With the start of the school year having arrived for students in Sharon, another school official is settling into a new role. 

Rabbi Yehudah Potok is the new head of the Striar Hebrew Academy in Sharon, and one thing's certain: Potok is more than ready to greet the students. 

"As a school, we engage our students’ imagination and encourage them to think critically,” Potok said in a statement this week. “We want our school community – students, staff, and parents – to all be engaged in asking questions and seeking answers. We want our community of learners to be one where we inspire each other to discover new worlds. We want a community which encourages risk-taking and not only allows for failure, but celebrates challenges as a means to accomplishment.”

Potok and his family recently returned to Sharon after having served as head of school at Oakland Hebrew Day School, a K-8Modern Orthodox day school in California, for the past three years. 

Previously, Potok served as the director of academics and dean of faculty at the Prozdor Hebrew High School of Hebrew College.

There, he also served as the Associate Director of Ha'Merkaz, The Center for Jewish Education for Teens, and taught at the Shoolman Graduate School of Education. Potok is also well-known in the Camp Yavneh community, having served as Assistant Director of the camp, spending 13 summers there, according to an announcement from the Striar Hebrew Academy this week.

“As a child I had always dreamed of living in a rural area, but with access to a strong Jewish community,” Potok said in a statement. “In Sharon, I have found that, and Striar is one of the things at the heart of what makes this community so warm, committed and vibrant.”

For more information on the school, visit striarhebrew.​org.