Opened for the first year of students in 2000, Stern now accommodates grades 9th through 12th, with students coming from the greater Philadelphia region as well as New Jersey.

Working in partnership with
The creation of the State of Israel is one of the seminal events in Jewish history. Recognizing the significance of the State and its national institutions, we seek to instill in our students an attachment to the State of Israel and its people as well as a sense of responsibility for their welfare.
Educational Philosophy / Curriculum

The Stern Hebrew High School seeks to inspire students with the blend of academic excellence, intellectual curiosity and religious depth that only a Centrist Orthodox day school at its best can provide. For four years we have an opportunity to take young adults, so filled with passion and insight, so in need of guidance and stability, and give them the tools and vision that will help them become the motivated Jews and Americans of the future. It is also our aim to help parents raise children committed to tradition and through that commitment guide them to becoming knowledgeable and thought full adults, able to share in both their people's mission and mankind's destiny.

The central goal of a school is to help students learn how to use their minds well. Our school has a second goal that complements and transcends this first goal: the development of young men and women who will become fully committed to a lifestyle of Torah, as transmitted through the Mesorah. We believe that these goals can only be realized through fostering commitment to Torah ideally inspires a desire to know the dimensions of G-d's creations, a need to seek truth. In this sense our dedication to the investigation of the sciences and humanities is a fulfillment of the Torah imperative to become full human beings, the B'nai and B'not Torah of the future. Thus, our academic program in both Judaic and secular studies seeks to provide our students with an environment conducive to scholarship, intellectual curiosity, love of learning, and creativity.

Academic Excellence in Judaic and General Studies

Our goal is to instruct and edify our students, rather than indoctrinate them. Our Jewish studies curriculum prepare our students to confidently study Torah in its fullness, as only a person at home with Tanach, Talmud and our other classic texts can do. The General studies curriculum focuses on language skills, mathematical and scientific method, and philosophical and historical analysis. It nurtures the literary talents and artistic interests of our students. We also provide athletic and extracurricular programming that responds to a wide range of student interests. State accreditation for independent school will be obtained as early as legally and practically possible. Upon graduation, our students will be prepared to attend the best Yeshivot, Michlalot and Universities.

Equal Education for Men and Women

Our school offers its young men and women the same opportunities for a Judaic and secular education. We value the development of the academic skill, intellectual drive, and self-confidence necessary for each student to make a lasting contribution to the world in the manner of his or her choosing. There are separate classes for young men and women. The dress code reflects proper respect and modesty.

Fostering the Pursuit of Knowledge on an Individual Basis

To help each student understand the unique manner in which he or she learns, we take a personal interest in the emotional, academic, ethical, and spiritual growth of each child. To encourage this process, our teachers work together in teams to create a learning experience that is focused on each student's development. Although a long day is necessary, given the goals of our curriculum, we use a modified form of block scheduling and a multi-discipline approach to curriculum development to enhance each student's ability to become involved with the subject matter.

Arts/Music Curriculum

We intend to facilitate the development of an Art/Music and Jewish Art/Music curriculum for 9th through 12th grades. To our knowledge, few curricula have been developed professionally, fewer have been implemented, and none have been evaluated. We are developing a curriculum that not only develops aesthetic sensitivities and abilities, but create a picture of the significance of these sensitivities from a Jewish Perspective.

Commitment to Israel

Our goal is to help students mature into caring and self-assured members of the Jewish community, American society and the world-at-large. We encourage the growth of this maturity through thoughtful involvement with Jewish History, Zionism, current events and the positive aspects of Israeli culture. We promote among our students an appreciation of the State of Israel in the context of our world today.

Integration of Knowledge and Experience

The long-range impact of an education is not measured in grades alone. It is measure in what is incorporated into the student's values, thoughts and ideals. In order to help our students live what they learn our teachers provide positive role models and the school creates education events that apply to what they teach.

Parental Involvement

Education is a partnership between school, parents and student. We encourage families to become integrally involved in the daily life of the school, representation on the Board and its committees, and in making the school a center of our intellectual and spiritual growth as a community.

In Conclusion

We owe it to our children to prepare them for the best Yeshivot, Michlalot, and Universities upon their graduation. We also owe it to them to do our best to make their high school education as inspiring as possible. We believe that such a school, one that aims for academics excellence for young men and women, that integrates knowledge and experience in a manner that leads to intellectual excitement, that fosters the child's potential to have a positive impact is what our time demands. With the help of an active parent body and supportive community, we look forward to creating a school worthy of our tradition and our youth.

Mission

Stern Hebrew High School is a Torah-based, college preparatory school that offers the same opportunities to young men and women for both a Judaic and general studies education. Our primary goal is to provide an environment that fosters scholarship, intellectual curiosity, love of learning, and a commitment to Halakhic Judaism. We instill a belief in the centrality of the State of Israel to the national and spiritual identity of the Jewish people and are committed to training our students to be passionate, articulate advocates for Israel.

As a Centrist Orthodox Jewish day school, we strive to create a community of knowledgeable and observant students who are able to think, act, question and express themselves independently while respecting Jewish authority and tradition. Half of the school day is devoted to Jewish studies and Hebrew language. The curriculum emphasizes study of Torah and classical Rabbinic texts, including Talmud, prayer, observance of mitzvot, and a commitment to Jewish ethical principles. Hebrew is taught both as a a tool for textual study and as a living language - among the school's goals is the achievement of fluency in Hebrew language, not just to learn and pray in the language of our heritage, but also to be conversant in modern Israeli culture and literature. Through involvement with Jewish history, Zionism, current events, and Jewish and Israeli culture, the students develop a positive identification with the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Our Jewish studies teachers are both positive Jewish role models and highly qualified educational professionals.

As a college preparatory high school, the Stern Hebrew High School provides students with a secular education that will enable them to succeed at the best institutions of higher learning. We offer individualized instruction in a curriculum that encourages an inquiring attitude and emphasizes critical thinking skills in the humanities, arts, and sciences.

Our expectations are that Stern Hebrew High School graduates will become self assured and involved future Jewish leaders. As intellectually and spiritually integrated individuals, our graduates will be fully committed Jews and Americans.

Rabbinic Advisory Committee


Board of Directors


Board of Trustees


Extra Curricular Activities