Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy

Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy is a coeducational, private Modern Orthodox Jewish day school. The school is located in the Riverdale section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is well known for having no walls dividing the classrooms, which is part of the school's philosophy of creating an "open" educational environment. There are lots of stairs.

Its name derives from the three schools which merged to form it, Salanter (named after Rabbi Yisrael Salanter), Akiba, and the Riverdale Academy, all Orthodox yeshiva day schools. The schools merged in 1968 and adopted the current name.

The founding principal was Rabbi Sheldon Chwat, who was followed by former Assistant Principal Rabbi Yonah Fuld, who was then succeeded by then assistant principal Rabbi Joel Cohn, all of whom subsequently moved to Israel. The principal since the 2005–06 academic year has been Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, who is helped by associate principals Sharon Richter, Milly Rosner, and Rabbi Moshe Drelich.

The school is closely affiliated with SAR High School, which is headed by the former assistant principal of the Academy, Rabbi Naphtali Harcsztark, and is made up mostly of students from the elementary school.

The SAR Academy building has no walls and features an ultra modern floor plan that has received many awards for architecture, design and programming.

SAR requires students to take a dual curriculum, taking both general studies courses as well as Judaic studies. General Studies classes include math, science, English and social studies. The Judaic Studies courses are Hebrew language, Mishnah, Talmud (Gemara) and Bible studies (Tanach).

Awards and honors
During the 1991–92 school year, Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.

Notable alumni (people who went here)

 * Brian Ash, screenwriter, producer
 * Ari Gold, singer-songwriter
 * Ralph Lauren, fashion designer (Salanter).
 * Achinoam Nini, singer-songwriter
 * Chaim Potok, author (graduated from Salanter)
 * Regina Spektor, singer-songwriter
 * Jonathan Tropper, novelist
 * Joey Katz, director
 * Suzanne Schrag WNBA player
 * Shira Smiles Lecturer and Author