Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy - History

History

The Talmudical Academy (TA), as it was originally called, was founded in 1916 by Rabbi Bernard Revel. He had become president of the institution that was to become Yeshiva University a year earlier, in 1915, when the "Rabbinical College of America" (a short-lived name) had been formed from the merger of two older schools, an elementary school founded in 1886 and a rabbinical seminary founded in 1896. As the elementary school soon ceased to exist, the high school is thus one of the oldest components of the University.

TA was the first Jewish high school in America, and the first ever to feature a dual curriculum, now standard in Jewish schools, of Judaic and secular studies. It was originally located on the Lower East Side, and moved to Washington Heights with the rest of Yeshiva in the late 1920s. The building originally planned for the High School alone was shared with the other schools of the University for many years before the campus expanded; today, that building is almost entirely occupied by the High School, and the other buildings of the University's main campus (including a dormitory for MTA students) surround it.

TA was later joined by a brother school, the Brooklyn Talmudical Academy ("BTA"), founded in the 1940s. While the Manhattan school remained, officially, "TA," it became popularly known as "MTA," the Manhattan Talmudical Academy, and, rarely, the Uptown Talmudical Academy, or "UTA." While the name "MTA" has never been official, it remains the most popular name for the school. Two girls' high schools were founded as well, Central Yeshiva High School in Brooklyn in the 1950s and a Manhattan school in the 1960s. Eventually, all four were eventually simply named by borough and gender, e.g., "Yeshiva University High School for Boys- Manhattan," but the popular names remained.

The Brooklyn schools, which had moved to a joint campus in 1967, were closed and merged in the 1970s into their Manhattan counterparts; still later, in the 1980s, the girls' school was merged into a Queens school. The latter is now called "Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls" (or simply "Wang"), but is still commonly referred to as "Central," while the boy's school, since the 1970s, has been known as "The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy- Yeshiva University High School for Boys" (or simply "TMSTA" or, more recently, "MSTA"), but is still commonly referred to as "MTA."

The school's golden age was during the 60s and 70s. However, by 1999, Rabbi Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University, wanted to close the high school down. When word of the imminent closure leaked out, Rabbi Michael Taubes, MTA's principal at that time, together with senior instructor, Rabbi Yitzchok Cohen, led a student protest and recitation of Psalms in front of the YU's main building at that time, Furst Hall. Although the protest led to Taubes' dismissal, and eventually to the dismissal of Cohen as well (both became instructors in other divisions of Yeshiva University, although in 2012, Taubes became principal of the boys high school), their prompt action is credited with swaying Rabbi Lamm to not close the school. Nevertheless, the school was still in trouble due to both financial problems and issues with students. Rabbi Taubes has been rehired by MTA to serve as the Rebbe (Teacher) of one of the two incoming freshmen honors Talmud classes for the coming (2008-9) school year.

Rabbi Michael Hecht, who had been teaching at the school for many years and also served as a Dean in Yeshiva College, became Dean of MTA and effectively saved the school. In September 2005, Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, formerly the Principal of Maimonides Day School in Boston, assumed the role of Head of School. Under his charge the school has continued to build on its storied legacy. In the past two years, about 20 new faculty members were hired lowering the school's faculty-student ration from 10:1 to 5:1. The average class size is now just 15.3. A new Grade Dean system was implemented in which each grade is assigned an educator who periodically meets with each student, and meets with the full grade faculty every two weeks. The system insures that each and every student is looked after. In November 2007, the school inaugurated its brand new state of the art biology and chemistry laboratory. Many other new changes have occurred as well as the school continues to build on its greatness.

In February 2011, Rabbi Mark Gottlieb announced that he will be stepping down as Head of School/Menahel at the culmination of the 2010-2011 academic year. His successor, Rabbi Michael Taubes, took over as Head of School (now also known by the Hebrew title of Rosh HaYeshiva at the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.