Who We Are

The Yeshivat Torat Yisrael Sabah (Hebrew Academy of West Queens) is a Yeshiva Middle School in the heart of the Queens Jewish community. Our guiding principle is that every Jewish child deserves a quality Torah education . We are deeply committed to maintaining a high standard of Torah studies, as well as a secular program based on the NY State Core Curriculum. We operate under the strict guidance of the Gedolai Torah , through the leadership of our esteemed Mashgiach Ruchani, Rabbi Mordechai Hecht, to insure that our Yeshiva adheres to the highest Torah standards and Hashkafah.

Our Mission

At the Hebrew Academy of West Queens , our mission is to provide an educational program that will encourage each individual student to achieve his/her highest potential possible. We accomplish this, by creating a warm, nurturing, and structured learning environment. We feature small classes and a multitude of one-to-one and small group learning situations to help every student reach their academic goals. We open our doors to children of all educational backgrounds and a variety of cultural origins, blending them together in an atmosphere of Ahavat Yisrael. The Hebrew Academy of West Queens is dedicated to the development of the total child - socially, emotionally, physically, and academically.

Our Past, Our Future

The Hebrew Academy of West Queens was founded by a group of special individuals in the Astoria, Queens Jewish community, who had the vision to establish a Yeshiva for the Jewish children of their neighborhood, about 40 years ago. Under the capable leadership of Rabbi Moshe Stahler, the Yeshiva reached out far beyond the Astoria community, attracting Jewish children from all over Queens, many from non-religious and unaffiliated homes and public school backgrounds. With the wave of Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union and Iran to Queens, many of these immigrant children found a welcome home at the Hebrew Academy. A large percentage of our alumni have continued in Yeshiva High School and have become outstanding members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Our original home was in Jackson Heights, Queens and then we moved to Richmond Hill, Queens. At the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year , Rabbi Stahler retired and a group of veteran teachers assumed leadership of the Yeshiva. We have moved the Yeshiva to Forest Hills, a location in the heart of the community where many of our students live, to begin a new chapter in the Hebrew Academy of West Queens legacy. We opted to focus on our Middle School program, Torat Yisrael Sabah , grades 5-8, to enable these students to be fully prepared to gain admission into high quality Yeshiva High Schools upon graduation. Last year, our first year, we were successful in placing 11 of our 13 graduates into appropriate Yeshiva High School, including one young lady who is now attending Shevach High School in Queens. As we look forward to the future, we are incorporating a fine pre-school program, the Ohr Malka Early Childhood Learning Center , as division of the Hebrew Academy of West Queens . Through this pre-school program we hope to build up our elementary school division once again. We believe that our new location in Forest Hills will help us attract and recruit more students and increase our enrollment. We are seeking to build or purchase a larger facility that will accommodate this anticipated growth in the future.

Our Present

As we have stated, our goal at the Hebrew Academy of West Queens is to provide an educational program that will encourage each individual student to reach their highest potential. We have achieved this goal by forming a staff of talented, warm, and dedicated teachers who reach out to every student. We have a full time tutoring staff, consisting of 4 highly qualified educators, who regularly pull-out children to work with them on a one-on-one basis, in either remedial or enrichment work. We also feature an advanced Talmud shiur, given by our Mashgiach Ruchani, Rabbi Mordechai Hecht, to prepare our top young men for the best Yeshiva High Schools. Our Gruss Successmaker computer lab gives each student the opportunity to progress on their own level in Math and Reading. We also utililize Lightspan , a program that uses playstation games to help students progress at their own pace, while having fun. We are participants in a NY State Technology Grant , that provides the students with laptops and other modern technology to accomplish their educational goals, while training them in computer skills important for their future. We provide counseling for our students with well-trained professionals, in keeping with our goal to develop the total child - socially and emotionally, as well as academically.

Our staff is actively engaged in programs to improve their educational skills. We have participated in many Board of Jewish Education courses, including RBT (the widely acclaimed Research for Better Teaching ) and in-service day workshops. Our administrators have attended PTI , a Principle Training Institute , a project of the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools . Our teachers have participated in the Avichai sponsored Teacher Fellowship Training Program with Rabbi Yoel Kramer. We are a dynamic institution, constantly seeking ways to improve ourselves and our program- totally dedicated to the success of our students.