Dear YULA Family,
After exhausting all possible avenues to keep our schools open for as long as possible,
we have made the difficult yet informed decision to close our campuses to students effective Monday, March 16.
All
athletic games and practices
as well as all
after school co-curricular programs and events
, including all performing arts rehearsals have been canceled effective Monday, March 16.
This school closure will be in effect through and including Friday, March 27, at which point we will reevaluate, consult with our local health officials, our school and shul partners and our Poskim to determine if we could possibly open before Pesach.
To be clear, there are no reported cases of any YULA student, parent or faculty member that has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and we are closing school out of an abundance of caution and for the safety and wellbeing of our entire community. In line with many of our partner schools and shuls within our community, as well as with the LAUSD announcement of school closures this morning, we feel it is the responsible and prudent step to take at this time.
Our teachers will continue utilizing YULA BaBayit to teach and learn online with our students. We will have Zoom Tefilah both for Shacharit and Mincha daily, our teachers will continue to have online office hours and we will even have a Zoomzits (Kumzits) all together this coming Friday, March 20th.
As a dedicated team of professionals, our faculty and staff are committed to continue providing an excellent education for our students, and we are doing everything we can to maintain a sense of routine and normalcy for our students.
Recognizing that these are trying and unsettling times, our Guidance team, led by Dr. Leora Orenbuch, will be available both for private, one on one Zoom chats and group Zoom chats for students throughout this closure.
In addition, our Director of Judaic Studies, Racheli Luftglass and our Rosh Beit Midrash, Rav Pinchos Hecht will be offering online
shiurim
on relevant and meaningful topics that will be open to our entire YULA community - both students and parents alike.
It is our hope that through this collective commitment to Talmud Torah and to learning more Torah that HaShem will bring about an end to this pandemic and heal all those in need of a
refuah shleima
. (Stay tuned for further details about the timing of these
shiurim
throughout the week.)
We thank you for your continued patience and support as we continue to make informed decisions in the best interest of our YULA Community.
May we only hear B’Sorot Tovot and may our collective efforts, Tefilot and Talmud Torah bring about an end to this pandemic and global crisis.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.
