American Hebrew Academy
Encyclopedia
The American Hebrew Academy (AHA) is an American Jewish pluralistic
college preparatory
boarding school
. The coeducational school is located in Greensboro, North Carolina
with a 100 acre (0.4 km²) campus designed by Aaron Green
, protégé of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright
.
The academy opened on September 10, 2001.
The academy uses a trimester calendar. The primary language of instruction is English and students are required to show a substantial progression with Hebrew language prior to graduation.
-enabled cameras and microphones. Classroom seating is at Harkness table
s, teardrop-shaped tables that follow the Harkness teaching method that ostensibly create a shared, equal environment for the students. The average class-size is 12 people, in order for students to get as much one-on-one interaction with their peers and instructors as possible.
AHA has the largest lake-coupled geothermal
exchange well field in the United States to heat its campus.
. The center includes three basketball courts, rock climbing walls, a racquetball court, an exercise gym and an eight-lane pool.
The Academy also has playing fields including: a soccer stadium, baseball fields, softball fields, multiple all-purpose fields, and a track. As a member of the Triad Athletic Conference, the Academy offers the following sports: baseball, basketball, cross-country, soccer, swimming, track and field, and volleyball. A cheerleading squad is also available. Wrestling, softball, and tennis are offered depending on student interest. The following intramural and club sports are available: racquetball, tennis, softball, golf, Touch Football, Ultimate Frisbee, Yoga, Aerobic and Weight Training, Kayaking and Sailing, Karate, and Rock Climbing.
In the summer of 2010, The Six Points Sports Academy, the first-in-the-nation Jewish sports summer camp, part of the Union for Reform Judaism's family of summer camps, began its inaugural session at the American Hebrew Academy. Open to young athletes ages 10 to 15 from all over North America, Six Points provides a well-rounded camping experience that offers intensive training in the individual's chosen sport as well as cross-conditioning electives. In addition, Reform Jewish summer camp activities are offered with other athletes, professional coaches and Jewish counselors.
, Israel
and study at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. This immersion program enables students to experience Israel and the Hebrew language.
Cultural pluralism
Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture. Cultural pluralism is often confused with Multiculturalism...
college preparatory
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
. The coeducational school is located in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
with a 100 acre (0.4 km²) campus designed by Aaron Green
Aaron Green
Aaron Green was an American architect and protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright.- History :Aaron Green grew up in Florence, Alabama...
, protégé of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
.
History
The academy was founded in 2001 by Maurice Sabbah, a Sephardic Jew and Zionist in the aviation reinsurance business, living in Greensboro. Sabbah wanted to create a high school option for Greensboro’s Jewish teens and to draw a critical mass of students from other regions of the country where Jewish day school was not a feasible option.The academy opened on September 10, 2001.
Curriculum
The curriculum at AHA is based on a 'dual-curriculum' model in which the secular studies (Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Languages) are taught alongside a Jewish Studies program (Mishnah, Talmud, Bible, Jewish Philosophy, and Jewish History).The academy uses a trimester calendar. The primary language of instruction is English and students are required to show a substantial progression with Hebrew language prior to graduation.
Campus technology
All students are issued Lenovo IdeaPad laptop computers. Classrooms have Smart Boards, projectors and teleconferenceTeleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of information among several persons and machines remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system...
-enabled cameras and microphones. Classroom seating is at Harkness table
Harkness table
The Harkness table is a large, oval table used in a style of teaching, The Harkness Method, wherein students sit at the table with their teachers. This teaching method is in use at many American boarding schools and colleges. It encourages classes to be held in a discursive manner...
s, teardrop-shaped tables that follow the Harkness teaching method that ostensibly create a shared, equal environment for the students. The average class-size is 12 people, in order for students to get as much one-on-one interaction with their peers and instructors as possible.
AHA has the largest lake-coupled geothermal
Geothermal power
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
exchange well field in the United States to heat its campus.
Athletics
The Academy has an 88000 square feet (8,175.5 m²), $13 million athletic center and natatoriumNatatorium
A natatorium is a term given for a building containing a swimming pool. In Latin, a cella natatoria was a swimming pool in its own building, although it is sometimes also used to refer to any indoor pool even if not housed in a dedicated building...
. The center includes three basketball courts, rock climbing walls, a racquetball court, an exercise gym and an eight-lane pool.
The Academy also has playing fields including: a soccer stadium, baseball fields, softball fields, multiple all-purpose fields, and a track. As a member of the Triad Athletic Conference, the Academy offers the following sports: baseball, basketball, cross-country, soccer, swimming, track and field, and volleyball. A cheerleading squad is also available. Wrestling, softball, and tennis are offered depending on student interest. The following intramural and club sports are available: racquetball, tennis, softball, golf, Touch Football, Ultimate Frisbee, Yoga, Aerobic and Weight Training, Kayaking and Sailing, Karate, and Rock Climbing.
In the summer of 2010, The Six Points Sports Academy, the first-in-the-nation Jewish sports summer camp, part of the Union for Reform Judaism's family of summer camps, began its inaugural session at the American Hebrew Academy. Open to young athletes ages 10 to 15 from all over North America, Six Points provides a well-rounded camping experience that offers intensive training in the individual's chosen sport as well as cross-conditioning electives. In addition, Reform Jewish summer camp activities are offered with other athletes, professional coaches and Jewish counselors.
Israel Trip
One trimester of the Junior year class is in Israel. Students live in Hod HaSharonHod HaSharon
Hod HaSharon is a city in the Center District of Israel.Officially declared a city in 1990, Hod HaSharon was created from the union in 1964 of four neighboring villages: Magdiel, Ramatayim, Hadar, and Ramat Hadar...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and study at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. This immersion program enables students to experience Israel and the Hebrew language.