After giving notice of his resignation last year and mentioning possible plans of moving to Israel, current head of school Jason Feld announced he will be taking a new head of school position in Dallas, Texas.

Feld has been working at NYHS since 2017 and announced he would leave the school during the 2022 school year. Rabbi Yehuda Gabay will take over as NYHS head of school this fall. Feld said one of the reasons for leaving was to spend more time with his family. But on March 2, 2023, Feld announced to the NYHS staff that he would be making the move to Dallas to be the new Akiba Yavneh Academy (AYA) head of school, an early childhood through 12th grade school with 418 students. “This is personally a wonderful opportunity for me,” Feld said.

President of the AYA board, David Radunsky, found many traits that the school was looking for in Feld, such as being a strong leader and an Orthodox Jew. “We wanted to make sure we had someone with a true successful track record,” Radunsky said. Radunsky added that the community is excited to welcome Feld to their school.

Although Feld gave notice last year, he never mentioned plans of taking a position somewhere else. “I would like to be a goat shepherd in the Golan,” Feld said in an article from last year. Feld discussed spending more time with family. Currently, two of Feld’s children are living in Israel.

Feld has made an impact at NYHS by adding chickens and bees to the school. Also in the article from last year, Feld explains that he brought the chickens to NYHS because of his philosophy about tikkun olam (repairing the world) and hands-on learning in addition to teaching students about responsibility. Feld hopes that students will take a leadership role in taking care of the chickens. “It doesn’t take a lot of time, and is quite rewarding,” Feld said. If students and faculty aren’t willing to take on the job, Feld said he has people who will take care of them on campus or he will find them a new home.

“I love NYHS, the community and Seattle, but I feel like I accomplished many of the goals I set up for myself and the school,” Feld said. “I think having new leadership is healthy for a school community so I’m excited to help Rabbi Gabbay transition into his role and big things for NYHS in the future.”