Outside of the day school movement, the community Hebrew high school often offers the most serious and continuous Jewish learning experiences available for Jewish teens. These schools can offer these learning opportunities because they attract a critical mass of students, hire an impressive and diverse faculty and have communal support to focus exclusively on the learning needs of this population of self-selected students.

In recent years community Hebrew high schools have also learned to become youth communities, offering their students multiple informal Jewish learning opportunities. They know that teens are inherently social and that the chance to be with other Jewish teens is a powerful motivating force. They have harnessed that motivating force to channel the wish to be with one's peers into opportunities for informal experiences that are also powerful educational experiences, such as Shabbat retreats, social action activities and trips to places of Jewish interest, including Israel.

Community Hebrew high schools provide a critical service for the Jewish community by providing both serious Jewish education and socialization opportunities for Jewish teens who attend secular high schools. In order to build the foundation for a strong future, these schools will rely on communal support.