“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
– Sir Winston Churchill
As you enter the property, a three story structured parking garage stands on your left, providing ample parking space for daily school use and for larger community-wide events.
The safety and security of our student body, faculty, and visitors was a primary driver in the campus’s design. The campus, therefore, has only one point of entry and visitors must pass through two layers of security in order to enter any of the academic buildings or sports facilities – one at the gate house and one more at the entrance to the Talit and central courtyard. The entire campus and parking garage will be under 24 hour video surveillance as well, in order to ensure a safe environment for all.
Immediately ahead of you is our Hub building, which is home to the Dining Hall, a beautiful Beit Midrash, a fully equipped music recording studio, and a library/media center which overlooks a rooftop terrace where students will grow and tend to their own crops.
The Hub building also hosts a high-tech Fabrication Lab which will include an array of 3D printers capable of printing at multiple sizes and with multiple materials, laser cutters, CNC routers, saws of every kind and variation, soldering stations, robotics kits, sewing machines, kilns, and just about anything else one might need to transform an idea into physical form.
The Beit Midrash is an inspiring space for reflection, Tefillah, and Torah Study. The naturally lit space also has the ability to open up into the Dining Hall, which allows for hosting large community gatherings.
Across from the Hub building, stands the Administrative building and Athletic Center which will house our Head of School, Business Office, Admissions, and College Guidance offices, as well as a nurse’s office.
As you exit the Administrative building, you enter the central courtyard which connects the five buildings on campus, creating harmony between the education buildings and green space.
Heading north through the courtyard brings you to our Middle School building.
This one story educational building has a warm and embracing feel, designed to provide our students with a sense of connection and belonging.
The Middle School also includes an Innovation Lab, small group instruction rooms, two science labs, as well as a faculty workspace and lounge.
Along the southern perimeter of the courtyard stands a soaring covered corridor we refer to as our Talit. The Talit extends from one “shoulder” of the campus to the other, leading from the Hub and Administrative building to a monumental exterior staircase at the foot of the Upper School building.
The lower steps of the monumental staircase double as benches looking out on the outdoor basketball court and the upper landing opens into a covered terrace lounge for Upper School students.
From the terrace one can enter the second floor of the Upper School building which features a mix of high-tech classrooms, small-group instruction rooms, university level Biology, Chemistry, and Physics labs, a video studio, as well as a two story indoor student lounge designed to provide students with space to relax, connect, and collaborate.
JLA students will enjoy a light breakfast and nutritious and lunch prepared daily in our certified kosher school kitchen. The dining hall will be an area where students will be able to bond and share experiences in a relaxed atmosphere. In addition to breakfast and lunch, students will also have access to the JLA Café where they will be able to grab snacks and refreshments on the go throughout the day.
Middle school classrooms, which are outfitted with cutting edge hardware for multimedia display and distance learning, are arranged around a central commons – or living room – that gives the school a feel of being a home away from home.
The spacious athletic facility will be used to host extra-curricular competition basketball and volleyball games. The generous floor space accommodates two basketball and volleyball courts running side-by-side for practices after school and enables multiple Physical Education classes including basketball, dance, volleyball, and yoga, to be conducted during the school day. State-of-the-art athletic equipment enhances student experiences through healthy activity and competition. Facilities housed within the gymnasium building including restrooms and locker rooms that allow for safe and convenient changing and storage needs.
The library/media center will set the foundation for student research and information exploration, while providing the highest quality electronic resources, books, and other materials to enhance and strengthen the JLA curriculum. With an expansive terrace which overlooks the central courtyard, the library will offer a relaxed setting where students and faculty will be able to analyze, interpret, and present information and ideas.
Our fabrication lab will be a pioneering space that provides students the opportunity to turn their conceptual designs into physical representations through experimentation and innovation. From an array of 3D printers to laser cutters, vinyl cutters, lathes, and CNC routers, and from soldering stations to sewing stations, , this space will be an area for exploration, design thinking, and prototype creation using a broad variety of tools.
The JLA Music Studio will be a state-of-the-art facility designed to serve as the home to classes in musical collaboration and sound engineering. Students will work together to create and record instrumental and vocal music in various genres, with a focus on digitization and collaboration. They will also learn to create, edit, mix, and produce digital music using Soundtrap, Garageband, and Logic Pro, and will ultimately release their music on our own private JLA label. The focus of the program will be to foster students’ abilities as artists and allow them to develop and harness the power of their creative voices.
The JLA Video Lab has been designed as a modern production studio that will provide students with the knowledge and equipment necessary to record, edit, and produce high quality videos and podcasts. In addition, students will have the opportunity to participate in community news broadcasts, and the freedom to create original content. A portion of the studio is a dedicated set with a green screen and professional grade lighting, while the production facility employs the very latest editing hardware and software.
JLA sports some beautiful outdoor athletic facilities including a basketball court, a running track, two tennis courts, and a 1/2 pitch, turf field for small-sided soccer, flag football, and other PE activities.
The biology lab will be an environment for hands-on experiences conducive to research and will allow for group collaboration as well as individual experimentation. Cutting edge equipment such as an anatomage table (a full scale virtual anatomy dissection table) will be used by middle and upper school students alike.
Located on 95th St. near Miami Shores and only two blocks from I-95, JLA’s state-of-the art campus is within easy commuting distance from South Miami, Miami Beach, North Miami Beach and Aventura.
Following a design competition involving three renowned global architecture firms with extensive experience in the educational space, the concept created by Gensler was chosen for its ability to foster creativity, curiosity, camaraderie, and community.
We look forward to welcoming you to our beautiful and inspiring space for Jewish education; one designed to open minds, warm the heart, and stir the soul.
Separate Middle and Upper School Academic Buildings
University Level Science Labs
Belt Midrash
Audio/Visual Digital Recording Studio
Outdoor Track and Courts
High Tech Fabrication and Robotics Lab
Outdoor Learning Gardens
Indoor Fitness Center
Certified Kosher Dining Hall & Snack Bar
Watch our live cam and see our campus grow
Construction of the JLA campus is scheduled to break ground early in 2022 with a completion date set for the summer of 2023.
Reach out by phone at 305.306.2660
975 NW 95th Street Miami, FL 33150 • 305-306-2660
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