(Courtesy of JKHA/RKYHS) The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, New Jersey, has embarked on a number of exciting campus-wide capital initiatives that are dramatically transforming and enhancing the educational, spiritual and physical experience of students across all divisions of the school, expanding its already sprawling campus.
Leading off a summer of unprecedented transformation was the dedication of the Fishel Felix Rozen Torah Reference Library. For more than 70 years, the school has inspired children to embrace Torah learning and ideals. The Fishel Felix Rozen Torah Reference Library is located prominently in the newly renovated RKYHS Study Center and lies at the heart of the school. Students and faculty from all divisions can now access, discuss and delve deeper into both everyday and harder-to-find sources and texts. The Fishel Felix Rozen Torah Reference Library was dedicated in loving memory of Fishel Felix Rozen, z”l, beloved father of JKHA parents Bat Sheva and Murray Halpern, and alumni parent Mira Sasson, and grandfather of JKHA/RKYHS students and alumni Audrey, Gabriel and Nathaniel Halpern and Maya Sasson. The creation and dedication of this beautiful new space elevates and brings to life the school’s core value of Torah study, and was the ideal way to begin the transformations that are afoot for JKHA/RKYHS.
One of the major projects that the school has embarked on includes the development of an area entitled the “Side Six,” six acres of property adjacent to the school building, into a spacious, thoughtfully designed new outdoor recreational space, offering multiple play structures and fields, a track, a soccer field, basketball and tennis courts and an amphitheater. This state-of-the-art play area will offer recreational opportunities for physical education classes, recess activities and other outdoor experiences.
Board of trustees Co-Presidents Jeremy Halpern and Dov Lando and Head of School and Klatt Family Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Rubin recently joined together on the “side six” property with members of the board of trustees, honorary members of the board of trustees, school administration and Livingston Mayor Ed Meinhardt to kick off this exciting new chapter for the school’s campus.
In addition to the new recreational facilities being developed, the school looks forward to the opening of another impressive and meaningful capital addition, the Naomi Rosenfeld Kehilah Center. This brand new, multi-functional room creates an expansive indoor space to be utilized for large-scale programming, indoor recess during inclement weather, and small gathering pods for breakout group learning. Through a community-match challenge in the past school year, the school raised more than $600,000 to build the center, a beautiful space in the lower level of JKHA/RKYHS. More than 700 parents, students, alumni, alumni parents, community members, friends and loved ones came together to help build this vibrant new space to honor and remember JKHA parent Naomi Rosenfeld, z”l, each day at the school.
In order to attend to the the 21st-century health needs of the student population, JKHA/RKYHS is expanding its nursing facility to offer greater privacy to ill or injured students. The new Student Health Center will include a waiting room, a testing area and multiple resting spaces. Given the size of the large student population, JKHA/RKYHS is thrilled to meet their medical needs in this new enlarged space. The renovated space is made possible due to a generous grant from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.
“These major projects will have a transformative impact on student life, both in the short and long terms,” commented Rabbi Rubin. “As the school continues to see growth, we are delighted to be able to expand our facilities to enhance the student experience.”
