DRS was established in 1997 as the official high school for HALB. Its original building was an old synagogue in Lawrence, New York. In 2002, the school moved to a new building in Woodmere, New York. The first ever Freshman class of the school had an enrollment of 27 students. By 2005, the freshman class had 69 students, and in 2015 that number went up to 88. In 2016, DRS had its accreditation renewed by the Middle States Association.
Academics
DRS is a Jewish, Orthodox day-school. DRS employs a dual-curriculum in which the students spend half the day studying Jewish subjects and the other half devoted to secular education. The majority of DRS alumni attend college following high school. Many DRS alumni have received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, including 15 alumni in 2013, and 16 in 2017. DRS as an institution is very pro-Israel. Student coalitions attend AIPAC conventions to lobby politically on behalf of Israel. DRS often hosts Israeli soldiers, including Gilad Shalit, to talk to students. They also hold pro-Israel events including Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim celebrations. DRS offers 15 Advanced Placement classes which students can take for college credit.
Lev Shlomo
DRS had a post-high school program called Yeshivat Lev Shlomo, started in 2009 for alumni attending colleges that do not offer Judaic studies. Lev Shlomo provides the students with a Judaic studies curriculum and schedule in the morning, so they can attend college classes in the afternoon. It was officially closed in 2016.
Demographics
DRS has 364 students as of 2016, all of whom are Jewish males from Jewish-Orthodox families. The school is located in Woodmere, New York and is the official high school of Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, but receives students from nineteen feeder schools in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn Counties. Transportation is provided to students who live further away from the school. A local newspaper claimed that 95% of DRS graduates attend beit medrash after high school and 99% go to Israel for a gap-year.
Athletics
DRS has teams for a variety of sports. Most sports have a single team, while basketball, floor-hockey, and softball have a Junior Varsity team for 9th and 10th graders as well as a Varsity team for 11th and 12th grade. In all, DRS boasts 13 teams which compete in basketball, floor hockey, bowling, fencing, softball, tennis, wrestling, soccer, flag football, and volleyball. The Varsityhockey team won the championship of the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League Hockey league in the year 2001 in the school’s 4th year of existence. Since then, they have added 4 more league championships, most recently in 2017. The JV team has won 4 more. Between the 2 teams, DRS has had a hockey team in the league finals for 13 consecutive seasons. Floor hockey is a major part of teenage life in the Jewish-metropolitan area and DRS’s students take the sport very seriously. The basketball team won its first MYHSAL championship in 2013 and JV won in 2014. In 2016 the Varsity team went undefeated in regular season and tournament play, winning the league championship. The Volleyball team also won its first championship in 2016.
