Though the almost 100 students at Kehillah Jewish High School have yet to set foot on their new Palo Alto campus, the school is abuzz about the “SMART Boards” in every classroom.
The white boards look deceptively like dry erase-boards, but a short demonstration shows they are far from that. Whatever is written on the whiteboards, designed by the Calgary, Canada-based SMART Technologies Inc., immediately shows up on the students’ laptop computers and can then be saved as text. The technology also allows for multiple other uses.
“There’s a lot of potential with the SMART Boards,” said Rabbi Hugh Seid-Valencia, a teacher of Jewish texts who was preparing for the start of school in his almost empty classroom last week. “Instead of giving over information, we’re creating a document together of whatever we’ve done that day.”
The teachers will attend a SMART Board training session before school starts. The Jewish high school may be the only school in the area with this technology available in each of its 27 classrooms.
“Most universities don’t have these,” said Reuven Greenvald, head of school.
On Sept. 6, the students, who, until now, have attended Kehillah in San Jose, will return to a brand new campus on Fabian Way in Palo Alto, right across the street from the future Campus for Jewish Life and down the road from Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School.
“This location is more convenient for the majority of our students,” said Marily Lerner, director of admissions.
The nondescript facade looks exactly as it did when it was an office building for Loral Space Systems, and the footprint of the building hasn’t changed at all. As of last week, the Kehillah sign wasn’t yet up. But $3 million worth of changes have been made inside the 50,000-square-foot, two-story building, including alcoves painted in hues of red, orange, purple and green across from lockers and a main office front desk made of Jerusalem stone.
The Student Life Center, where students will hang out between periods or meet for student council meetings and such, has red chairs and purple walls.
And as of last week, while the administration had moved in, no one under 21 was allowed in the building, as construction was still underway.
This has created a humorous situation where some parents have visited, but their children, the students, have not, and Lerner has had to meet a potential
student off-site.
In a tour of the building, most of the classrooms were still empty, the light-wood paneled science labs unfinished.
Kehillah opened in 2002 at what was called the Blackford campus in San Jose. In 2003, Kehillah was outbid by another private school to use the site for the next 20 years.
Last year, Kehillah contracted to use its new site for the next five years, with options for three five-year extensions and a clause permitting the purchase of the property within the next 10 years.
Some things here were modeled after Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, like its kitchen, where food can be reheated but not cooked.
“We’re working with a kosher caterer to offer a full lunch program,” Greenvald said.
Greenvald, though, is most proud of the Beit Midrash, which, when finished, will allow students to study at tables beneath a fabric Magen David hanging from the ceiling, next to tiled pillars and a custom-made ark.
The entire building is wired for wireless use of the Internet, so students do not have to go to the computer lab to get online. (Also, students who do not have their own laptops will have access to those belonging to the school, so every student can have regular access.)
And while the school has its own athletic room, once the JCC opens across the street, students will have access to its gym and swimming pool.
“They’re going to have wonderful facilities, and we’re working with them now on our athletics program,” said Lerner.