JLA’s commitment to excellence in academics, service, and character begins at the very top. We have therefore assembled a diverse leadership team with extraordinary credentials, vast experience, and deep seated commitment to the values at the heart of JLA’s mission.
Gil Perl
Head of School
Rabbi Dr. Gil S. Perl is the CEO of the Gisela and Daniel Ades Foundation and the Founding Head of School of the Jewish Leadership Academy.
With a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA and PhD from Harvard University, rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University, and fifteen years of experience leading highly regarded college preparatory K-12 Jewish Day Schools, Rabbi Dr. Perl is a nationally recognized leader in Jewish education.
In his previous role as Head of School of Kohelet Yeshiva and Chief Academic Officer of the Kohelet Foundation, Rabbi Perl led the team that designed and launched Yeshiva Lab School, a highly innovative elementary and middle school in suburban Philadelphia intended to re-imagine what Jewish Day School can and ought to be. Under his leadership, Yeshiva Lab School merged with Kohelet Yeshiva High School to create the Philadelphia area’s only Modern Orthodox K-12 Jewish day school.
Known for his vision, creativity, and dynamism, Dr. Perl was twice awarded Harvard University’s Certificate of Distinction in Teaching and, as an Instructor of Modern Jewish History at Yeshiva University, he was named Yeshiva University’s Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year.
In May of 2020, Dr. Perl was named a National Health Hero by JetBlue Airlines for having led the effort to transform Kohelet Yeshiva High School’s Fab Lab into a major face shield production facility to mitigate the severe PPE shortages at local hospitals during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rabbi Perl is the author of the book The Pillar of Volozhin: Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin and the World of Nineteenth-Century Lithuanian Torah Scholarship, published by Academic Studies Press and numerous articles on topics relating to the history of Modern Jewry, contemporary Jewish education, and Modern Orthodoxy. He and his wife Melissa are the proud parents of four children and two children-in-law, as well as the gushing grandparents of two adorably cute grandchildren.
Judd Shapiro
Associate Head of School, Upper School
Born and raised in Miami, Judd Shapiro is a career educator with over three decades of experience.
Judd taught Advanced Placement Literature and served as the English Department Chair at Gulliver Preparatory School for 25 years, where many of his students have published their own novels and won numerous NCTE awards. He has also worked in admissions, designed and implemented professional development for the faculty, written curriculum for the humanities, and he has been responsible for faculty observations and retention.
Judd has received the Deaver Award for Excellence in Teaching, and he has been recognized by M.I.T. and Tufts University as an inspirational teacher. He has a BA degree in English from the University of Miami (where he had the good fortune to study under Isaac Bashevis Singer), and an MS from St. Thomas University in Marital and Family Therapy. In addition, he is a college admissions counselor as well as a competitive youth soccer coach.
He and his wife Melanie have three sons, and they enjoy spending their summers hiking throughout the White Mountains in New England.
Email: jshapiro@jlamiami.org
Lori Kubach
Associate Head of School, Middle School
Mrs. Kubach has more than 20 years of educational experience in K-12 schools. A science teacher specializing in Gifted and Talented education, Mrs. Kubach played a critical role in getting Boca Raton’s Grandview Preparatory School up and off the ground, serving as their Talented and Gifted Coordinator before moving on to become their Lower School Principal and eventually the K-12 Associate Head of School. Prior to joining JLA back in 2021, Mrs. Kubach served as the Assistant Principal of Academics at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ft. Lauderdale.
Mrs. Kubach has a BA in Education from the University of Kentucky, an MA in Exceptional Education from the University of Louisville, and a secondary MA in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University. She is the mother of three and enjoys traveling, running by the ocean, gardening, and design projects. She credits growing up on a farm in Ashland, Kentucky for her love of science and the outdoors.
Email: lkubach@jlamiami.org
Joe Sharp
CFO/COO
Born and raised in Chicago, Joe is known for deploying organization-wide systems and maximizing efficiencies, while demonstrating the utmost professionalism and accountability. He played a critical role in the construction of our campus and in creating JLA’s unique Indexed Tuition Program.
Prior to JLA, Joe served as the Executive Director of Katz Hillel Day School in Boca Raton for 9 years where he oversaw all aspects of the school’s financial and physical plant operations.
Joe also spent 15 years in the for-profit sector, serving as both a Controller and as a Chief Operating Officer. He has a BS in Accounting, an MBA with a concentration in Nonprofit Management, and serves on several local and national professional boards and councils.
Joe resides in Boca Raton with his wife Shira, and their 2 children.
Email: jsharp@jlamiami.org
Debbie Stone
Associate Head for Judaics
Originally from London, Dr. Stone holds a BA in Humanities with emphasis in Jewish Studies and a teaching degree from the General Teaching Council for England. Debbie spent a year studying in Michlalah Jerusalem College and received her Doctorate in Education from Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School.
A sought after speaker and educator, Dr. Stone has more than 15 years of experience in both formal and informal Jewish education. She is the co-author of the Koren-NCSY siddur as well as the Koren Aviv Siddur. Prior to JLA she served as the Director of High School Judaic Studies and Community Engagement at Hebrew Academy (RASG) in Miami Beach.
Email: dstone@jlamiami.org
Success is…
Leadership is…
Rabbi Dr. Gil S. Perl
Founding Head of School
When dreams collide, the truly extraordinary can happen.
For years I dreamed of creating an educational institution that catered to the unique needs and abilities of our Jewish community’s most driven and capable students. For years I’ve been troubled by the shallow pool of qualified candidates willing and able to give of their time, wisdom, and resources to our community’s most prized and precious organizations and institutions. For years I have argued that at the very core of Modern Orthodoxy ought to be the concept of Or Amim, the Torah’s unequivocal mandate to share light, values, and goodness with the world at large. For years, however, these were nothing more than fervent dreams.
In the Fall of 2020, however, the stars began to align. As the pandemic raged around us, a series of unexpected circumstances and events unfolded which began to make this dream a distinct possibility. In the months that followed a team of dreamers emerged, united by a shared sense of purpose. Their lifelong passions and aspirations met mine. Their wisdom and generosity provided form, texture, and substance to our mingling ideas and to our shared ideals. And from that most beautiful of collisions, today something truly extraordinary is happening.
Today we are building a Jewish school like no other. A school that dares to think differently about what education is and what it ought to be. A school where deep-seated connection to Judaism and Israel doesn’t come at the expense of a first-rate college preparatory education. A school to which every mission appropriate student has equal access, regardless of their ability to pay. A school that will judge its success not merely on the diplomas that adorn our graduates’ walls, but on the difference those graduates make in the lives of others.
If those dreams are your dreams – if you aspire to be part of something truly extraordinary – I invite and encourage you to become part of the JLA community today.
Sincerely Yours,
Rabbi Dr. Gil S. Perl
A school is only as good as its teachers. They are the guides and facilitators who enable our students to discover the world around them. They are the coaches and mentors who inspire our students to uncover the potential within them.
Their job begins in the classroom and extends far beyond. They challenge our students to accomplish more than they ever dreamed they could; they push, encourage and support our students as they develop, grow, and mature; and they model the character, ethics, and values by which we expect our students to learn and live.
Only inspired teachers inspire students.
At JLA, we believe that excellent teachers should be recognized, appreciated, and supported. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and hiring the best teachers in their respective disciplines and compensating them in a manner that reflects the exceptional work that they do.
“It is the supreme art of he teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
– Albert Einstein
Do you know someone who might be?
Reach out and introduce yourself.
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