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Student Lifeat Yeshivah Prep

Student Lifeat Yeshivah Prep

Grow stronger with expert support.

Grow stronger with expert support.

With care, structure, and tradition, students thrive in and beyond the classroom.

Learning at Yeshivah Prep.

Students at the Center

Learning at Yeshivah Prep begins with knowing each student, and designing an individualized learning program that helps them grow. With our low staff to student ratio, and a limit of 11 students per class, Yeshivah Prep is perfectly structured to help your child flourish. Much of our learning happens in small groups with trained specialists. We build upon our students’ strengths while also supporting their areas of growth, helping them reach their full academic potential. Verbal, visual and hands-on learning experience, engages student’s attention, fostering curiosity and excitement. 

Both our General and Judaic teaching staff collaborate with therapists and the educational leadership team on a regular basis to ensure an integrated and holistic program. As the student becomes more aware of his or her personal responsibility and capacity, their independence grows in turn both inside and outside the classroom.

Our Curriculum

Writing
Reading
HEBREW LANGUAGE ARTS
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies / History
Judaic Studies

How we support students.

The therapists at Yeshivah Prep closely collaborate with the educational staff to help each student to grow and develop to their fullest potential. The first step is to assess each child’s strengths and weaknesses, and to create an individualized plan. 

Speech Therapy

Speech therapists help students who struggle with language processing and reading comprehension improve executive functioning skills, critical receptive/expressive language abilities, and develop foundational literacy skills. 

Occupational Therapy

The occupational therapy department will focus on improving any foundational sensory, fine/gross motor, visual perceptual, visual motor, and/or oculomotor challenges that may be interfering with a child’s academic performance.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy will work on improving any challenges students may experience in regards to endurance, postural control, balance/coordination, and overall gross motor skills to enable the students to participate in age appropriate activities with their peers during recess and gym.

Book a visit.

Every child deserves a school where they can thrive. A tour is the best way to discover if Yeshivah Prep is the right place for your family. During your visit, we’ll walk you through our approach, answer your questions, and help you feel at home.

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Basketball Team

Led by Coach Naveh (who coaches the women’s team at Stern College in his other professional life), our middle school is an up-and-coming contender in the Yeshivah League.

Our Co-Curriculars

Kabbalat Shabbat

Every Friday our students get together with Rabbi Elnadav to learn about the parasha, sing, and get ready for Shabbat!

Grow Torah

Students learn about the environment, farming, Torah and responsibility - all at the same time. And…they get to eat what they grow when the harvest comes in!
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Physical Education

Both Coach Naveh and Victor Gindi teach our students about collaboration, leadership and resilience - all while learning to play sports. While phys ed is twice a week, Coach Naveh is out at every recess as guide, teacher and mentor. And to get in a few more minutes of team basketball practice! And for our youngest learners in Kindergarten and First Grade we also have gymnastics with Grace Esses!

Art

Whether it’s visual or culinary arts, students learn to engage their bodies, express themselves, and enrich themselves and our school community through their creativity.

Exciting Judaic Programming

Living an engaging Jewish life is critical for our students at Yeshivah Prep, which is why we find lots of opportunities to bring Torah to life. Whether it’s the standard (and totally moving) Siddur and Chumash play; our unique Shabbat Festival; a school-wide celebration of our bar-mitzvah student; weekly Kabbalat Shabbat programming; and exciting experiences before every chag, our students have an engaging and fun experience of Torah throughout.

Field Trips Far and Wide

From the Met to the Zoo; the Intrepid, to the Museum of Math; Learning about New York history through Rise New York or the Jewish Children’s Museum; supporting our local Staten Island Ferryhawks minor league team; or learning about the arts at the Sweet Spot Playhouse or Arts on Stage - New York is our oyster, and we take advantage of it for our learning.

Our Sephardic traditions

 

The Sephardic heritage has a rich spiritual and cultural legacy that encompasses all aspects of individual and communal life and supports the right education for each child.

Mesorah / Heritage

As a community school, students are taught Mesorah, Pizmonim and how to read from the Torah. A Sephardic Rabbi leads the students in singing the pizmonim and explaining the meaning and customs before each holiday. It is always so beautiful to see the excitement on each student’s face as he begins to prepare and practice for his bar mitzvah. From putting on tefillin for the first time, wrapping his tallit and reading from a genuine Sefer Torah, each student is guided step by step and encouraged to succeed.

Tefillah & Pizmonim

Proper reading of the prayers and pizmonim is a vital component of a child’s growth so that he may feel comfortable in a shul setting, join in at a Sebbet and know the traditional pizmonim. At Yeshivah Prep we strive to have every student graduate knowing and enjoying all the tefillot, whether for weekday, shabbat or holidays. Our junior high students participate in a minyan, taking turns to be the hazzan and having an opportunity to recite prayers unique to a minyan.

Minhagim / Customs

Our goal is for students to achieve a level of competency in individual customs and culture needed for successful integration into their communities. The students learn through stories, songs, Smart Board technology and games for acquisition, mastery and creativity. Our ‘menorah contest’ is an all-time favorite where students design innovative, creative and beautiful handmade menorot which are proudly displayed in our lobby.

Cornerstones of Hesed.

The Mishna teaches that the world stands on Torah, service to Hashem, and acts of kindness. At Yeshivah Prep, we weave these pillars into every aspect of learning—because developing the heart is just as important as developing the mind.

Guided by our Mental Health and Wellness Team, students build essential social-emotional skills through interactive experiences and meaningful responsibilities. They learn to:

Kindness is contagious.

  • Collaborate and direct group activities
  • Understand cause and effect with a focus on empathy and social awareness
  • Build positive peer relationships by sharing, delaying gratification, and offering compliments
  • Practice healthy assertiveness, emotional regulation, and good sportsmanship
  • Take on roles that contribute to the classroom community and support others
  • See situations from another’s perspective to strengthen empathy
  • Practice conflict resolution skills, reinforcing lessons of shalom, achdut, and ben adam lechavero

Alumni success stories.

Robby Chattah

Robby is a partner at Reshape — an NYC-based company that invests in companies within the Proptech sector and has an internal real estate advisory arm that helps the companies it invests in grow globally.

Joseph Sutton

After Yeshivah Prep, Joey attended Kingsborough Community College and is a graduate of Hofstra University. Joey is the import manager for a large consumer goods manufacturing company. He and his wife live in Brooklyn.

Julia Sabbagh

Yeshivah Prep High School gave me the confidence and resilience to pursue my goals. After a year in Israel with the MTC program, where I will help provide a family environment for children from troubled homes while continuing my own learning, I plan to attend Hunter College. My high school experience truly strengthened my skills and prepared me for this next chapter.

David Cheney

I graduated from Yeshivah Prep last year and am currently studying at Advanced Business College. Yeshivah Prep gave me the confidence to take advantage of every opportunity, from academics to leading as captain of the basketball team. It will always feel like my happy place, and I’m proud to call it home.

David Dweck

My name is David Dweck, and I am currently studying at Yeshivat Moresh Yerushalayim. High school played an essential role in helping me reach this stage, guiding me through challenges in the classroom and beyond. My teachers were true role models who supported me every step of the way and helped shape the person I am today.

Alumni success stories.

Sean Dweck

Sean Dweck is married with three children and lives in New Jersey. Sean works in retail and he is creating a nonprofit organization named Lev Agunot with members of his community.

Sonny Halawani

Sonny Halawani graduated Yeshivah Prep in 2003. He is married with four children. Sonny owns and operates Brooklyn Party Rental, which services many community events throughout the year.

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Our Curriculum

ThinkSRSD Writing Program & Handwriting Without Tears

ThinkSRSD (Self-Regulated Strategy Development) Writing Program is an evidence-based pedagogy that provides a framework for teachers to follow to teach each step of writing explicitly. It teaches students the writing process and how to use it and it equips them with the necessary skills and strategies to become self-regulated, successful writers. Through carefully analyzing peer-written exemplars and published mentor texts, ThinkSRSD exposes learners to the features of effective writing at the outset and all through the year. Explicit instruction prepares students to incorporate these features into their own pieces. They learn key strategies and solidify their skills through: collaborative writes, self/peer feedback and embedded deliberate practice. To facilitate a gradual release, teachers model writing, offer scaffolds and support and ongoing goal setting. These scaffolds lighten the cognitive load on students and help students translate their ideas onto paper more easily. Through ThinkSRSD, students will explicitly learn:

  • The steps of the writing process
  • The parts of a paragraph/essay
  • How to plan and revise writing
  • Positive self talk and self-regulation when writing tasks get challenging
  • Self-scoring and goal setting
  • Different types of writing and their texts structures
  • Sentence expansion and variation

The Handwriting Without Tears Program provides developmentally appropriate, multisensory strategies for early writing. The program follows research of how children learn best using materials that address all styles of learning.

  • Multisensory activities and manipulatives appeal to all learning styles and provide a hands-on approach to handwriting.
  • Teaches handwriting alongside other subjects. Fun letter lessons and writing activities connect handwriting to math, social studies, ELA, and science.
  • Innovative letter order and style to promote easy learning for every letter.

Our Curriculum

Fundations / Wilson & Wonders Reading Program

Fundations, and the Wilson Reading Program, are multisensory, structured language programs, which provide research-based materials and strategies essential to a comprehensive reading, spelling, and handwriting program, while laying the groundwork for life-long literacy. Students in grades K-3 receive a systematic program in critical foundational skills, emphasizing:

  • Phonemic awareness
  • Phonics/word study
  • High frequency word study
  • Reading fluency
  • Vocabulary
  • Comprehension strategies
  • Handwriting
  • Spelling

The instruction aligns with states’ rigorous college-and career-ready standards.

Using the Wonders Reading Program, students receive a comprehensive set of connected resources. The program combines literacy with social emotional learning, helping students strengthen skills, bolster learning, and encourage independence, enhancing the important and inspiring work the students do in their classroom.

Students read widely across connected text sets, notice and annotate, listen and speak about what they have noticed, and write in the genre using an expert model or mentor text. Along the way, they are learning the elements of each genre, looking at the author’s craft, and gaining the skills they need to read independently.

By mastering the key features of each genre, students are better prepared to understand subject matter, read more broadly and deeply, and write about what they know. They will be ready to approach any text—whether their interests and curiosities draw them to literature, biography, nonfiction, or drama—and communicate effectively.

Students are encouraged to listen before speaking, speak before writing, and think critically—asking questions, finding text evidence, and building a more advanced set of literacy tools. With integrated grammar, spelling, and handwriting instruction, students build their capabilities every day.

Differentiated instruction is built into the resources and lessons, providing all students with the scaffolding or extensions they need to be an active part of their classroom community of learners. Students are provided with a collection of resources and instruction to move students ahead as soon as they are ready.

Our Curriculum

Keriyah / Hebrew Language Arts

Yeshivah Prep’s Hebrew curriculum covers all relevant subjects including Hebrew Language Arts, Hebrew Reading, Hebrew Handwriting, Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew Speaking. The Hebrew program is a language acquisition program designed to enhance the curriculum and hone cognitive skills that are necessary for learning any language including English.  

First and foremost, our efforts are focused on developing the executive functioning and knowledge acquisition skills required by special education students. 

Niv Sifatenue Hebrew Reading Program

The Niv Sifatenue program is a full secular system based on three basic  foundations: 

  • Teaching the concept of reading and syllabicating words in a structured way.
  • As each new vowel is introduced, all previous vowels are addressed through cumulative review of words, sentences, and stories.
  • Fluency is introduced through the use of illustrated sentences and stories. 

Under the guidance of a Hebrew reading specialist, students practice regular Hebrew reading with an instructor, isolating individualized areas of deficiency and focusing on reading fluency. Each center provides an opportunity for students to read, write, listen and/or speak while learning to complete their work independently. Using technology and literacy centers students develop Hebrew literacy skills.

NikudQuest Program

The NikudQuest Decodable Book Library was carefully designed to help children apply existing word knowledge to read for meaning and pleasure. These books help build Hebrew language, reading fluency, confidence, independence and a love for reading. They span different topics to appeal to all types of children, from fables and narratives, to informational text and historical concepts. 

Sod Haketivah Hebrew Handwriting Program

Handwriting skills are developed through Sod Haketivah, an innovative, immersive, and engaging handwriting program formulated by a certified occupational therapist with many years of experience in creating and teaching school-based writing skills. Through this program, students learn and review how to form the letters of the Hebrew alphabet using appropriate directionality of letter formation in a multisensory, engaging manner which allows for greater writing proficiency in a shorter amount of time. 

Hebrew Grammar Program

Using grammar workbooks, teacher-made materials and Smart Board technology, students characterize Hebrew words and are given exercises to complete for each of the following areas:

  • discovering and learning the structure of words (i.e., roots, prefixes and suffixes)
  • noticing and becoming aware of synonyms and antonyms
  • classifying words (according to gender)
  • noticing and becoming aware of parts of speech (i.e., verbs, nouns, adjectives)
  • incorporating key prefixes and suffixes to manipulate the formation of a word, changing its contextual meaning 

Safa Yaffa Hebrew Language Program

In our middle grades we use the Safa Yaffa program. The lessons are presented in a logical, clear, organized progression and incorporate constant review of material learned. The program uses its many components to complement each other and provides an enjoyable and effective learning experience. The teacher’s guide contains ideas for multisensory lessons and aids   teachers in planning meaningful lessons to reach all types of learners. The goal of the Safa Yaffa program is to help build classes of confident Hebrew speakers and writers.

Our Curriculum

Mathematics

The mathematics program is designed to meet the individual needs of every student. The Educational Directors meet with each student and teacher to coordinate individual programs. Math and test taking skills strategies and concepts are taught using conventional aids, as well as concrete manipulatives. Simple to follow instructions help the student learn key skills and concepts. The programs utilized are:

SPOTS Math

The SPOTS Math program provides visual representations of numbers and operations, to break through their inherently abstract nature and make these constructs approachable for the younger student. The program’s predictability enables students to continually add layers of meaning to their knowledge base as they make connections from strand to strand in mathematics.

Spots for M.A.T.H. expands on the Dot Card system to advance students’ operational skills in a manner that fluidly builds confidence and automaticity while strengthening conceptual understanding. The Dot Cards used throughout provide constant visual reinforcement of concepts and strategies, ensuring lasting internalization of skills learned. In addition to the Dot Card system, Spots for M.A.T.H. employs other innovative and research-driven representational strategies, such as use of the “Empty Number Line,” as well as real-world problem solving.

The Spots for M.A.T.H. system has been extensively pilot-tested in over 80 classrooms and has been revised and fine-tuned to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness. It has successfully raised achievement levels and enhanced the learning experience for students of varied abilities and learning styles.

Sadlier Oxford Progress in Mathematics Program

Progress in Mathematics provides rigorous content focused on building deep conceptual understanding of key math skills and concepts at each grade level. It provides students with the foundational skills needed to become proficient in math and uses a consistent instructional approach, with stepped-out lessons, to help learners gain confidence and master skills. It strengthens students’ comprehension levels with ample opportunities to implement the Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Our Curriculum

Science

Scientific exploration naturally requires multi-sensory participation. Students are given the opportunity to observe, investigate and experiment using active learning to develop skills and insure comprehension. Focused discussions take place in collaborative groups while experimental recording sheets help categorize each unit of investigation and collection by organizing data and discussing results. Systems for science include:

FOSS, Full Option Science System

FOSS, Full Option Science System, which uses several instructional pedagogues including inquiry, hands on active learning, multi-sensory methods, student-to-student interaction, discourse and reflective thinking.

Science Fusion

In the Upper Grades we utilize Science Fusion. Science Fusion combines the interactive digital engagement today’s students expect, and the learning support they need, to advance in science with in-depth understanding.

Award-winning Digital Lessons and Virtual Labs, enhanced by more than 3,000 videos, animations, and simulations, create learning that lasts by enriching the print program with complementary content. It opens the door to a world of science beyond the classroom.

Our Curriculum

Social Studies & History

Social Studies content includes Geography, Mapping, Cultural Studies, History, and Civics.

The Social Studies program is an integrated course of study which includes all conventional elementary content. Students participate in discussion, reading, writing, study skills development, cumulative projects and field trips. 

Our Curriculum

Judaic Studies

Our teachers and Rabbis are powerful role models, a key ingredient for successful Jewish education! The guidance and connection that they provide have a positive impact and make a difference in our students’ lives. Our Judaic Program is deeply integrated into and is designed to support, enhance and parallel our General Studies program.

Chumash (Bible Studies):

In Chumash, the primary goal is to teach the understanding and appreciation of this timeless text. Besides translation, time is devoted to teaching textual comprehension, which includes:

  • Close reading of the text
  • Absorbing the facts and stories
  • Finding the quotes
  • Sequencing
  • Identifying main idea and details
  • Noticing anomalies and deviations in the text
  • Understanding what the question and answer is from the text
  • How conflicts are resolved

The students learn to read, understand and become intimately familiar with the style of the text. Together, the teacher and students analyze the text; discuss how it might have been phrased differently; and what might be inferred from the choice of words and sentence structure.

Weekly Parasha (Weekly Biblical Portion):

Using animated presentations and a multi-sensory experience the students learn the Parasha of the week and about the different holidays that are celebrated throughout the year. Students are taught the storyline of the weekly Parasha while focusing on values and concepts congruently using diverse instructional strategies. Language comprehension and sequencing skills are honed to enable students to understand and to make logical connections. They are taught through stories, songs and games for acquisition, mastery and creativity.

Gemara (Text Analytics) – Middle School

The Talmud is composed of the Mishna (a written code of laws) and Gemara (rabbinic commentaries and discussions of the mishna) The Talmud is filled with debates and different perspectives on various issues. Talmud Study involves analyzing different arguments and opinions and understanding the reasoning behind how the different Rabbis arrived at their final conclusion.

Talmud Study emphasizes active interpretation of the text rather than passive absorption. It encourages critical thinking and the development of new insights based on the text. It requires a combination of strong language skills, critical thinking abilities, interpersonal skills and a willingness to engage deeply with Jewish law and thoughts. The students are engaged in a process that goes beyond simply reading and memorizing, it involves active engagement, questioning and debate.

Our Co-Curriculars

GrowTorah

GrowTorah designs immersive educational garden experiences that weave together hands-on gardening, land stewardship, and the exploration of meaningful Jewish values and Torah teachings.

Each week these experiences inspire our students to reflect on the intricate relationships between people, other living beings, and the earth, fostering deep and personal connections to these core principles.  When our students gather on our rooftop garden, it really feels like entering another world.

The garden serves as a living classroom, offering countless opportunities to learn—from the laws of agricultural charity to how Shabbat observance impacts our interaction with the land. Growing food not only encourages healthier eating habits but also deepens students’ appreciation for brachot, recited with greater mindfulness and intention.