The General Studies program at YULA is committed to providing students with a challenging and integrated college preparatory curriculum in the liberal arts, sciences, mathematics, and STEAM.
The General Studies experience at YULA lays the foundation for success after graduation through curricular and co-curricular offerings and opportunities. The College Guidance Office assists students in finding and applying to colleges and programs that are a best fit for their academic and personal needs.
Curriculum
English
The YULA English Department aims to cultivate the students’ critical thinking, close reading, and rhetorical writing skills throughout their four years of study. Students will develop their critical reading skills as they probe the classic texts that are the spine of each class. They will also develop the analytical writing skills by writing formal and informal responses to those texts. In addition, throughout all grades, students will work specifically on developing their vocabulary through myriad assessments. The focus on two separate, even if inherently related, skills makes English a dual curriculum in itself.
Mathematics
The YULA Math Department strives to give every student an appreciation of mathematics and demonstrate how it permeates all of our lives. We strive to create independent thinkers who become confident in their numerical reasoning skills and develop the ability to communicate mathematical ideas with ease and clarity. In each of their classes they are taught the skills of solving problems and constructing logical arguments. Technology is incorporated at every level and is used as a means to enhance the learning and understanding of each of our students. Every student is given the opportunity to take four years of math that is both is challenging and rewarding and each year is a stepping stone and forms the building blocks to subsequent years.
Science
The goal of the YULA Science Department is to prepare students for observation, collection, and interpretation of data, analytical skills and collaborative problem solving, effective communication orally and written for lab reports, and use of technology to gather and present information from experiments. The Department strives to create an engaging learning environment and instill an appreciation and love of the sciences. The science curriculum includes the essential knowledge students require to be scientifically literate students and is designed to expand the student’s understanding of the individual and society, leading to an appreciation of the world they live in. Science courses are laboratory-oriented and the curriculum is closely aligned with the California State Standards for science education.
History
The goal of the YULA History Department is to provide students with a broad understanding of the human experience from the dawn of civilization into the 21st century as well as the tools to explore that past on their own. The courses offered survey global history with a focus on the role of geography, American history, the American political system, and the development of modern Israel.
Hebrew
Hebrew is the language that connects the Torah, the Land of Israel and the people of Israel as one. It is for this reason that YULA Hebrew Department’s primary goal is to spread a personal feeling of love for the Hebrew language. Through Hebrew learning, we strive to build a strong connection to the State of Israel its diversity and culture. Our goal is to unite our students to Jewish people from around the world through Ivrit-Hebrew.
Physical Education
Our physical education department focuses on individual fitness, the development and improvement of basic motor skills, team skills, and cooperative games. Students may count participation on a YULA athletics team to fulfill one semester of their Physical Education requirement.