History

Sensing the tremendous potential for growing the Jewish Community of South Florida, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, then Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue, began discussions in 1993 with South Palm Beach County Leadership about opening the first Yeshiva High School anywhere between North Miami Beach and Atlanta.

"With the help of a strong committed group of leaders. We have embarked on the project of bringing a high school, that has the dynamic character the synagogue [Boca Raton Synagogue] is known for. The goal of the school is to create an institution which allows every single student to reach his or her potential."

Rabbi Kenneth Brander

Founder and Executive Board Member

By 1997, Rabbi Brander organized The Committee to Form a Yeshiva High School and hired Rabbi Perry Tirschwell to create the school they envisioned. To the excitement of the community, the school opened its doors in September 1998 to 41 ninth and tenth graders learning in a few classrooms on the Boca Raton Synagogue campus.

Rabbi Perry Tirschwell

"I have always said that if students would learn one thing at the school [YHS], it would be to do everything in their life with excellence - their relationship with their peers, their academics, their extracurriculars, and their relationship with Hashem."

Rabbi Perry Tirschwell

Founding Principal

What started in a few classrooms, The Katz Yeshiva High School of South Florida opened the doors of its 60,000 square foot building. The campus now includes an innovative STEM lab, 2 Beit Midrash vast fields, basketball courts, workout room and a magnificent gym. KYHS experience explosive growth and now has 491 students as of 2021.

"This high school will be the icing on the cake that brings everybody together, and becomes the center of learning for the Jewish community in South Florida"

Hon. Robert Wexler

U.S. House of Representatives, Florida 19th District (1997-2010)