicated on our core belief that students will live better, richer, and more meaningful lives if they do so in the company of great literature. People have always used story-telling to reflect upon and wrestle with experience. By putting our students in conversation with stories, as well as poems, plays, essays, and texts of all sorts, from the ancient to the modern, we help them to uncover the breadth of human experience and invite them to examine themselves and their world in ever new ways. Classes are conducted as seminar-style discussions that encourage and reward close reading, teaching students that how they read is as important as what they read. In each year, core classical texts are placed in conversation with contemporary works. Writing is as central to the curriculum as reading. Assignments vary because written work not only reflects but also shapes the thinking that students do. Focused free-writing allows students to explore established ideas and discover their own. Short, frequent analytical paragraphs hone their skills in making an argument and supporting it with evidence from a text. In formal essays, students sculpt and shape their own ideas with the rigor and logical flow needed to engage an external audience. All English classes also incorporate a range of creative writing assignments that spring from the literature. For example, by imitating Tim O’Brien’s style, writing in the voice of Holden Caulfield, or reworking parts of Homer’s epic from a modern perspective, students develop their own voices and experience the thrill of creating original work. Each year, students also study grammar and vocabulary, strengthening their basic writing skills. Sharing their writing with others in class publications encourages rigor and helps to create community. Our aim in all classroom activities is to inspire a love of language, to develop the ability to think deeply about the complexities of human relationships and experience, and to foster passionate, sophisticated readers, writers, and young adults.
ENGLISH 9: EXILE AND RETURN The ninth grade curriculum centers around themes of exile and return. Students consider the trajectory of the journey, the qualities of the hero (ranging from Odysseus to Holden Caulfield), and the literal and metaphorical meaning of leaving and returning home. Throughout the year, we emphasize close reading and basic writing skills. Writing assignments include informal free-writes, short passage analyses which reinforce and hone the close reading skills fostered in discussions, formal essays, and creative writing assignments based upon the literature. Grammar and vocabulary study are integrated into writing instruction throughout the year. Core Texts: The Odyssey, Homer; The Tempest or Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare; The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger Additional works may include: When the Emperor was Divine, Julie Otsuka; Maus, Art Spiegelman; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon; Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
ENGLISH 10: SELF AND THE OTHER In the tenth grade year, students move from a broad consideration of the archetypal journey and of the hero to an examination of the private self and the connection between this self and the broader community. Students continue to develop and deepen their close reading skills. Writing assignments are similar in form to those of the ninth grade year, but students are expected to demonstrate greater sophistication and mastery of form in their work.
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Core texts: Macbeth, William Shakespeare; Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe or Frankenstein, Mary Shelley; Medea, Euripides Additional selections may include: Persepolis, Marji SatrapI; Lord of the Flies, William Golding; The Prince of Los Cocuyos, Richard Blanco; The Chosen, Chaim Potok; selected short stories, including works by Louise Erdrich, Amy Tan, John Steinbeck, Sandra Cisneros and others.
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ENGLISH 11: AMERICAN LITERATURE The eleventh grade year focuses on American literature. Students explore the ways in which American authors from many diverse backgrounds reflect upon and shape American experience in both the content and form of their works. The course ponders the questions of what it means to be an American in the 21st century, and further hones students’ abilities as careful readers and skilled creative and analytical writers. Work on grammar and vocabulary continues throughout the year. Core Texts: The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien; essay selections from Emerson, Thoreau, Baldwin, Solnit, and others; The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald; Sula, Toni Morrison; a poetry selection, including Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and many other contemporary poets Additional selections may include: There There, Tommy Orange; The Round House, Louise Erdrich; The Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller; The Laramie Project, Moises Kaufman; A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
HONORS SEMINARS Beyond the course offerings listed above, the English department offers weekly Honors seminars in tenth and eleventh grades to a limited group of students who wish to engage in additional study of highly challenging texts. There is an application process for these courses. In tenth grade, one seminar is offered:
POETRY FOR LIFE: This seminar offers exploration of poems old and contemporary, in English and in translation, that capture human experiences and emotions in all of their depth and complexity. In addition to discussing the poems and writing short responses, students will try their hand at writing some poetry, which will be submitted to the school literary magazine. In eleventh grade, two seminars are offered:
THE AMERICAN HERO: In this seminar, we explore the idea of the (specifically American) heroic figure in a series of novels, including Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, John Proctor in The Crucible, Huckleberry Finn, and Randall McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Students will respond to these texts by answering reading questions and participating in discussion boards throughout the year, as well as submitting some deep-dive written work.
AMERICAN THEATER:
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Seminal American plays of the last 100 years are the focus of this seminar, where students will engage in weekly analytical writing and discussion about such pioneering works as Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. Many plays will be studied over the course of the year, giving a broad view of styles and voices, including perspectives on Jewish-American identity (Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews), AfricanAmerican identity (Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun), and the lives of those hoping to become Americans (Sanaz Toossi’s English).
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GRADE 12 ELECTIVES: The senior elective program at The Heschel School offers a wide variety of options that our English teachers themselves design, based on their own passions and interests; it is a chance for both students and teachers to explore in-depth an important theme through the lens of wonderful ancient, modern, and contemporary works of literature.
THE SILENCED SPEAK Stories are part of our daily lives. They are present in the anecdotes we share with family and friends, in the shows and films we watch, and in the books we read. Stories are the way we make sense of ourselves and the world we live in. Yet, have you ever stopped to think about which stories find their way into print, film, onto the stage? Whose stories become a “classic” and preserved? From time immemorial, people have told stories, but societies have not always made room for the voices of those not part of the dominant or “mainstream” political, social, or cultural fabric in their communities. Often, people in these marginalized groups did not (or do not) have the same rights, privileges, and social distinction as those in power. In this class, we will read texts that provide us with voices often sidelined, whether due to gender, religion, class, or race. The characters are complicated, their narratives intimate, and their relationship with others illuminate their diverse perspectives. Their stories will not only help us see the world through their experiences, but they will also challenge us to examine our own biases and values, as well as the historical and current realities in which the narrative takes place. Our minds will be opened, our hearts will be touched, and our lives will be enriched because the silenced will speak. Possible Texts/Films include: Beloved, Toni Morrison; Buddha in the Attic, Julia Otsuka; Disgraced, Ayad Akhtar; Doubt (play and film), John Patrick Shaney; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen; Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan; Woman Talking (film) Sarah Polley; Selected poems, short stories and essays; Circe, Madeline Miller; Girl Meets Boy, Ali Smith; How Beautiful We Were, Imbolo Mbue; The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa
MERCY, VENGEANCE, JUSTICE Humans have an innate sense of fairness and just treatment, and a visceral reaction to perceived injustice, whether that occurs within our families, communities, or nations. Writers from across ages and continents have examined this essential concept of justice, exploring revenge, inaction, forgiveness and redemption as a range of responses to wrongdoing and injustice. In this course we will investigate, through the lens of literature, the tensions between justice and mercy, vengeance and absolution, and the ways in which characters negotiate these opposing ideas; we will seek to address the vexed questions of what true justice is, and whether fallible humans ever achieve it. In the process, we will work towards articulating an understanding of the concept of justice, for ourselves and for our own society. Possible texts include: Agamemnon, Aeschylus/Ted Hughes; Hamlet or Othello, William Shakespeare; Beloved or A Mercy, Toni Morrison; The Stranger, Albert Camus; Watchmen (graphic novel), Moore, Gibbons, Higgins; Do the Right Thing (film), Spike Lee; In Cold Blood, Capote; Shakespeare Behind Bars (documentary), Hank Rogerson; The Central Park Five, Sarah Burns; The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore; A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest P Gaines
MORAL DILEMMAS IN LITERATURE
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What does it mean to live well as human beings? What are our duties to ourselves and to others? On what grounds can we make decisions about right and wrong? This course seeks to awaken the tacit ethical convictions by which we live our lives. We will read literature that explores characters’ moral deliberations in the midst of complex circumstances, while also looking at excerpts of philosophical texts that have deeply shaped ethical discourse in the West. By grappling with the moral dilemmas faced by the characters we encounter, we will debate the merits and limitations of the popular ethical frameworks that aim to help us reason about which course of action to take. Ultimately we will reflect on the individual and collective responsibilities entailed by being part of a common world. Possible texts include: Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie; Antigone, Sophocles; Hamlet, William Shakespeare; Beware of Pity, Stefan Zweig; Nemesis, Philip Roth; All My Sons, Arthur Miller; Judas, Amos Oz; Address Unknown, Kathrine Kressmann Taylor; The Children Act, Ian McEwan; An American Marriage, Tayari Jones; Reunion, Fred Uhlman
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BEING HUMAN: THE INFLUENCES THAT SHAPE US Humans are complicated. What seems commonplace to one might send another into a panic. What shapes our perceptions, our values, our fears and joys? What drives us to make choices – not just the major life-changing ones, but the small, everyday ones that make us who we are? Both consciously and subconsciously we are influenced by our families, peers, and other relationships, by the society and culture we are born into, as well as our own genetics. We are shaped not just by our experiences, but by the stories we tell ourselves and the meaning we create from those experiences. Literature can teach us to better understand human nature and the world we inhabit. Through novels, plays, short stories, and films, we will explore the human experience. We will study and discuss in order to better understand and gain empathy for each other and ourselves. Possible texts include: Othello, William Shakespeare; The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan; Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon; Steel Magnolias, Robert Harling; Brooklyn, Colm Toibin; Abuela, Don’t Forget Me, Rex Ogle (memoir/poetry) Fiddler On the Roof, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock (musical); My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok; A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith; Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card; Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel; Selected short stories
THE MODERN AGE IN VERSE Poetry has always been of its times. In this course, we’ll explore how poetry and individual poets react to and reflect the literary, social, and political movements of modern history (WWI to the present). We’ll also closely examine the ways in which poets achieve their poetic intentions through the application of particular skills of form and figurative language, among others. Students will develop the skills with which to read poetry and also to write poetry of their own. In this class, students read, write, and enjoy poetry; some of the work will be done with a view to sharing research and insights with the class in presentations. We will be reading poets in the contexts of their times and will write about their poems with these contexts in mind. Different groups of poets will be the subject of intensive study through different movements: the Modernists, the Harlem Renaissance, Poems of War and Social Change, Confessional Poetry, and the poetry of the Post-Moderns, Beats, and Contemporaries. In the course of the semester, students will produce both a portfolio of their favorite works by existing poets and a portfolio of new work written by themselves and their classmates. Possible texts include: XX: Poems for the 20th Century, Campbell McGrath; The Education of a Young Poet, David Biespiel; The Discovery of Poetry, Francis Mayes; Selected poems, readings, videos, and song lyrics
The great artists—writers, painters, musicians, and filmmakers—have all borrowed and stolen from those who came before them. Are their new works homage, riffs, or attempts to expand a canon? Some artists talk back to a single work, while others interrogate an entire genre. But when is adaptation an act of empowerment, and when is it appropriation? Perhaps it’s just outright theft! This course will examine a wide range of artistic output and the spinoffs they have spawned to learn how works of art are in constant conversation across time, place and cultural/racial/ gender divides. From Langston Hughes’ “I, Too,” a poetic response to Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” to Jean Rhys’ 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea, a postcolonial, feminist prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre, literary responses can bring forth new points of view even as they uncover old schisms. We will consider the work of such visual artists as Andy Warhol and Amy Sherald, and musicians Pharell Williams and Marvin Gaye, as well as myths, fairy tales, Torah stories, and even fan fiction, and superhero franchises, as we tackle notions of commercialization, intertextuality, copyright, and public domain. Ultimately, we will craft a taxonomy of adaptation and interrogate who gets to retell stories, why, and how A.I. might change the entire equation. Possible texts include: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte; The Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys; The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler and Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosly; Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Into the Woods (musical), James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim; A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry and Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris; Erasure, Percival Everett; a selection of film adaptations, art pieces, and music. -7-
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THE STORIES WE RETELL: ADAPTATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
SOCIAL STUDIES A liberal education encourages students to shape their individual identities and formulate their own values, and gives them the tools and confidence to act on those values. The study of history and pursuit of its allied disciplines are critical elements of that education. In our program, students are asked to engage with thinkers from antiquity to the present day and from all stations in life—to listen respectfully to their ideas, wrestle with them, and then embrace, modify, or reject them. To do so effectively, they learn to approach these figures and their ideas within the political, social, religious, and other contexts in which they lived. At the same time, students become better informed about the issues and challenges facing our own society, and draw parallels, where appropriate, between past and present. Recognizing the fundamental tension in teaching and learning history between covering facts and developing historical habits of mind, the Social Studies program emphasizes the analytical and reflective. Teachers do not simply present students with facts, but guide them toward interpretation. Like professional historians, students work foremost with primary sources, a range of documents, artifacts, music, and works of art. Primary sources operate in tandem with secondary readings, the first providing vivid, tangible examples, and the latter offering context. Students learn to question all sources by examining any biases or agendas of their creators. Skills learned in this discipline, including the ability to assess evidence, and to judge the merits of conflicting accounts and interpretations, are applicable to many fields of study and work.
GRADE 9 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: THE ATLANTIC WORLD DURING THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS This course focuses on societies in Europe and North America in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. The class takes a comparative approach to intellectual, religious, technological, and political developments on both sides of the Atlantic that produced revolutions in the US, France, and Haiti. Students explore the interconnected causes and effects of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions. Students also examine how Jews were viewed and treated as these changes took place, as well as Jewish responses to changes within the majority cultures. Some key questions guiding our studies are: Why did the stable world of monarchy and Church of the 16th-17th centuries in Europe and its colonies evolve into the upheaval of revolutions that changed the relationships between peoples and their governments? How did the ideas of the Enlightenment challenge the sovereignty of the monarch and define the role of the modern state? The course focuses on developing the skills of historical inquiry through the analysis of documents, objects, and images, and the construction of historical arguments.
GRADE 10: THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY: This course builds on the ninth grade study of changes in the 16th through 18th centuries, taking a comparative approach to technological, social, intellectual, and political developments on both sides of the Atlantic during the 19th century. Industrialization and its impact on labor, economics, social relations, and the environment serve as the overarching focus of the course.
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Several overlapping themes guide this study: the growth of an increasingly secularized society, the development of modern nation-states, the emergence of new political ideologies, and the central role of liberal economics. Students also discuss contemporary issues, relating them to the historical themes of the course, in student-led current events sessions. The research and writing skills involved in writing the research paper – identifying reliable sources, taking notes, developing a thesis, outlining, drafting, and revising – receive significant attention.
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GRADE 10 SOCIAL STUDIES HONORS SEMINAR: UNDERSTANDING RACE IN THE UNITED STATES In this honors seminar, students deepen their understanding of how race has been constructed as a concept and how it has evolved in the U.S. in the 20th and 21st centuries. We focus primarily on the contemporary experience of people of color by reading a range of articles, through seminar-style discussion and writing. Students read works – including full-length books by James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates, and poetry by female poets of color. Students are encouraged to learn to listen to other voices, especially when those voices express opinions that are unfamiliar or cause discomfort. Participants in the seminar are exposed to ways in which issues of Whiteness and Blackness permeate American society and how to identify privileges and prejudices. America may not be a racist society, but it is certainly a racial society; the more students are conscious of the implications of this reality, the easier it is for them to understand the complexities of race in today’s society.
GRADE 10 SOCIAL STUDIES HONOR SEMINAR - ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY HISTORY: The long nineteenth century witnessed the birth of countless new artistic movements. This seminar will focus on training students to more deeply analyze artistic media as historical sources. We will examine work ranging from paintings to literature to poetry, allowing the seminar to also serve as a history of artistic expression in the Atlantic World from 1800 through World War I. As a group, we will try to understand how a diversity of historical actors have turned to the arts as a way to express their ideas in different historical moments and how the arts help us to understand how people made sense of the major transformations of the long nineteenth century. Through a combination of secondary source readings from scholars, primary source readings and images from historical actors, and weekly out of class writing, students hone their skills as sophisticated interpreters of cultural history.
GRADE 11 TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY: CREATING CONTEMPORARY WORLD ORDER DURING THE SHORT 20TH CENTURY While in the ninth and tenth grades students explore the emergence of liberal politics and economics in the Atlantic World, in eleventh grade they examine how World War I and the Great Depression fundamentally challenged faith in nineteenth-century liberalism and led to the rise of three alternatives—communism in the Soviet Union, fascism in Germany, and the re-imagined liberalism of the New Deal in the United States. Students also examine how and why both the Nazi and the Soviet regimes collapsed. They conclude the course by wrestling with new threats to the liberal international order built largely by the United States and its allies. As a critical component of this larger story, students also follow the history of the Jewish people and Zionism, including ways the Allied victory in 1918 helped to make a Jewish homeland possible; the culmination of modern anti-Semitism in the Holocaust; Israel’s War of Independence; and the impact of Cold War politics on Israel. Students also discuss contemporary issues, relating them to the historical themes of the course, in student-led current events sessions. Students undertake a major research paper with a focus on primary source analysis and contextualization.
GRADE 11 SOCIAL STUDIES Honors Seminar: Moral Choice and State Action in the Twentieth Century This seminar pushes students to engage in a richer study of complex themes from the eleventh grade history curriculum on the 20th century. In preparation for a given week, students might read articles by historians such as Daniel Immerwahr or view a documentary about the role of Wernher von Braun and other ex-Nazis in the space race. In addition, members of the seminar will devote considerable time to the writing process through readings, workshops of one another’s essays, and various composition exercises. They will also undertake a more extensive version of the research project that all eleventh grade students complete during the academic year. Other work includes a mix of response papers, annotations, and reflections on discussions.
From the mid-nineteenth century through the early 1920s, millions of Jews immigrated to the United States. They took various approaches to Americanizing and balancing Jewish and American identities. As the country moved on from World War I and the twentieth century unfolded, in what ways and to what extent did Jews come to feel “at home in America”? In this course, we will explore how American Jews responded to political, social, and technological changes during the long twentieth century. Topics of study in this course will range from studies of Jews and race, to Jewish contributions to the fight against fascism during the interwar period and World War II, to suburbanization, to the evolution of different denominations of Judaism.The centerpiece of the year will an extended engagement with Phillip Roth’s novel The Plot Against America, an alternative history examining the rise of fascism in America during the early 1940s. -9-
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GRADE 11 SOCIAL STUDIES HONOR SEMINAR: AMERICAN JEWS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
GRADE 12 ELECTIVES: DUAL NARRATIVES: A HISTORY OF THE ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT In this course, we study selected aspects of the modern history of the State of Israel through the eyes of both Israelis and Palestinians. Our starting point is a textbook developed by PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East), a rare collaboration of Palestinian and Israeli academics and teachers who believe that these two peoples can arrive at peace and conciliation once they have each come to understand the narrative of the other. The polarized histories of Palestinians and Israelis have left little common ground for a single historical narrative. The goal of this course is not necessarily to create a single “bridging” historical narrative that is held in common by both communities. Rather, “Dual Narratives’’ is designed to explore both Israeli and Palestinian narratives of the same set of events. By reading these narratives, we not only learn what shapes the Israeli and Palestinian communities’ understandings of historical events, but we are required to confront the historical perspectives and contexts that shape each community’s sense of reality. A prerequisite for this course is open-mindedness to studying the narrative of “the other side” and a willingness to engage in respectful debate of the issues.
THE ISRAELI POLITICAL PROJECT This course explores the complex issues surrounding Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state. We will focus on key dilemmas and social dynamics—old and new—that Israeli society deals with today. How has Israel transitioned from the founders’ vision of a socialist, agricultural economy to the free market oriented, high-tech society it is today? How has its ethnic diversity evolved over time and contributed to both the achievements and challenges of the country? How do the recent protests against the government’s proposed judicial reforms reflect broader debates and tensions within Israeli society? Drawing on recent books and articles about Israel, as well as Israeli media, this course looks at the challenges that Israel faces in balancing its Jewish and democratic identities, including issues such as religion and state and minority rights. We will explore how Israel handles a range of social issues, such as the role of the army, the status of women, Jewish-ethnic diversity, religious differences, and relations with non-Jewish Israelis. Through discussions and assignments over the semester, students will understand the complexities that have given shape to contemporary Israeli society and which inform the political debates occurring in the country today.
BOLD NEW FAITHS: CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM IN THE MIDDLE AGES In a matter of just a few hundred years, in the Early Middle Ages, two new religions emerged and came to dominate the Western World. Christianity originated in the unimportant Roman province of Palestine and took hold through the passion of persecuted men and women, and somehow came to be chosen as the faith of kings and emperors. Islam seemed to appear even more spontaneously, as previously undisciplined and nomadic Arab tribes people united around one man’s divine vision and subsequently conquered much of the known world. The births of these two new faiths impacted countless individuals and entire continents and their consequences are still felt centuries later. This course focuses on the question of how Christianity and Islam developed in the Early Middle Ages. Students use primary and secondary sources to understand the individuals, the politics, and the beliefs that pushed these two religions to global prominence. In the second part of the course, we analyze how Christian and Muslim empires interacted with and treated the major religion that had influenced them: Judaism. The attitudes that Christian and Muslim rulers in the Middle Ages demonstrated toward Jewish people and ideas can shed light on the relationship between the three religions today, providing context and challenging easy assumptions.
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JUSTICE AND EQUALITY What does it mean to build a society based on principles of justice? What is the role of equality in such a society? How do we know if different people or groups are receiving equal treatment? In this course, we will use American historical and contemporary sources particularly focused on the Constitution to study evolving meanings of justice and equality. We will focus on how American law has defined equality with particular attention to race, gender, and sexual orientation.
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NEW YORK CITY PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE In the four hundred years since the first Dutch colonists built houses in the territory of the Lenape people, tens of millions of individuals have made their homes in New York City. As many of you prepare to leave New York to attend college elsewhere, this course provides an opportunity to deepen your understanding of this place and the people who made it what it is today. We will begin by tracing the growth and transformations of the city throughout its history. Along the way, we will explore both the diversity and dynamism of New Yorkers and the challenges that have confronted politicians and urban planners, whose controversial decisions continue to shape our lives today. There are far too many fascinating dimensions of contemporary New York to cover in a single semester, so we will collaborate in shaping the latter part of the course to reflect the topics that you are most interested in engaging with. The work for this course includes readings from contemporary media coverage and leading scholarship on the issues, both reflective and research-based writing, active participation in class discussions, and walks through selected neighborhoods. How can we preserve what is best about New York while adapting to the crises of this century and building a more equitable and livable city?
FROM JERUSALEM TO TEHRAN: MAKING AMERICAN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST This course opens with a short unit on Christian Zionism, particularly the influence of evangelical Protestants in shaping U.S. relations with Israel. We then turn to questions about what role Americans should play vis-à-vis Israel’s two greatest conflicts—an internal one between its Jewish and Palestinian populations, and an external one with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We trace the history of those conflicts from the late twentieth century to the present. Topics include the Camp David Accords, Oslo Accords, Iranian Revolution, Sunni-Shia conflict, Iran’s nuclear program, and Israel’s growing cooperation with Arab states wary of Tehran’s ambitions in the region.
ISRAELI SOCIETY AND THE HOLOCAUST This course examines evolving perceptions of the Holocaust in Israel and its impact on Israeli society through a variety of perspectives and historical periods. The course begins with Jewish aliyah to Israel following World War II and the creation of the State of Israel, considering how the experiences from the Shoah may have shaped early Israeli society. We explore the impacts of Nazi genocide on early Israeli society through analysis of political debates, literature, and film. The Eichmann trial, in 1961, served as a turning point in Israel’s reckoning with the Holocaust. We will analyze the Eichmann trial and its critical legacy in how Israelis have grappled with the horrors of the Holocaust and its impact today. Finally, we will consider how Israelis have chosen to commemorate the horrors of the Holocaust through Yad Vashem and other memorial sites and museums. Throughout the course we will reflect on larger themes of trauma, commemoration, and genocide.
MIND THE GAP? INEQUALITY IN AMERICA
SOCIAL STUDIES
In this course, we explore the decades-long growth of disparities in income and wealth in the United States. We begin with a primer on economics, including discussion of monetary and fiscal policies, and brief encounters with Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. We then turn to the New Deal Order, which characterized the nation’s politics and economy from the 1940s through the early 1970s, before charting the decline of the social consensus that sustained that order after 1980. We consider a range of explanations the left and right have offered for the expansion of inequality—from the emergence of new industrial competitors overseas, the “superstar” theory of compensation, shifting tax policy, and the decline of labor unions. More importantly, we consider how what critics label “the hollowing out of the middle class” has transformed American culture.
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EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS IN AN AGE OF EXTREMES In the first half of the twentieth century, European Jewry experienced unprecedented dislocation, repression, and upheaval alongside previously-unimaginable degrees of social mobility, political activity, and cultural influence. Through scholarly and primary sources, students will delve into key moments of this transformative period that has often been obscured by the shadow of the Nazi genocide. The course will devote particular attention to the Jews’ fortunes under the various regimes – democratic, state socialist and fascist – that controlled swaths of the Eastern European Jewish heartland during the period under consideration. To help reconstruct the so-called “vanished world,” students will consult archival materials from major New York-area repositories such as YIVO and the Blavatnik Archive. Topics to be addressed will include: • the rise of political movements (among them socialism, communism, diaspora nationalism, and Zionism) in response to pogroms and state repression; • the effects of the First World War; • the role of Jews within the Russian Revolution and Civil War; • minority status in interwar nation states; • nationalities policy and assimilation in the Soviet Union • communal responses and resistance to Nazi occupation and the Holocaust; • postwar Soviet state antisemitism
HISTORY AND MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST
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Heschel students encounter the Holocaust throughout their years at the school, and this course offers a chance to return to it with greater depth and maturity. Students engage closely with texts and ideas related to the history and memory of the Nazis’ effort to destroy the Jews of Europe. They study survivor testimony, examine the actions and motives of both perpetrators and bystanders, and contribute to the school’s work of preserving the memory of family members and loved ones who perished in the Shoah.
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MATHEMATICS The understanding and mastery of mathematics is a critical component in understanding and fully participating in all aspects of society. Students must be challenged to excel in mathematics if they are to grow as learners in all fields of study. The study of mathematics at the High School is designed to develop mastery in fundamental skills in order to facilitate the growth and development of the individual learner. The Mathematics program honors the diversity of interests and abilities of our students. Students entering ninth grade who have already mastered Algebra I, begin their high school math studies with a course in geometry and proceed through advanced algebra, trigonometry, precalculus and calculus. As a strong foundation in algebra is essential for success in higher level math, students who begin ninth grade and still require additional support in algebra, are placed in a comprehensive algebra course before proceeding with geometry and on towards advanced algebra and precalculus. Some students in this track are able to advance to calculus in senior year. Students entering high school “doubly accelerated,” having successfully completed algebra I and geometry, proceed to trigonometry, calculus and multivariable calculus and/or linear algebra. Students at the High School are prepared for the varied applications of mathematics in the years that lie ahead. They are given a broad foundation of mathematical ideas and real life applications that will prepare them for study in business, science, economics, and higher level mathematics in college. Each course of study presents opportunities to develop mathematical skills numerically, analytically, graphically, and verbally, with the support of technology where applicable. Students take full advantage of advanced technology materials. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class, to work constructively with their peers, and to use the language of mathematics to clearly express mathematical ideas and concepts. The mathematics instruction the students receive prepares them to think creatively, critically and analytically, enabling them to become problem solvers in all areas of study. Course Offerings: Honors Algebra II & Trigonometry Honors Geometry Geometry with Proofs Geometry with Algebra Accelerated Algebra Algebra I
10th Grade
Honors Precalculus Honors Algebra II & Trigonometry Algebra II & Trigonometry Geometry with Proofs Geometry with Algebra
11th Grade
Honors Calculus BC Honors Precalculus Accelerated Precalculus Precalculus Algebra II & Trigonometry Algebra II
12th Grade
Honors Algebra II & Trigonometry Honors Geometry Geometry with Proofs Geometry with Algebra Accelerated Algebra Algebra I
MATHEMATICS
9th Grade
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ALGEBRA 1 A traditional course in first-year algebra, this class emphasizes the development of strong algebraic skills. Areas of study include solving equations and inequalities, factoring, operations on algebraic fractions, rational and irrational numbers, and the graphing of linear equations. Applications and problem solving will be interspersed throughout the year.
ACCELERATED ALGEBRA 1 An accelerated, in-depth study of algebra I. The course moves quickly through solving equations and inequalities, factoring, algebraic fractions, rational and irrational numbers, and graphing linear equations, with added depth in systems, polynomials, radicals, and quadratics. Challenging applications and problem solving are included throughout the year.
GEOMETRY WITH ALGEBRA This course introduces the main ideas of geometry while strengthening the algebra skills students need to succeed in it. Students study angles, parallel lines, triangles, quadrilaterals, similarity, right triangles, circles, perimeter, and area, and they regularly use equations, ratios, and coordinate methods to solve geometric problems. Algebra is reviewed and reinforced in context, so students see how the two subjects support each other. The emphasis is on understanding key concepts, recognizing patterns, and explaining their thinking in clear, logical steps.
GEOMETRY WITH PROOFS This is a traditional course in Euclidean plane geometry. Beginning from basic definitions and axioms, it develops the main theorems of congruent triangles, parallelism, special quadrilaterals, geometric inequalities, similar polygons, right triangles, circles, perimeter and area. In addition, the course includes a unit in analytic and coordinate geometry. Students in this course become conversant with undefined terms, definitions, axioms, theorems, and constructions. They develop skills in originating conjectures and working their way towards proofs. While formal logic as such is not a part of the course, students will learn how to formulate a valid argument. Geometry problems serve as an arena for the exercise of the algebraic and analytic skills acquired in previous courses.
HONORS GEOMETRY This fast-paced course covers the full scope of Euclidean plane geometry with greater depth, and rigor. Students are expected to originate their own conjectures, construct and write rigorous proofs, and tackle challenging, multistep problems that require creativity as well as technique. The course demands a high level of algebraic fluency that prepares students for advanced work in mathematics.
ALGEBRA II Building on the skills learned in Algebra I, this course covers absolute value inequalities, systems of linear equations, factoring polynomials, operations on rational expressions, quadratic equations and inequalities, operations on radicals and complex numbers, and an introduction to exponential and logarithmic functions. Desmos and TI-84 graphing calculators are used throughout.
ALGEBRA II/TRIGONOMETRY
MATHEMATICS
Pairing the full Algebra II curriculum with comprehensive trigonometry, this course includes triangle trigonometry, the Law of Sines, the Law of Cosines, trigonometric graphs, trigonometric identities, and applications of periodic functions. Students use Desmos and TI-84 graphing calculators throughout.
HONORS ALGEBRA II/TRIGONOMETRY This course covers the Algebra II and trigonometry content with greater sophistication and more demanding problems, and extends beyond the standard curriculum to include selected topics traditionally taught in precalculus. Desmos and TI-84 graphing calculators are used throughout. -14-
PRE-CALCULUS This course develops mathematical maturity through guided, open-ended inquiry. Students learn to apply familiar facts in new contexts, move from numerical to abstract reasoning, formulate and prove precise conjectures, and approach a single problem from many viewpoints. Topics include sequences and series, linear algebra, functions and their graphs, polynomials, rational functions, conic sections, combinatorics and probability, basic statistics, and exponential and logarithmic functions, along with their connections to the geometry and trigonometry of the complex plane.
ACCELERATED PRE-CALCULUS A fast-moving course, it puts graphs at the center of the study of functions. Students explore how changes to an equation reshape a graph, applying transformations to polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions. Greater depth and more challenging problems push students to analyze, compare, and predict function behavior, building the visual and algebraic fluency needed for advanced mathematics.
HONORS PRE-CALCULUS Rigorous in approach, the course emphasizes proof, precise reasoning, and abstraction. Students study all precalculus topics in depth, including sequences and series, linear algebra, conic sections, and the complex plane, with the focus on justifying results rather than simply computing them. The spring semester is devoted to differential calculus.
CALCULUS Often described as the mathematics of movement or change, calculus lets students begin solving problems of a dynamic nature, exploring how changes in one variable relate to changes in another. This course is designed for students who have mastered Algebra I and II, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus, especially trigonometry and the manipulation of functions. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking and problem-solving skills as applied to physics problems concerning motion.
CALCULUS AB A fast-paced, rigorous course, Calculus AB is equivalent to one semester of college calculus. Students study limits, derivatives, and integrals, and are expected to reason abstractly, connect ideas across topics, and justify their conclusions.
HONORS CALCULUS BC Covering two semesters of college calculus, this course goes beyond the Calculus AB curriculum to explore sequences and series, vector motion, and polar coordinates. Students work at a demanding pace, tackling complex, multi-step problems that call for deep conceptual understanding and clear mathematical communication
MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
MATHEMATICS
This course extends the ideas of single-variable calculus to functions of two or more variables. Students study three-dimensional vectors and geometry, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, vector fields, and the fundamental vector theorems. Through practical applications, they explore motion in space, surfaces, optimization, and physical systems that depend on several variables. Building on the foundation of calculus, the course prepares students for further study in advanced mathematics, physics, engineering, and other fields. Successful completion of Calculus BC is a prerequisite.
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STATISTICS Statistics is the science of exploring and learning from data, with wide applications in fields including economics, the natural sciences, business, and the social sciences. Through many real-world observations, students become familiar with the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Throughout the year, the course addresses one central question: can we detect patterns or changes in a set of data, and how can those changes lead to new conclusions?
MATHEMATICS
The course is organized into four broad themes: exploring and organizing data, planning a study, anticipating patterns, and drawing statistical inferences. Students explore the tools that help organize data and learn the language needed to describe the patterns that emerge. They go on to develop techniques for collecting data properly and for predicting patterns that lead to conclusions about an entire population. TI-83 graphing calculators are used heavily throughout the year.
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SCIENCE The study of science is at the heart of the human desire to understand the world around us. All children are natural scientists; they are keen observers of events occurring around them and seek to understand how these events come about and how they can predict similar events in the future. Capitalizing on the natural curiosity of students, the science program at The High School engages students more formally in understanding the natural world. In science classes, students are taught to develop careful observation, to generate relevant questions, to analyze and interpret data, to discuss and defend ideas before peers, and to apply knowledge to novel situations. These skills are essential to all scientific study and are used by students in all four years of the science sequence. One of the goals of the science program at The High School is to promote scientific literacy. As scientific and technological advances develop with increasing speed influencing every aspect of our individual and communal lives, our program helps students develop an appreciation and understanding of the fundamental science and ethical complexities that underlie technological advancements.
GRADE 9 BIOLOGY This lab based course explores the question, “What does it mean to be alive?” by studying biology from the molecules up. We begin by defining the properties of living things, then build the chemical foundation needed to understand them. We study atoms, bonding, and the basics of chemistry, followed by organic chemistry and the carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids that make up living matter. With this molecular toolkit, students investigate the parts of the cell and the role of enzymes in controlling chemical reactions, which leads to the study of energy and the pathways of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Throughout the course, life is examined at the molecular level, so that students see how the same chemical principles operate in every organism. From there, we turn to cell division and cancer, meiosis, and genetics, and then to the central dogma of biology, following the flow of information from DNA replication through transcription and translation and exploring the cellular machinery that makes each step possible. The year concludes with evolution, the theory that explains the diversity of life and the shared molecular features that connect all living things. Along the way, students conduct laboratory investigations and analyze their results, allowing them to develop an understanding of how life works and gaining a deep understanding of the scientific method.
ACCELERATED BIOLOGY
SCIENCE
Accelerated Biology explores each topic of the course in greater depth, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms behind biological processes. Students build a working vocabulary of molecular biology and biochemistry, and they use it to explain how and why those processes happen. They learn to see how the different subjects of the course connect, and they practice applying what they know to unfamiliar problems by analyzing real experimental data. By the end of the year, accelerated students can think and talk about life at the molecular level with real depth and confidence.
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GRADE 10 CHEMISTRY Why do some substances conduct electricity, dissolve in water, or burn? This course answers questions like these by tracing observable behavior back to atoms and the forces between them. Along the way, students learn to reason through unfamiliar problems rather than rely on memorized procedures. Major topics include the properties of matter, the historical development of models of the atom, the Periodic Table and its relationship to atomic structure and the properties of the elements, bonding and intermolecular forces, chemical changes, the relationship between heat and chemistry, the behavior of gases and solutions, and acid-base chemistry. A series of laboratory experiments brings these concepts to life and gives students hands-on practice designing procedures, collecting data, and drawing conclusions from their results. The primary goal of the course is a solid and lasting knowledge of chemistry and the ability to apply scientific reasoning to complex questions beyond the classroom.
ACCELERATED CHEMISTRY This course covers the same major topics as Chemistry, adds a unit on thermodynamics, and takes a deeper, more quantitative approach. Students move beyond describing what happens in chemical systems to analyzing them mathematically, using data and calculations to test their understanding. They begin to connect ideas across topics and see the major themes that run through the subject. The pace is faster than in Chemistry, and students become proficient at solving problems and applying concepts to unfamiliar situations. Laboratory work emphasizes collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative data.
HONORS CHEMISTRY This fast-paced course covers accelerated high school chemistry in full, adds units on equilibrium and electrochemistry, and prepares students for general college chemistry. It is an intensive course that focuses on the overarching concepts connecting topics rather than treating each concept in isolation. Students learn to describe chemical phenomena, both qualitatively and quantitatively, at the level of atoms, molecules, and whole systems, and to move between these levels. Through a progression of guided-inquiry activities, students take increasing ownership of their learning. Laboratory experiments deepen their understanding and build fluency in handling equipment, designing and carrying out experiments, and drawing conclusions from results.
SCIENCE RESEARCH INITIATIVE (SRI) This semester-long course prepares students for an intensive summer of research in a university laboratory. Students learn to read and analyze scientific literature, present it to their peers, build a resume, and develop interviewing skills. Through a guided process, they choose a topic of interest, such as computational biology, physical science, life science, or medicine, and earn a placement in an academic laboratory in the New York City area. Over approximately seven weeks of the following summer, students conduct an original research project under the guidance of a scientist mentor and their SRI teacher. They then submit their work to the New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) and present it at the school’s STEM symposium. Students conduct research during the summers after Grades 10 and/or 11 and present their research during Grades 11 and/or 12.
SCIENCE
SPRING HORTICULTURE In this hands-on course, students grow food, flowers, and trees from winter through summer in the school’s rooftop greenhouse, garden, and terrace. They learn to use essential hand tools safely and collaboratively, make organic materials for the growing spaces, and practice the arts of watering, pruning, and growing with the calendar, including growing food indoors in winter. Projects are interest-driven and range from individual to collective, and there is always something to nurture. No gardening experience is required
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GRADE 11 PHYSICS This course develops students’ understanding of the laws of physics both conceptually and mathematically that govern the universe. Through lab work, discussion, and mathematical problem-solving, students learn and apply Newtonian mechanics, the conservation laws, and the wave behavior of light and sound. The course emphasizes laboratory and analytical thinking skills, along with practical applications of these ideas in engineering, nature, and other sciences.
HONORS PHYSICS This rigorous, algebra- and trigonometry-based course explores the fundamental principles governing the physical world. Students use mathematical reasoning, including vector analysis, to investigate motion and forces in one and two dimensions, and they apply Newton’s laws and the conservation of energy and momentum to increasingly complex single-body and multi-body systems. They also study wave mechanics, focusing on the behavior and properties of sound and light. Laboratory investigations, collaborative group work, and regular problem sets build analytical skills and deepen conceptual understanding. Students are challenged to move beyond routine calculations by applying physical principles to unfamiliar situations, connecting concepts, and developing creative approaches to complex problems.
HONORS PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS This rigorous, calculus-based course explores the fundamental principles of classical mechanics. Students study kinematics in one and two dimensions, Newton’s laws of motion, circular motion, gravitation, work, energy, power, and conservation of linear momentum, followed by an in-depth study of rotational motion, torque, rotational inertia, angular momentum, and simple harmonic motion. Throughout the course, students use calculus and vector analysis to derive physical relationships, model complex systems, and solve problems involving both constant and changing forces. Laboratory investigations, collaborative group work, and independent problem sets reinforce theory and develop experimental and analytical skills. Students move beyond applying formulas by building mathematical models, connecting concepts across mechanics, and applying physical principles to unfamiliar situations.
FALL HORTICULTURE
SCIENCE
In this hands-on course, students grow food, tea, flowers, seeds, and trees in the school’s rooftop greenhouse and gardens, and sometimes on nearby roofs, tree plots, and parks. They learn to use essential hand tools safely and collaboratively and help create compost, mulch, garden beds, and trellises. As temperatures drop, students extend the growing season indoors, prepare outdoor spaces for winter, and prune trees for a healthy return in spring. Projects are interest-driven and range from individual, to small-group and collective. No gardening experience is required.
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GRADE 12 SCIENCE ELECTIVES: HONORS BIOLOGY 2 This advanced biology course picks up where the introductory course leaves off, starting with the classic experiments that led to the discovery of DNA as the molecule of heredity. Students learn to read real journal articles and interpret experimental results. In the next unit, on gene regulation and epigenetics, students learn how different cells express different genes, and they conduct their own bacterial transformation experiments in which they introduce foreign DNA into bacteria. From there, we look at how cells communicate with each other, both bacterial and human, and how signaling pathways inside the cell turn particular genes on and off. Students then research drugs that block or change these pathways. Next comes biotechnology, including CRISPR and other techniques that are reshaping medicine today, which leads the students into discussions and debates about genetically modified organisms followed by a research project on a specific GMO. We then turn to water, the key to life on Earth, and use water potential to explore where biology, chemistry, and physics overlap. After that, students study viruses and how they take over the cell’s machinery and work around the immune system. The year ends with a unit on climate change and an independent research project on an environmental science issue, which each student presents to the class.
HONORS CHEMISTRY 2 This lab-based advanced chemistry course will review and build upon the topics explored in Honors Chemistry and explore new areas of study. These will include an investigation into the quantum mechanical description of atoms, nuclear chemistry, reaction kinetics, free energy and entropy, and spectroscopy. Time permitting, we will also explore the fundamentals of organic chemistry, including reaction mechanisms. A special focus will be placed on the practical application of chemistry to the real world, specifically in the context of sustainability. To that end, we will interweave discussions of solar and nuclear energy, batteries, sustainable agriculture, non-toxic dyes, and renewable polymers into our regular class meetings. This class will be equivalent to an AP Chemistry course.
HONORS PHYSICS 2 In the first semester of this course, we take a deep dive into electrodynamics and electromagnetism. The second semester begins with introductory quantum mechanics, and modern particle physics, and then finishes with astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. Electromagnetism is the fundamental concept behind most of the innovations of the 19th century such as electric motors and electricity generation, as well as the basis of many modern technologies such as wireless charging and wireless telecommunication. Quantum mechanics forms the basis of most 20th and 21st century technologies, such as lasers, computing, LEDs, and nuclear energy. Physics utilizes a great deal of mathematics to make predictions and utilize the theories developed. You should be capable and comfortable with algebra and trigonometry. When applicable, the level is equivalent to an algebra-based AP Physics course.
HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY In this one-semester course we explore the structure and function of the human body, including the ways that body systems work together to provide homeostasis. We will examine the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, digestive and nervous systems, as well as a few special senses such as taste and vision. Lab investigations include interactive online activities and dissections of preserved non-human animal organs.
SCIENCE
FORENSIC SCIENCE In this one-semester course, we will investigate how scientific disciplines such as advanced molecular biology, as well as chemistry and physics are applied to the law and allow for investigative techniques. The course aims will primarily be: (i) comprehension of forensic procedures, currently enforced by crime scene investigators in the criminal and civil justice system and (ii) laboratory investigations illustrating forensic methods like fingerprinting, fiber analysis, ballistics, arson, and tracing adopted by scientists to interpret evidence at the crime scene.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE Our Computer Science offerings focus on design, problem solving, logic, collaboration, documenting process, and refining work through iteration and reflection. These courses give students foundational programming skills and, through hands-on projects, teach them to build interactive applications and digital tools. Students develop computational thinking, the ability to break complicated problems into manageable solutions. They also learn how generative AI works, how to use it thoughtfully as a tool for coding and problem solving, and how to evaluate its output and limitations. Courses are open to students with no coding experience as well as those with a background in coding. Students collaborate on engineering and coding projects that address real-world challenges and support users with diverse needs and abilities, applying Universal Design and Inclusive Design principles to create products that help people manage and navigate daily life more independently.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE (9TH GRADE) Introduction to Computer Science is a hands-on, collaborative course in which students gain foundational programming skills and a deeper understanding of how computers work. Using Python, a popular and versatile programming language, students apply core building blocks such as variables, conditionals, and loops to design a variety of interactive applications and games. They also explore modern AI systems and connect their code to the physical world using microcontrollers. Throughout the course, students develop computational thinking as they break down problems, design algorithms, and test and debug their work until it performs as designed. The class supports students with a wide range of computing backgrounds, from first-time programmers to experienced coders.
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING This hands-on course teaches programming through physical computing, as students write code in Arduino C++ that controls real devices. Projects incorporate coding concepts such as loops and control flow, along with elements of electrical engineering. Students begin by exploring simple mechanisms like mechanical toys, then move into circuitry and more complex systems powered by the Arduino microcontroller. Throughout the semester, they apply design thinking to prototype, test, and iterate on their creations, leading up to a capstone project that they design and build themselves.
STUDIES IN NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES In this elective, students explore iconic historical tech (e.g., the rotary telephone, the first mouse, and the iPhone) alongside new and emerging tech (e.g., AI glasses, programmable smartwatches, and AI-powered toys) through hands-on projects. They investigate how these devices work by examining their hardware and software components, and they discuss the social and ethical questions the devices raise. The course emphasizes both innovation and responsibility, giving students opportunities to experiment with generative AI, design and prototype their own solutions, and imagine future applications while learning to evaluate new technologies critically.
ADVANCED COMPUTER PROGRAMMING WITH JAVA This elective introduces students to Java and the fundamentals of object-oriented programming through a structured, hands-on approach. The course follows a curriculum aligned with AP Computer Science topics, building strong problem-solving and coding skills while remaining accessible to motivated learners. Some knowledge of coding is required.
This elective offers hands-on experience building a real software product from the ground up. The class collaborates to design, code, and improve a shared web application while learning how modern software is actually built and shipped using industry tools.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE
APPLIED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING: STARTUP STUDIO
LIMUDEI QODESH (Jewish Studies) Limudei Qodesh courses give students the skills, knowledge, and, most importantly, the disposition to engage with Biblical and Rabbinic texts throughout their lives. Students are encouraged to see this engagement, and the ideas the texts express, as part of their developing identities as Jews. Classes emphasize critical thinking and teach students to read closely, thoughtfully, and reflectively. Students learn to raise questions about the texts they study and to find textual evidence to support their own interpretations. Fundamental to these classes is the idea that respectful, thoughtful interaction with others sharpens and refines one’s own positions, so students learn to listen carefully to their classmates and respond to them seriously.
SHA’AR PROGRAM Students enrolling in a day school for the first time enter the Sha’ar Program (“gateway” in Hebrew), which offers specialized classes in Jewish Studies and Hebrew. Its goal is to give students the skills, content knowledge, and comfort to participate fully in High School life: academic, co-curricular, religious, and social. Small classes, highly motivated students, and a focus on conversational Hebrew prepare students to move from Sha’ar Hebrew into the regular Hebrew Language and Literature track in twelfth grade. Ninth and tenth grade Sha’ar Jewish Studies classes build the linguistic skills needed to study Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Talmud in the original language, so that students can join the core Jewish Studies classes by eleventh grade. Inside and outside the classroom, faculty give special attention to areas of Jewish life that may be new to students entering a Jewish day school for the first time.
GRADE 9 LIMUDEI QODESH: BIBLE AND TALMUD Ninth grade Limudei Qodesh focuses on brit, the covenantal relationship between God and human beings. In the first semester, students study Tanakh, beginning with the moments in Sefer Bereishit (Genesis) when the Divinehuman relationship is most sharply defined as a brit. They follow the development of this concept through major figures from Noah through Avraham, drawing on their conversations with God and the actions and reactions that surround them to examine how each covenant is formed and what ties bind the parties to each other. In the second semester, students turn to tefillah (prayer) as an expression of brit, studying selected sugyot (Talmudic passages) from Masekhet Berakhot. The two semesters are taught as one integrated course and unified by three guiding questions: How does covenant inform the relationship between God and people? What are the ramifications of the mutual nature of the covenant? How does the covenant, as expressed in these foundational Jewish texts, shape our lives today? Both semesters are offered at grade level and at an accelerated level. Accelerated students receive less scaffolding and are asked to translate, analyze, and generate their own interpretations, referring independently to the Hebrew text to support their ideas.
GRADE 9 LIMUDEI QODESH SHA’AR: INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE AND TALMUD This intensive course introduces ninth grade Sha’ar students to Jewish Studies at the High School and begins a two-year process of preparing them to join their peers in eleventh and twelfth grade Talmud and Tanakh. Students explore major themes in the Jewish holidays, the covenantal narratives of Genesis, and selected passages from Masekhet Berakhot. Texts are chosen with four linked goals in mind:
LIMUDEI QODESH
• Building skills and introducing Hebrew texts at a pace suited to students’ learning • Familiarizing students with Jewish ritual in the school setting • Helping students develop personal understanding and meaning in the traditions and observances of Judaism • Paralleling the non-Sha’ar ninth grade curriculum, so that all ninth graders explore similar themes, with an emphasis on how the texts depict the relationship between God and human beings
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GRADE 10 LIMUDEI QODESH Building on the conceptual and textual framework of ninth grade, tenth grade Limudei Qodesh explores the covenantal relationship at the national level. In tenth and eleventh grades, Limudei Qodesh is divided into two year-long courses, one in Tanakh and one in Talmud. Both are offered at grade level and at an accelerated level. Accelerated students receive less scaffolding in developing their understanding of the text and are asked to translate, analyze, and generate interpretations independently, referring to the Hebrew text to support their ideas.
GRADE 10 TANAKH Tenth grade Tanakh traces the transformation of brit in Sefer Shemot (Exodus), from a relationship between God and individuals to the foundation of a relationship between God and an entire community. The first semester begins with the birth of the nation amid Egyptian slavery. Students debate the strength of the Israelites’ ties to their past and their God, and follow Moshe as God chooses him to redeem the people. They examine the Exodus through the lens of God’s purpose in sending the ten plagues and the foundational role the Exodus plays in the later enactment of the brit. The second semester focuses on the Revelation at Sinai, the rupture of the brit through the building of the Golden Calf, and the reaffirmation of the relationship between God and the Israelites.
GRADE 10 SHA’AR TANAKH Sha’ar Tanakh follows the covenantal relationship as it shifts from an individual relationship to a national one codified in law. Students follow the Jewish people as they leave Egypt, experience the revelation at Sinai, receive the Torah, build the mishkan (Tabernacle), and encamp in the desert, exploring the making of a nation through Sefer Shemot. The course is designed to build the Hebrew skills students need to move smoothly into eleventh grade Tanakh.
GRADE 10 TALMUD This course examines the interplay between civil law and religious values. It builds on the premise that laws regulating relationships between people are an expression of the brit between God and human beings, and it explores the legal and religious ramifications of one person causing physical harm to another. The text for the course is the eighth chapter of Tractate Bava Kamma. Students first encounter the Rabbinic process and its intersection with belief in ninth grade. In tenth grade, they consider the values underlying certain Rabbinic legal enactments and how those values shape our responsibilities toward one another within our covenantal obligations. As a complement to the Tanakh curriculum, which explores the role of law in building a nation, the Talmud curriculum focuses on the nature of law and the role it plays in creating and maintaining relationships within a society.
GRADE 10 SHA’AR TALMUD This course builds on the introduction to Rabbinic literature that Sha’ar students receive in ninth grade. Students read Rabbinic texts collaboratively, investigating the legal and theological issues, frames of mind, and ways of thinking that characterize classical Rabbinic literature, and they learn the skills needed to study these texts. The curriculum closely parallels that of the core class, focusing on selections from the eighth chapter of Tractate Bava Kamma. As quickly as their abilities allow, students work with Talmudic texts primarily in the original language, building the decoding skills they need to move smoothly into eleventh grade Talmud.
Building on the skills and methods of ninth and tenth grades, and on the tenth grade study of how a nation is founded, eleventh grade Limudei Qodesh explores how the covenant is implemented in governing one. In Tanakh, students study the roles of kings and prophets in ancient Israel through Sefer Melakhim (Book of Kings). In Talmud, they study the Rabbinic understanding of justice and how it might operate in a national legal system. Both courses are offered at an accelerated level and an honors level. Accelerated and honors students are expected to translate, analyze, and interpret texts in the original language with greater independence. Honors students also work for longer stretches on their own or with a study partner to analyze original-language texts, and they learn to work through commentaries independently.
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LIMUDEI QODESH
GRADE 11 LIMUDEI QODESH
GRADE 11 TANAKH: THE BOOK OF KINGS AND SELECTIONS FROM THE PROPHETS Students focus on the brit between God and a monarchic society. Beginning with the construction of the Temple and ending with its destruction, they explore the brit in Sefer Melakhim (Book of Kings), as well as the trials of Israel’s great prophets in Nevi’im Aharonim (Latter Prophets). The first semester opens with the rise of King Solomon and his building of the Temple. After Solomon falls prey to idolatry and excessive wealth, the kingdom is torn in two, Judah and Israel. Battles over succession, political upheaval, and civil war set the stage for the venerable but flawed prophet Elijah, and students follow his prophetic career and his fierce zeal for God. Elijah’s example anticipates the Latter Prophets, who are the focus of the second semester. Students study selections from Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, analyzing the historical, political, literary, and theological dimensions of these books.
GRADE 11 TALMUD Eleventh grade Talmud focuses on fundamental Jewish religious values as they appear in the Rabbinic justice system. Students explore what happens when the core principles of the legal system come into conflict with one another. How can courts balance the need for truth and justice with the goal of promoting peace among litigants? How can Jewish courts implement the death penalty when all human life is created in the image of God? How are individual and societal needs balanced? When is it justified, and even necessary, for an individual to intervene during a serious crime? When does adherence to the legal system require a person to sacrifice his or her own life? What role does God play in a human justice system? Selected sugyot (Talmudic passages) from Tractate Sanhedrin form the core texts of the course.
GRADE 12 ELECTIVES In twelfth grade, Limudei Qodesh is elective-based. Students choose from a wide range of courses that explore Jewish texts through varied topics and approaches, taking two semester-long courses in the fall and two in the winter.
ETHICS How should a person decide what the right choices in life are? How are traditional Torah values relevant to the choices a person makes? This course explores the values the Jewish legal tradition applies to real-life issues, bringing core halakhic texts into dialogue with contemporary ethical topics such as organ donation, abortion, sexuality, war, and stem cell research. Students reflect on their own decision-making, on the decision-making of the rabbis, and on the interface and tension between the two.
MIDRASH: STORIES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD In this course, students explore Rabbinic midrash and the effects it has had on the world. They examine famous midrashim, trace their roots to the Tanakh stories from which they derive, and follow their paths through history. Examples include midrashim on Akedat Yitzchak (the Binding of Isaac) and their impact on Jewish martyrdom and on Christianity; midrashim on Esau and Ishmael and how they shape Jewish perspectives on non-Jews and antisemitism; midrashim about Gan Eden and their impact on the concept of Satan in Western civilization; and midrashim about Eve and their use in the feminist movement.
LIMUDEI QODESH
PEOPLE VS. GOD: THEOLOGY IN TALMUDIC TEXTS According to the Talmud, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem altered not only Jewish national history but also the Jewish people’s relationship with God and God’s laws. How did the Rabbis’ relationship with God change without the centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple service? How did they reconcile belief in God with the horrors around them? How did they exert their own power and agency in that relationship in light of the destruction? Do God’s laws still belong to God, or to the people charged with carrying them out? This course examines these questions as addressed in Talmudic texts and invites students to explore how they relate to God, the Jewish legal tradition, and their own Jewish practices and beliefs today.
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CLASSIC AND MODERN QUESTIONS OF JEWISH PHILOSOPHY This course examines central issues in Jewish thought that remain challenging today. With an emphasis on medieval and modern Jewish philosophical texts, students explore a range of topics with the goal of formulating their own positions and sharpening their capacity for philosophical reflection. The central questions are “What kind of God do I believe in?”, “How can people believe in God at all?”, and “What can we know about the world and our place within it?” Along the way, students consider classical questions in Jewish philosophy, such as “Are there limits to what an omnipotent God can do?” (sometimes formulated as “Can God make a rock God can’t lift?”), “Do people have free will?”, and “Do people have a purpose, and how should that influence the way they think about their actions and lives?” A major unit addresses thinking about God after the Holocaust and what it means to believe in an all-powerful and good God when there is evil in the world.
FROM BIRTH TO DEATH: THE JEWISH LIFECYCLE What does it mean to live Jewishly? Moments of life transition offer opportunities to bring Judaism into a person’s life. Most cultures and traditions celebrate birth, death, marriage, and coming of age. This course explores how traditional and modern Jewish rituals surrounding these moments harness the natural highs and lows of life and guide practitioners toward Jewish understandings of the human experience. Studying these rituals brings students into conversation with Rabbinic attitudes toward gender, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, personal responsibility, family, community, the meaning of life and death, and the marking of time. Students also explore the interactions among spirituality, psychology, theology, the power of ritual, and the power of time itself.
BIBLICAL METHODOLOGIES: MULTIPLE APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF TANAKH This course challenges students to recognize their assumptions and investigate different approaches to the study of Tanakh as they grapple with issues such as subjectivity versus objectivity in interpretation, the significance of authorship, authorial intent, the use of archaeology, and what Tanakh study means to them. The course is divided into four units, each investigating a different approach: the classical commentary approach, with an emphasis on the role of midrash (text: Akedat Yitzchak); the literary approach (text: the Book of Judges); the archaeological approach (text: the Book of Kings); and the Documentary Hypothesis and modern Biblical scholarship (text: the Flood story). Through Biblical texts and secondary articles, each unit raises the philosophical issues behind its approach, helping students clarify their personal sense of text in general and Tanakh in particular.
JUDAISM AND WORLD RELIGIONS The Bible and Rabbinic tradition understand God to have a unique relationship with the Jewish people, yet they do not imagine that everyone in the world needs to become Jewish. This course explores the relationship between Judaism and other religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. What have Jewish thinkers learned from other faiths, and where is it important to draw lines that should not be crossed? Exploring these questions enriches students’ sense of what it means to be Jewish in a religiously pluralistic society.
ADVANCED TALMUD
HILKHOT SHABBAT: LIVING THROUGH THE ANCIENT IN THE PRESENT This course examines the Biblical and Rabbinic sources for traditional Shabbat practices. To understand how Biblical and Rabbinic concepts are applied to practice, students study the prohibition of electricity use on Shabbat, its different aspects, and its possible limits. They gain insight into the Jewish legal process and how Jewish law develops over time. The course also deepens students’ understanding of what Shabbat is about and how it is observed, and explains how traditional Shabbat practices they may have encountered developed over time.
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LIMUDEI QODESH
Private ownership is a cornerstone of economic systems, including in the Rabbinic period. This course explores the complexities of questionable ownership (mamon ha-mutal be-safek). What happens when two parties claim the same thing as their own? Who is believed? How is justice ensured? The first chapter of Tractate Bava Metzia anchors the course. Students study Mishnah, Talmud, and Rishonim (medieval commentators), along with related material in Tanakh, Midrash, and halakhic literature, and raise deep questions about the ethics of ownership, disagreement, and ways of resolving conflict justly and equitably. Texts are studied in the original Hebrew and Aramaic.
ONE JEWISH STATE, MANY QUESTIONS With the creation of the modern State of Israel, Jews debated what role, if any, Torah law and values should play in shaping national policy. Could the halakhic system, which guided individuals and communities for centuries, now be applied to national issues? This course explores the interface between halakhic sources and national policy, studying topics through the lens of teshuvot (responsa) literature, with close attention to the decision-making process. Sample topics include: Is it ethical to export Israeli-made weapons to foreign governments? Should the distinct halakhic traditions of Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities be abandoned in favor of a new “Israeli Halakhah”? Who should be considered a Jew for purposes of the Law of Return? Should conversion standards in a Jewish state differ from those in the Diaspora? Should IDF soldiers refuse orders that violate their understanding of Jewish values? How far must the IDF go to avoid civilian casualties? How can shemitah (the sabbatical year) be observed without crippling Israeli agriculture?
RABBINIC LEGENDS Students encounter the Talmudic Rabbis as storytellers and weavers of fantastical tales. Through the study of Talmudic legends, they deepen their understanding of the questions, worries, and priorities that animated the Rabbinic community after the destruction of the Second Temple, and they discover how the Rabbis’ struggles and values parallel and diverge from those of the contemporary moment. With an emphasis on literary analysis, texts are provided in both the original and translation.
HASIDUT How does a person cultivate a meaningful inner life? How does Jewish tradition address life’s most essential questions: Who am I and what gives life meaning? Through critical examination of the Hasidic tradition and personal engagement with Hasidic practices such as meditation and prayer, this course challenges students to wrestle with these questions for themselves.
JEWISH BUSINESS ETHICS How does Jewish law apply to the modern marketplace? Building on earlier study of monetary liability and the Jewish court system in tenth and eleventh grades, this course explores the interface between halakhic sources and contemporary business and economics. Students examine how classical texts address questions such as price gouging, intellectual property, antitrust law, gambling, and halakhic prenuptial agreements.
JUDAISM AND MODERNITY The modern world presented the Jewish people with entirely new challenges and opportunities and brought a new perspective to classic Jewish questions about God, Torah, and Israel. Organized around a series of topics, such as modern politics, Jewish law, feminism, race, and Jewish denominations, this course explores what it means to be Jewish in the modern world. It gives attention both to the contributions of major Jewish philosophers and to the ongoing meaning of these questions in students’ own lives.
CONVERSION AND JEWISH IDENTITY
LIMUDEI QODESH
Since the days when Bnei Yisrael were one family in Egypt, most Jews have been Jewish because they were born that way, but there is another path: some people become Jewish through conversion. What is distinct about this form of Jewish identity? What unique perspective do converts bring to Jewish life? Does it matter why or how someone converts? Must a Jew believe something? Must a Jew practice Judaism to remain Jewish? Can a person ever leave the Jewish people? This course addresses these and other questions to deepen students’ understanding of what it can mean to be Jewish.
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JUDAISM AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: TZEI U’LEMAD COURSES In the spring semester of senior year, Limudei Qodesh classes take the form of a seminar on Judaism and contemporary issues, called Tzei U’lemad (“go and learn”). These courses help students begin to integrate their Limudei Qodesh studies at the Heschel High School with their lives beyond the day school. Each student enrolls in a class on an issue, topic, or challenge that concerns them and that they want to address. Through exploration, reflection, and guided research, students consider what it means to them to bring a Jewish lens to that topic.
RESPONDING TO ANTISEMITISM This course explores antisemitism and how to respond to it. Drawing on Biblical and historical examples, students study the forms antisemitism has taken, including charges of disloyalty, atheism, and particularism, as well as attacks on the character of Jews, such as stereotypes of greed. They identify parallels with bigoted characterizations of other “outsider” groups and examine how these appear in contemporary discourse. Students then develop projects that respond to antisemitism today, including its expression in anti-Israel efforts.
SCHISMS IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY Why are there so many groups within Judaism? What historical and sociological factors led to its division into groups that differ so fundamentally? What theological and social issues create these divisions, and why do the details matter so much to each side that they are worth the cost? Students read articles by experts in the field and explore case studies to understand how schisms form. By examining the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements, they deepen their understanding of the Jewish world around them, their place in it, and how communities weigh specific issues of religious importance, such as Shabbat, against unity. Everyone has a line they will not cross, and students consider where their own line falls.
JUDAISM AND POLITICS What does it mean to be a Jew at the ballot box and to live in a democracy as a Jew? Does a commitment to Jewish values, halakhah, or the Jewish community call for supporting one party or another? Or should political commitments shape how a person relates to Judaism? What do shifting voting patterns among Jews reveal about how people think about these questions? Students explore a range of answers to these questions.
TZEDEK, TZEDEK TIRDOF: PURSUING (ECONOMIC) JUSTICE
LIMUDEI QODESH
Working toward a more just society is a human imperative, and for Jews it is also a religious one. What is the Jewish responsibility to combat pervasive economic inequity? With so many people in need in so many ways, how should priorities be set? Students examine Biblical and Rabbinic sources on the responsibility to create a just society, with a focus on economic justice. How can people be kept from falling into poverty? How should one advocate for and help those who have less? How much giving is enough, and can any amount be too much? How do these ideas and texts apply to modern society? Working together, students develop ways to address these issues on three levels: societal and governmental policy, family and personal responsibility, and communal norm-setting.
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HEBREW Since Biblical times, Hebrew has been a language of Jewish expression. The resurgence of Hebrew in the modern era, beginning with the Zionist movement, is a defining moment in Jewish history. Through its continued evolution and dynamic growth in relation to the modern world, Hebrew remains key to understanding Israeli society and culture today. The curriculum supports the acquisition of Hebrew language skills in four fundamental areas of language proficiency: speaking, reading, writing and listening. Hebrew prose, poetry, drama, newspaper articles, movies, and songs, serve as the primary texts of Hebrew language acquisition. The curriculum centers around thematic units that provide opportunities for students to use Hebrew language to communicate about ideas and events that are central to their life experiences as adolescents, to support their ability to navigate everyday life in Israel, and to explore their growing and developing identity as Jewish young adults. The Hebrew Department provides three separate tracks for students in ninth through twelfth grade. Students who are heritage speakers, and/or have studied Hebrew in Jewish Day schools, enroll in classes in Hebrew Language and Literature. Within this track, students are grouped according to knowledge and ability in Honors, Accelerated and Grade-Level groupings. Students entering a Jewish day school for the first time in ninth grade enroll in the Sha’ar track. Sha’ar classes use an Ulpan methodology, and are designed to transition students into the Hebrew Language and Literature track in the upper grades. Students who require additional support in second language acquisition enroll in the Basic Hebrew track. These small classes provide the individualized attention necessary for students to develop increasing fluency in all areas of language proficiency. Within each track, each successive year of the curriculum builds on the previous year, as students learn to conduct increasingly complicated conversations on a wider variety of topics and read more sophisticated literary texts, and express themselves in writing with greater accuracy and nuance. When appropriate, students may move from one track to another, both mid-year and between years. The ninth grade curriculum centers around the themes of tradition and heritage and explores the nature of memory and the healthy tension between preservation and innovation within our shared Jewish identity and individual lives. In tenth grade, students explore the pull between “journeying” and being at “home.” Students study different kinds of journeys, both physical and internal, and think about the many meanings of the word home. What makes a place feel like home? Can home be a person, a memory, a feeling, or a community? And what happens to us along the way as we journey from one place to another? The eleventh grade curriculum explores dilemmas and values in conflict. Through modern Hebrew poetry and prose, especially short stories by contemporary authors such as Benny Mer and Etgar Keret, students examine the complexity of building a shared life with others, from family relationships and German-Israeli reconciliation after the Shoah to the tension between personal and national identity among Israelis and Palestinians.
GRADE 12 HEBREW ELECTIVES:
HEBREW
LEADERSHIP: LEADING OURSELVES AND OTHERS As students prepare to enter the wider world and pursue higher education, this course explores leadership through examples drawn from the Tanakh, history, and contemporary life. Students will examine different leadership styles, reflect on the qualities of effective leaders, and consider how they can exercise leadership in their own lives and communities. Through discussions, presentations, and the study of articles, poetry, prose, and short stories, students will develop critical thinking skills, strengthen their ability to express themselves, clarify their personal values, and reflect on the leaders they admire and thekind of leaders they aspire to become. -28-
ISRAEL THROUGH ITS’ EUROVISION SONGS Since 1973, Israel has entered an original song to the Eurovision Song Contest, and each entry offers a snapshot of the country at a particular moment. In this course, students use Israel’s Eurovision songs as a lens for exploring how Israeli society, culture, and identity have changed over the decades. Students listen to, read, and analyze song lyrics in Hebrew, building vocabulary and comprehension while connecting language to its historical and cultural context. We’ll look at how songs reflect themes such as war and peace, immigration and diversity, religion and secularism, gender and representation, and Israel’s relationship with the wider world. We’ll also consider the controversies surrounding some entries and the contest itself.
NEW YORK AND TEL AVIV: TWO CITIES THAT NEVER SLEEP Israel lies thousands of kilometers away, and from the vantage point of New York it can at times feel distant from the rhythm of daily life. This course offers a distinctive opportunity to observe two remarkable cities side by side: Tel Aviv, the First Hebrew City, known also as the White City, and New York, the Big Apple. Tel Aviv is vibrant, distinguished by an unusual blend of culture, art, nightlife, and cuisine, qualities that New York shares in abundance. Through a variety of activities, students will deepen their understanding of both cities. Drawing upon contemporary sources, students will forge meaningful and original connections between these two vibrant urban worlds.
ISRAELI SOCIETY THROUGH ISRAELI FILM This course focuses on outstanding Israeli feature films that present a variety of cinematic reflections on contemporary Israeli society and culture. Each film is preceded by essential historical and cultural background on Israel to properly contextualize the narrative. Following each screening, interactive discussions are held regarding the film’s themes, content, and the broader societal issues it raises.
HEBREW
All films are screened in their original Hebrew, at times utilizing English subtitles. Students learn film-specific Hebrew vocabulary and are expected to incorporate this new language into their written assignments and class discussions.
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WORLD LANGUAGES The World Languages program invites students to experience other cultures through the languages in which those cultures live and have been written. Whether learning to converse in French, Spanish, or Arabic, or to read ancient texts in Greek, students build language skills alongside an understanding of the literature, art, history, and daily life of the communities that speak or spoke these languages.
FRENCH Spoken in 29 countries by 300 million people around the world, French is the language of a culture with a palpable influence through its food, music, literature, and visual arts. The four-year French program at The Heschel School exposes students to all of these through linguistic immersion and command of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. In French I, students use everyday situations to learn to communicate about themselves and their immediate surroundings. Concrete situations remain present in levels II and III, but students also begin to express abstract ideas that go beyond the here and now. Through classic literature, including the poems of Jacques Prévert (French I), Maupassant’s The Necklace (French II), St-Exupéry’s The Little Prince (French III), and the plays of Molière (French IV), students learn to express, discuss, and debate abstract ideas. Senior year offers students the unique opportunity to combine the study of culture with their written and spoken skills. Students explore 19th-century Paris through painting, debate current events in contemporary France, and explore other French-speaking countries around the world, with an emphasis on the history of French colonialism and what it means to be French in the 21st century.
SPANISH The goals of the Spanish program are for students to learn to speak and understand the language and to appreciate the people and cultures of Spanish-speaking countries. Using an experiential approach, the program supports learning through daily exposure and practice with literature, songs, poetry, skits, movies, plays, games, and paired work. In ninth grade, students begin to develop proficiency through class discussions, presentations, and writing assignments. They learn the grammatical structures needed to converse on a variety of topics relevant to their daily lives, allowing them to communicate with Spanish speakers at home and abroad. As students progress to intermediate and advanced levels, they read a variety of Hispanic literature, from the philosophical labyrinth of Borges to magical realism’s search for the transcendent in everyday life, and reading transports them across continents and cultures. In their final year at Heschel, students use Spanish to study the historical legacy of the Hispanic presence in North America, the enduring importance of Latino contributions to the culture of the United States, and the contours of Hispanic migration in North America through a humanitarian lens. Students develop both an appreciation of and a capacity for critical analysis of poetry, theater, and modern media in Spanish.
ARABIC
WORLD LANGUAGES
Through the development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, the study of Arabic at Heschel empowers students to communicate in the world’s fifth most spoken language, with close to 400 million speakers in over 20 countries. From the start, students acquire the Arabic alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar needed for basic conversation in the Levantine Arabic dialect, and they develop basic reading skills in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) by exploring the daily lives of diverse families across the Arabic-speaking world. Students study the rich diversity of Arab and Islamic culture and the contributions Arabs have made to architecture, astronomy, navigation, mathematics, and the arts. As they travel across the Arab world, they explore a range of lifestyles connected by a common language and shared heritage, and they compare and contrast Arab life and customs with their own. By the end of the course, students have strong foundations in speaking and understanding Levantine Arabic, are comfortable reading and writing in MSA, and understand the culture and the diglossic nature of life in the Arab world (the coexistence of a formal written standard and everyday spoken dialects).
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ANCIENT GREEK Ancient Greek, a year-long senior elective, offers students opportunities to explore the linguistic, political, and cultural ideals that helped shape Western Civilization. By the end of the course, students understand the development of the Greek language, appreciate Greek political ideals, and are exposed to ancient Greek art and social life.
WORLD LANGUAGES
The course uses An Introduction to Greek by Crosby and Schaeffer as its language text, along with handouts on culture and politics and online musical resources for the rehearsal and performance section of the course.
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ELECTIVES: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel urged young people to “build a life as if it were a work of art.” Elective courses at Heschel take up that challenge, giving students room to follow their curiosity, develop new skills, and find their own ways of expressing themselves and engaging with the world in a range of disciplines and genres. Electives are offered every semester of high school and largely fall within three categories: Visual Arts; Music; and Writing, Literature, and Media.
VISUAL ARTS Visual arts courses at Heschel are grounded in the belief that the discovery of personal meaning and the development of individual identity emerge through creative inquiry, close observation, and artistic practice. Courses are offered in drawing, painting, design, ceramics, printmaking, illustration, sculpture, graphic design, digital media, and photography. Through concept-based projects, students develop critical thinking, problem solving, artistic confidence, and a willingness to experiment. Coursework incorporates the study of artists and art history while encouraging students to create original, meaningful work. In a world saturated with images and technology, visual arts courses help students become thoughtful observers and makers, equipping them to interpret and analyze images and to express their own ideas. The goal of these courses is to foster a lifelong appreciation for the visual world and the ability to respond to it with insight and imagination.
GRADE 9 INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL ARTS This studio course presents experiences with various materials and approaches to creating art including, drawing, painting, outdoor sketching of cityscapes, figure drawing, two-dimensional and three-dimensional design exercises, collage, collagraphy, linoleum printing, and ceramics. Projects range from working from observation, imagination and from art history. The goal in this class is for students to develop artistic skills, confidence, and explore their own personal modes of expression.
GRADE 10 DRAWING AND PAINTING In this studio course, students explore drawing and painting through a variety of projects. From realistic studies to imaginative works, they learn to bring ideas to life using materials such as acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, collage, and mixed media. Lessons include creative challenges, observational and imaginative work, and opportunities to experiment, take risks, and develop a personal artistic voice.
ELECTIVES
CERAMIC SCULPTURE & POTTERY This course introduces students to working with clay, whether creating functional pieces like mugs and bowls or building sculptural forms from the imagination. Through hands-on techniques such as pinch, coil, slab, and modeling, students experiment with form, texture, and surface while drawing inspiration from historic and contemporary ceramic artists.
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DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Photography is more than taking pictures; it is about seeing and communicating. In this course, students explore light, composition, and visual storytelling through hands-on photo shoots and digital editing in Photoshop. Whether beginners or building on existing skills, they learn to make thoughtful creative choices and express their unique perspectives through images.
GRADE 11 ADVANCED CERAMICS This course gives students the freedom to explore more advanced hand-building techniques, from functional forms to expressive sculpture. They work with clay through all its phases, learn firing techniques, and study global and contemporary ceramic art. Students think critically, get messy, and bring their ideas to life. (Prerequisite: Ceramic Sculpture & Pottery or permission of instructor)
ADVANCED DRAWING, PAINTING & PRINTMAKING This studio course helps students build artistic skills through portraiture, still life, and imaginative work using paint, pencil, mixed media, and monoprinting. Students explore both traditional and expressive techniques while developing a personal style and creative confidence. Inspired by observation, imagination, and historic artists, each project offers a chance to connect with materials and ideas in a meaningful, individualized way. Whether students want to strengthen their technical abilities or build a portfolio, the course provides a supportive environment in which to grow as artists and thinkers. (Prerequisite: Drawing and Painting (10) or permission of instructor)
GRADE 12 SENIOR ART STUDIO
ELECTIVES
This studio course, offered in the fall and the spring, gives students the chance to experiment, take creative risks, and deepen their own artistic voices before graduation. Whether they are trying new materials or building on what they already love, students push boundaries and discover what excites them as artists. The course begins with a common prompt and sketchbook work, and each student responds in a unique way, developing ideas and approaches that get creative energy flowing. From there, students explore materials, research artists who inspire them, and shape a body of work that feels true to them.
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MUSIC Music education at Heschel is grounded in the belief that artistic expression is essential to students’ social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth, and courses connect students to Jewish and Israeli culture through repertoire and study. Music courses invite every student to discover music as a source of joy, expression, and lifelong connection. Through Western classical and popular music, theory, composition, performance, and technology, students develop the skills and confidence to create, perform, and appreciate music. Student compositions and arrangements are regularly performed. Heschel offers a well-equipped music studio and extracurricular opportunities including the Heschel Harmonizers, Jazz Band, Electronic Music Club, and the annual Musical Theater production. Students may study music throughout all four years of high school.
GRADE 9 ENSEMBLE This performance-centered ensemble, open to intermediate and experienced instrumentalists, devotes most class sessions to rehearsal and builds a repertoire over the course of the semester. Basic music-reading ability is recommended. The ensemble performs for the Heschel community at various points during the semester. Alongside rehearsal, students will listen to and discuss both familiar and unfamiliar music and compose original pieces using GarageBand and music notation software. All instruments are welcome.
THEORY & MUSICIANSHIP For beginner to intermediate musicians who wish to enhance their musicianship skills. Students will learn to read and write notation, sight sing, compose, and, occasionally, play instruments together. Previous musical experience is not required and the curriculum will be tailored to the knowledge and ability level of the students. Students will also experiment with music technology and Garageband. Recommended for aspiring band members, singers, and those interested in studying Music Theory in later high school years.
MODERN MUSIC APPRECIATION For passionate music listeners and beginner music students. Students will explore and critique the music they listen to on a daily basis as well as a wide variety of other genres, including Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop, Rap and Israeli music. Students will also experiment extensively with music technology and Garageband and try out a variety of beginner instrumental activities (xylophones, percussion, basic keyboard.) The goal in this class is for students to expand their musical vocabulary and analysis skills in order to become informed and nuanced consumers of music.
GRADE 10
ELECTIVES
MUSIC THEORY I This course teaches essential elements of music theory and ear training. The year begins with notation and solfege singing, which help students visualize and aurally understand the concepts that follow. Topics include scales, key signatures, intervals, chords, counterpoint, and four-part harmony voice leading. Each unit is studied from a written, theoretical perspective and practiced through ear training exercises that build singing, hearing, and dictation skills. Students learn to hear music internally, produce it vocally, and apply it on keyboard and guitar. Units are placed in historical context, showing how theory developed and shaped the progression of Western music. The goals are to build understanding of the musical system in order to strengthen musical ability, especially singing, to learn the “language” of music, and to sharpen analytical skills, all while encouraging a love and appreciation of music. -34-
ROCK BAND Rock band continues the study of performance and creative music-making that students began to explore in their ninth grade music courses. Students choose repertoire from the school’s Rock and Pop lead sheet library or from new recordings they select and play aloud in class. They engage with music directly by playing as a band and, in the first semester, by creating compositions in GarageBand. All players learn to accompany vocals within an arrangement and to make thoughtful decisions about what to play and when. Projects in lyric writing, songwriting, arranging, and composition run throughout the year and balance the live band playing, which typically occupies 50 to 70 percent of class time. Electric guitars, electric bass, electronic keyboards, a drum kit, and a wide array of percussion are available to students.
SONGWRITING AND PRODUCTION This course explores the creative process of songwriting, from the first spark of an idea to a fully produced track. Students listen to and analyze influential and iconic songs and study techniques for crafting strong lyrics and memorable melodies. They then apply these skills to write an original composition, which they produce and record in GarageBand as a final project. The course is designed for all students, and no prior musical experience is required.
GRADE 11 ROCK BAND Eleventh Grade Rock Band emphasises sensitive, cooperative participation and on individual improvement that strengthens the sound of the whole. Prior experience on a band instrument or in a choir is not required. The level of sophistication is higher than in tenth grade, and the band gives an annual 40-minute performance for the Heschel Middle School in the fall semester, usually around Hanukkah. A two-song follow-up performance is expected at the full-school Celebration of the Arts Night at the end of January, and a spring performance may be scheduled around one of the Jewish holidays in April or May.
MUSIC THEORY II This one-semester course explores advanced elements of music theory and ear training. Students are expected to have the skills covered in Music Theory I. They are challenged to sight-read without preparation and to train their internal hearing by singing while performing or hearing simultaneous musical parts. Advanced theoretical topics include modes, seventh chords, figured bass, four-part harmony writing, and modulation techniques, along with identifying chord progressions, phrasing, and cadences by ear. Students apply these skills as they sing classical canons and learn to follow and analyze orchestral scores to understand the overall form of the music, including binary, ternary, fugue, and sonata forms from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. The course aims to encourage a love and appreciation of music while sharpening analytical skills that apply in all areas of life.
MUSIC FOR THE SCREEN
ELECTIVES
This course explores how music shapes what we see on screen. Through film scenes, commercials, video games, and sports highlights, students analyze how composers and producers use rhythm, melody, mood, and sound design to create emotion, tension, and storytelling. They experiment with syncing existing music to video, create original soundtracks in GarageBand, and collaborate on projects that bring visuals to life through sound. No advanced music experience is required, only curiosity about how music and media work together.
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GRADE 12 ROCK BAND Twelfth grade Rock Band is an advanced creative workshop in songwriting, arranging, and performing. The band plays as an ensemble three times a week, with an emphasis on sensitive, cooperative participation and on individual improvement that strengthens the sound of the whole. The level of play is more sophisticated than in eleventh grade. Students become fluent in song form and the basic vocabulary of lyric writing, rhythm, and style, and every student, regardless of skill level on their instrument, becomes a valuable participant in band play. The course also encourages students to try out original songs. Students perform publicly at various points in the year, and a performance at the Heschel Celebration of the Arts Night is expected.
MUSIC THEORY III: CHAMBER CHOIR This one-semester, fall course engages students in choral music in a chamber choir setting. Students sing classical choral music from the 13th century through the 21st century, in Europe and America, and analyze the theory in each composition. Using formal analysis techniques, they explore form, scales and modal structures, chord progressions, modulation techniques, and voice leading, while studying the musical practices and cultural context of the period in which each piece was composed. Students get the most out of the course if they have the skills covered in Music Theory I and II. The course is also open to singers without a theory background with the instructor’s approval, and these students are assessed on tasks suited to their knowledge and skill level. The course aims to introduce serious music students to the world of classical choral music, to help them appreciate the connection between music and the culture and time in which it is created, and to foster a lasting love for the complexity and emotional power of choral music.
WRITING, LITERATURE, AND MEDIA These electives explore the power of language to tell stories, record history, and shape how people understand the world. Through courses in creative writing, media and journalism, Holocaust literature, and public speaking, students examine how writers and speakers bear witness, inform, and persuade, and they develop their own voices as readers, writers, and communicators.
GRADE 9 INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING This course introduces students to the art of creative writing. Reading a variety of short texts, students explore fundamental elements of writing across styles to understand how each writer makes deliberate decisions to create a unique piece. Techniques include dialogue, narrative structure, voice, language, and plot. Students experiment with their own writing in a supportive environment and finish the semester with a portfolio of original work that reflects their growing understanding of the writing process.
ELECTIVES
GRADE 10 CREATIVE WRITING This course engages students in the art of creative writing. By reading and analyzing short stories, poems, and creative nonfiction, students gain an appreciation for how creative writers think about and practice their craft. Through weekly writing workshops, they deepen their ability to articulate their thoughts and questions about a piece of writing and strengthen their ability to give constructive feedback. By writing their own creative work, students gain valuable experience as they begin or continue their journey as writers. -36-
MEDIA, POWER & SOCIETY: JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY (offered in grades 10 & 11) Every day, people encounter headlines, opinions, and competing claims on TikTok, Instagram, and countless news sites. What is real? What is biased? What is designed to distract? In this semester-long course, students analyze everything from social media posts and YouTube videos to long-form articles from legacy newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, asking how stories are told and who gets left out. Through writing and discussion, they debate issues, share opinions, and challenge one another’s thinking. Students come away understanding how news is constructed and why that matters, how social media affects mental health, and how their own media habits and biases shape their lives.
GRADE 11 CREATIVE WRITING: ELEMENTS OF FICTION In this course, students learn the elements of creative writing, with a particular focus on fiction. How do writers create something from their imagination that feels true? How can writers draw on their own lives or on observation of the world around them to do the same? In addition to looking closely at fictional texts, students read and respond to one another’s writing in a weekly workshop, learn to give constructive feedback, and edit their own work. All levels of writing are welcome.
ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION In this course, students learn the elements of creative writing, with a particular focus on creative nonfiction. Writers of creative nonfiction write about true content but still rely on the foundations of good writing, such as structure and dialogue, to make their work compelling. Texts include memoir and collections of essays. Students workshop their own pieces in class, give constructive feedback to their peers, and have many opportunities to edit and improve their work. All levels of writing are welcome.
HOLOCAUST LITERATURE This semester-long course introduces students to different genres of literature written about the Shoah. Students read short stories and poetry by a diverse set of authors whose lives were directly affected by the Holocaust. The course supplements, and does not substitute for, the historical perspective students gain in eleventh grade social studies. The authors sought to express their trauma through literature, finding different ways to make sense of the post-Holocaust world. By engaging with their work, students attempt to find their own ways of making sense of the Shoah and its aftermath.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
ELECTIVES
This class focuses on developing students’ oral communication skills and use of spoken language. Whether in classroom discussions, meetings, clubs, interviews, or casual social situations, the ability to express ideas and feelings clearly and effectively is an important and valuable life skill. Students learn and prepare various forms of public speaking, including expository (informational) speaking, persuasive speaking, panel and roundtable discussions, and storytelling. Mastering these skills builds confidence in speaking to small groups or large audiences. The class is appropriate both for students who want to increase their confidence and ease in speaking and for those who want to strengthen existing skills.
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GRADE 12 CREATIVE WRITING: THE SHORT STORY This fall course examines and practices the art of the short story, which contains all the elements of a longer work of fiction in a shorter space. Students take stories apart to see how writers create the effects they intend, then apply what they know to distill a piece down to what is most essential to its meaning, which is harder than it sounds. They read a variety of short pieces and write some of their own, finishing the semester with a portfolio of multiple works.
CREATIVE WRITING: WRITER’S STUDIO
ELECTIVES
In this spring course, students develop and complete an independent writing project in the genre of their choice. In addition to reading completed works, they workshop one another’s writing in a safe, supportive environment. They finish the semester with a polished piece of writing they are proud of, such as a short story, a personal essay, or a group of poems. All levels of writing are welcome.
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PHYSICAL EDUCATION Physical education (PE) plays a significant role in the physical, mental, and social development of high school students. Heschel’s PE curriculum exposes students to a wide variety of physical activities and learning styles, with the goal of fostering a lifelong commitment to health through activity. Students develop habits of productive exercise that support physical health and lifelong fitness.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Physical education classes include, but are not limited to, power bands, weights, circuit training, jogging, fitness testing, basketball, floor hockey, speedball, Wiffle ball, softball, soccer and indoor soccer, volleyball, international kickball, handball, track and field, and badminton.
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