tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178056572235466832024-03-13T13:37:38.139-04:00Yeshiva SanityTrying to bring sanity to the discussion of Yeshiva Day School tuition in Bergen County, NJAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17710697846416984433noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-87290334150920573432013-09-16T10:13:00.002-04:002013-09-23T18:08:39.325-04:00New Chump, New Blog<a href="http://225kchump.blogspot.com/">http://225kchump.blogspot.com/</a>Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-5023043523518852013-08-26T14:16:00.000-04:002013-08-28T08:42:58.736-04:00Time to Pass the Baton<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I’ve been moderating this blog for
20 months now. I’ve made 160 posts and
gotten almost 300,000 page views. I’ve
read (most of) thousands of comments and responded to some of them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We’ve covered lots of topics
including blended learning, Hebrew charter schools, assistant teachers, school
calendars, marketing costs, government funding, Communal funding, discounts for
teachers and rabbis, transparency in finances, scholarship abuse, Talmud Torahs,
and
more. Hopefully the discussion has
caused some positive change in Bergen County or has at least caused some people
to consider certain ideas that they hadn’t yet thought about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What I haven’t succeeded at doing
is encouraging civility in our discourse.
Perhaps it’s just our nature to be nasty when no one (at least no one
mortal) can see us doing it. Though
compared to some other unmoderated blogs and especially the comments section on
youtube, the discussion here does remain somewhat polite and on topic. Some people thought I should delete comments
that were uncivil but that’s not really my MO.
I’m not a big fan of censorship and I think adults should make their own
decisions on how to speak. To all those who
contributed in positive ways with your comments I wish you sincere thanks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point I’ve said all I have
to say about yeshiva tuition. Also I
need to focus on other things in my life right now and can’t spend that much
time musing about yeshiva tuition. I’m
looking for someone else to take over the blog or to make a new blog so we can
continue the conversation. Please email
me offline at yeshivadad@gmail.com if you’re interested. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For those that were offended by
things I’ve said I beg for mechilah and hope you understand that everything I’ve
done on this blog was done out of love for our community and out of a sincere desire
for our mesorah to continue to be transmitted to future generations, which can only
be done if the community can afford the growing expense of yeshiva tuition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I encourage everyone to get
involved in other ways to help solve the tuition crisis. Make your voices heard. Come to board meetings. Speak to administrators. Get involved in fund raising. Volunteer for the scholarship committee. Accept that you may need to sacrifice some
things you like in your school to help bring down costs. And above all, try to stay positive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wishing everyone a Kativa V’chatima
Tova,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Yeshiva Dad<o:p></o:p></div>
Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-79326812650644175932013-08-23T09:21:00.001-04:002013-08-28T15:25:17.166-04:00New Assistant Principal Position at MoriahDespite a recent drop in admissions at Moriah, a new Assistant Principal for Student Life position has been created, <a href="http://www.jewishlinkbc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1400:new-assistant-principal-at-moriah-&catid=150:news&Itemid=562">as reported by the Jewish Link</a>. This Assistant Principal will join the other Assistant Principal, two associate principals, 6 Directors and of course the Principal, in the <a href="http://www.moriahschool.org/page.cfm?p=383">Administration</a>. This does not include office staff or business office. Does this seem excessive to anyone else?Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-64796672577946341672013-08-20T13:23:00.001-04:002013-08-21T06:33:52.679-04:00AJE Selects "BOLD" Schools to Receive Funding <blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" type="cite">
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<tr><td style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 18px;" valign="top"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Five Schools Selected as BOLD Day Schools </strong><br /><br /><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_264718645" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">August 20, 2013</span></span><br /><br />NEW YORK – Five Jewish day schools have been selected for the BOLD (Blending Online Learning in Day Schools) Project, funded by The Affordable Jewish Education Project (AJE), The AVI CHAI Foundation and The Kohelet Foundation. The goal of BOLD Day Schools is to design and implement sustainable, cost-saving blended learning programs to ignite the potential of students through the delivery of innovative and personalized learning. Additionally, BOLD Day Schools will become a network of schools and educators working to accelerate the rollout of sustainable blended learning programs throughout the Jewish day school field.<br /><br />The BOLD Day Schools are:<br /><a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=5efb09d12a&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank"><strong>Denver Academy of Torah</strong></a>, Denver, CO<br />Elementary & Middle School<br /><br /><a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=8aec6a101f&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank"><strong>Magen David Yeshivah High School</strong></a>, Brooklyn, NY<br />High School<br /><br /><a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=5dc6580726&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank"><strong>The Moriah School</strong></a>, Englewood, NJ<br />Elementary & Middle School<br /><br /><a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=11b3738b5a&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank"><strong>The Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey</strong></a>, River Edge, NJ<br />Middle School<br /><br /><a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=992dc5d3fb&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank"><strong>Tarbut v’Torah Community Day School</strong></a>, Irvine, CA<br />Elementary School<br /><br />The five BOLD Day Schools were selected out of a pool of close to 30 submissions through an intensive application process that assessed each school’s vision for blended learning, implementation plan, and financial plan outlining cost savings and program sustainability. The funding organizations also considered school size, location, denomination, and division in an effort to provide a variety of proof points that recognizes the diversity of Jewish day schools.<br /><br />Blended learning integrates online learning with face-to-face instruction, enabling teachers to align their instructional approaches to the particular academic needs of each student based on real-time, individualized data. In addition to improved educational outcomes for students, blended learning educational models provide opportunities for cost savings through reducing schools’ personnel, facility, and textbook costs.<br /><br />“We are all very excited about this groundbreaking project,” said Jeff Kiderman, Executive Director of AJE, “and have selected a group of well-regarded established schools that have shown a desire to be bold and partner with us to lead the future of Jewish education.”<br /><br />Over the summer, the BOLD Day Schools have been deeply immersed in program design and planning with the help of one of two blended learning consulting firms (<a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=cc14115c51&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">Education Elements</a> and <a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=29a9262561&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">Evergreen Education Group</a>). The consultants have been assisting school leaders in refining their financial plans, selecting software, and planning professional development for their faculties. Implementation is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013. Within three years, every student in the selected division(s) will be learning using a blended education model on a daily basis. In addition, schools will create a plan to realize cost savings through the efficiencies of their new model.<br /><br />The three funding organizations have committed up to $3 million to the BOLD Project. This funding will cover most of the costs associated with transitioning each school to a blended learning model, with the schools gradually assuming responsibility for all ongoing costs, including software, hardware, and personnel. “It is important to us that the BOLD Day Schools be able to sustain these innovations within their own annual budgets moving forward without relying on outside funding,” said Rachel Mohl Abrahams, Senior Program Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation.<br /><br />The process will be documented to measure the effectiveness of each model and to provide guidance for additional schools looking to transition to blended learning in the future. “We hope the BOLD Day Schools will serve as paradigms of how established Jewish day schools can transform themselves into more innovative, affordable institutions that prepare our students for successful Jewish lives in the 21st century,” said Holly Cohen, Executive Director of The Kohelet Foundation.<br /><br />Read more about the BOLD Day Schools and follow their progress at <a href="http://ajeproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d7bded79b04ce7ce4db286c8c&id=d352193dca&e=78fbdcd231" style="color: #606060; word-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">http://www.bolddayschools.<wbr></wbr>org</a>.</span></td></tr>
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Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-43510583607530152262013-08-20T12:46:00.001-04:002013-08-20T12:46:48.129-04:00No one is "Anti-Teacher"This is something I've been meaning to get off my chest for a long time. There's a rhetorical trick employed by people of all political stripes to discredit those with who them disagree, and it really should stop.<br />
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Most of us agree that in all ethnic, social, religious and political groups there are good and bad individuals. There are people who care only about themselves, some that only care about their friends and families and those that only care about people in their "group", whatever that group happens to be. Since one can't generalize about the behavior of all people in any particular group, those who do generalize are often called prejudiced, bigots, racists, etc. and their arguments are automatically discredited.<br />
<br />
So the trick is to show that a policy that you oppose doesn't merely reflect a different perspective, but that it represents an animosity towards an entire group of people. That way it is prejudice, bigotry, etc. and you don't even have to argue the merits of the policy because it is discredited at the outset.<br />
<br />
Hence, gun enthusiasts will oppose gun restrictions as being "anti-gun owner" rather than simply "anti-gun". Amsterdam News will label the NYPD's "stop and frisk" program as "racism" (racist in itself, mot merely in the implementation). The Jewish Voice and Opinion will label opposition to Israel's settlement policy as "anti-semitism." If you believe that life begins at conception and that therefore abortion should be illegal you must be "sexist." Opposition to gay marriage must reflect "homophobia."<br />
<br />
And if I suggest that schools make up for days lost due to weather in the summer than I am "anti-teacher." Similarly if I suggest that teachers who don't work in the summers have an easy July and August.<br />
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If you believe in any of the above you must hate everyone the respective group. Even if you are a member of that group. You must just hate yourself. And since this is a thought crime there is no way to disprove it.<br />
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Of course everyone sees the ridiculousness in other people's hang-ups but not in their own. <br />
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Feel free to vent below. But please don't say "how can you compare x to y?" I'm comparing your faulty logic, not making any moral comparisons.<br />
<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-83657888772823525522013-08-02T09:41:00.003-04:002013-08-02T09:41:26.468-04:00Shmoozing With Zach & Rabbi SommerI've been having an interesting conversation online about tuition and Yeshiva Day Schools with 2 former MTA teachers - Zach Abramowitz and Rabbi Pesach Sommer. Here's the link:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.replyall.me/forward-momentum/talking-with-yeshiva-dad-founder-of-the-yeshiva-sanity-blog/">http://www.replyall.me/forward-momentum/talking-with-yeshiva-dad-founder-of-the-yeshiva-sanity-blog/</a><br />
<br />
Check for updates soon. Shabbat Shalom,<br />
<br />
YDYeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-57015073851743689392013-07-26T06:58:00.001-04:002013-07-26T16:16:09.486-04:00AJE Founder Responds to Rabbi KraussFirst off, let me say that I believe the overall quality of the Jewish high school system to be outstanding. I am blown away by the quality of education being offered our high schoolers. But this quality has come at a devastating cost and price to our community. The emphasis of trying to get our kids into the best colleges, offer the most extra curriculars, the most AP’s, the arms race to attract the best and most expensive teachers, has not come cheaply and is in fact crippling our community. We are losing countless students to public schools, less Jewish children are being born, marriages are strained, and we are fostering resentment towards religion amongst our parents due to this unfortunate situation of ever escalating tuition costs.<br />
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I believe that in their zealousness to address the ever escalating costs of high school education and to assure parents that their children will still be receiving a quality education even at a lower price point, Gershon and Jeff overreached and were off base in attacking the quality of our educational system. You correctly call them to task for it. They have acknowledged their mistake. That having been said, I would be remiss if I did not respectfully point out you have engaged in some overreaching of your own and in the spirit of everyone learning from each other, I think there are some things that Gershon in his actions has accomplished in the last few years you are not giving enough credit to.<br />
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Your dismissiveness of Yeshivat Heatid is unfortunate. You say you are skeptical a quality Jewish education can be offered at half the price . But why? It is being done at Yeshivat Heatid . Yeshivat Heatid will be cash flow break even towards the end of next year and by all accounts, parent satisfaction of education quality is extremely high, they have attracted quality teachers and are offering a top notch Jewish education. Westchester Torah Academy has likewise attracted top notch educators. These are real live living and breathing institutions that are not just talking but acting to make a difference to ease the devastating financial burdens of our community. Just as you were rightly offended by what you perceived as an assault on the level of education in the Jewish high school movement, we in the affordable Jewish education movement are offended by your attack on our newly formed schools and on the existing schools we are working with such as HALB (that is roughly half the price of SAR and has been in existence just as long) whose leaders are credentialed educators who also give a lot of thought into best practices in education and are providing children with a high quality Jewish education. You say time will tell whether these institutions can be successful? Why? They are incredibly successful already. Quality of education has subjective elements to it. Affordability does not. Our schools are offering a price point that works for the community. The higher “quality” schools, should they continue as the only options in the community, clearly do not.<br />
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Rabbi Krauss, you know I admire your contribution to Jewish education and feel that SAR day school thanks to your leadership, is the very best in Jewish day school education, but your implication that a school like SAR high school at nearly 35 k a year is the ONLY way to serve the community is misguided and must be denounced in the strongest terms. We are not saying that all schools must adopt cost cutting and innovative teaching methods we espouse but we do feel very strongly that there needs to be an affordable option in all major population centers where successful Jewish parents earning north of 250k annually can send their child, receive a quality education and not have to get undressed asking for scholarship.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I think taking a step back and examining Gershon’s actions in regards to starting a new high school in Bergen County is helpful. Gershon first met with administrators, educators and board members of existing high schools before embarking on his journey. Only after coming up empty in these meetings did he admirably throw down the gauntlet and say enough is enough. Gershon is launching an exploratory venture to launch a new institution that will provide a quality high school Jewish education at a price point that will accommodate parents across all income levels. Of course he doesn’t have the answers yet, he is at the beginning of a very important journey and while he may have overreached as to the need for better education, I think it’s equally clear he UNDERSTATED the need for an affordable, high quality option. Incredibly, that is something in 2013 that IS unavailable in the current marketplace.<br />
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We need to think from the bottom up. Let’s start with what can the community afford and then figure out how we can offer the most within that budget. I think as Gershon and others have proven in the day school arena, we will find the answer to be a lot. Gershon has consulted and intends to consult and learn from as many educators as possible. Any suggestion to the contrary is unfair.<br />
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We at AJE have not made a decision whether to support Gershon financially in this new high school. But given what he has accomplished on the day school level, I imagine when all is said and done, we will. The 80 percent in our community, the middle earners, have been neglected for far too long and the movement kicked off by Gershon and his co-founders at the day school level has at long last brought relief and a ray of hope. I hope you can forgive him for his overzealousness in promoting his exploratory venture given what he has accomplished in a short time for Jewish education, reversing a destructive trend that was forty years in the making.<br />
<br />
Mark Nordlicht<br />
Founder, Affordable Jewish Education ProjectYeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-72270007624570135182013-07-24T09:25:00.000-04:002013-07-24T09:57:55.340-04:00SAR Principal Responds to He'atid High<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dear Gershon and Jeff,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So let me get this straight- the current schools are bad and expensive. Kids don't feel engaged- they told you so. And they don't like tests. You are going to build a new school. What will it stand for? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Learning- The kids will learn what they want. Will there be a curriculum? Will there be any expectations, in terms of skills, on your graduates? How will those expectations be assessed? In the survey you referenced, less than 30% of respondents were interested in learning Tanach or Gemara, and less than 40% were interested in history or science. Less than 25% were interested in literature. Will these courses be absent in your school? Will they be optional? Over 60% of the respondents felt that critical thinking is taught in their current schools, yet you make the claim that your school will be different as it will focus on critical thinking? Does that add up?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Commitment- Will tefilla be optional or mandatory? Will there be a dress code? Kippot? Tzitzit? For the boys and the girls, just the boys, or neither? What is your plan for inspiring a passion for yiddishkeit? Will all of your graduates be committed to observance? Will none of them text on shabbos? Will you accept students from families with varying levels of commitment? How will you balance the 21st century need for individualism and choice with a commitment to religion which sometimes requires blind faith, surrender, obedience, and individual sacrifice?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cost- how will you attract quality teachers? Will the compensation you offer be competitive? Will the co-curricular activities that allow kids to follow their passions, make choices among a broad variety of options, be available? Will they cost extra? Will you be able to offer foreign language courses that will allow these kids to compete in the global economy? Will you have the facilities to allow kids to whose passions are not "traditional" to find themselves? Will you offer STEM for those future engineers among our kids? Will the additional focus on psychology, business, and film (as per the interests of the survey respondents) come at no additional cost? Will all of what you will offer be included in the cost of tuition or will you pursue outside funding to make it happen?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Clientele- you say that you are open to everything, and would open a separate school or a coed school, and a range of different outlooks. Have you thought about what you will do when all agree that they want the cheaper school, but otherwise have different and mutually exclusive demands for how that school will look- in terms of many of the questions that the modern/centrist orthodox community today do not agree about? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Gershon and Jeff- I truly admire your passion and your desire to make Jewish education better, in terms of cost and quality. I admire your commitment and your ability to implement your vision with the founding of Yeshivat heatid and WTA, and the AJE project to help others follow your lead. I truly hope that all of these initiatives will be successful, and that the legacy schools will learn from your ideas, with regard to blended learning and other efficiencies. Time will tell whether it is possible to offer high quality education for half the price. I am skeptical. But your hearts are in the right place and I hope that this will all be good for the broader community. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yet your recent letter to all 7th grade parents, in my opinion, lacks a dose of humility, candor, reflection, and respect for the legacy schools, and I find that sad. You raise important issues including commitment to observance and passion for Torah learning, blended and project based learning needs, and different kinds of assessments. But to claim, on the basis of one year of the existence of a pre school and first grade in Teaneck, that you have now identified the solution to all of the challenges of yeshiva day schools, and that you can implement it for half the price, is presumptuous, and unimpressive. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Unfortunately, critiquing is easier than doing, and the easiest part of any construction project is ripping up the existing structures. Much more challenging is building the new in ways that work. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A lot of thought has gone into developing thoughtful and observant students, making tefilla meaningful, and engaging kids in their learning through technology, project based learning, and other models. Some </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">initiatives have worked. Some less so. A glance at lookjed, the list-serve facilitated by the Lookstein Center at Bar Ilan with membership of over 3000 educators, will reveal some of the thoughtful ideas out there that are being tried, in real schools, with real kids. There is always more to be done. If you have ideas, beyond identifying the problems and promising solutions without outlining them, please share them. And if you think that your vision can only be actualized in a new institution, then create one, and let us learn. But your letter sounds like a good campaign speech, with hollow promises that lack details, and are sure to disappoint. Your blending of the issues of cost with the issues of engagement, commitment, and passion feel like you are simply trying to push a lot of buttons to reach the widest audience possible, and then promise all that you will save them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">encourage you, in addition to surveying kids, as you have done, to speak with educators, and learn from their generations of experience, their successes and their failures. Maybe you can learn something from them, and they can learn and be challenged by you. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rabbi Binyamin Krauss</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Principal, SAR Academy</span></div>
Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-15248850258471012442013-07-17T23:34:00.001-04:002013-07-24T09:58:18.549-04:00He'atid High Coming to TownBelow is an email sent out today by Gershon Distenfeld:<br />
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You are receiving this e-mail because you have a child entering 7th grade at a Yeshiva Day School in Bergen County. As we cobbled together e-mail addresses from various sources which are certainly incomplete, please forward this to others who may be interested.<br />
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Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Gershon Distenfeld and for the past several years, I have been heavily involved in efforts to make Yeshiva education better and more affordable. I have previously served on the executive board of the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey and am currently the chairman of the board of Yeshivat He’Atid.<br />
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Jeff Kiderman is the executive director of the Affordable Jewish Education Project (AJE), a 501c(3) organization that was started in 2011 by a group of community leaders and philanthropists to find and implement innovative and sustainable initiatives to ensure that a high-quality, affordable Jewish day school education is available to every child. You can learn more about AJE at www.ajeproject.org<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Jeff and I have been working together on a number of initiatives over the past couple of years but we have yet to tackle the overwhelming issues with Yeshiva High Schools from an affordability and an educational perspective.<br />
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It is well known that a Yeshiva High School education will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100k for 4 years in after-tax dollars. We simply need more affordable options.<br />
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At the same time, the world has changed over the past couple of decades in dramatic ways and our children are not learning many of the skills they will need to be successful in the 21st century. And on the Judaic side, too many kids graduate High School uninspired as a one size fits all curriculum just isn’t appealing to many of our youth. Simply put, we are failing to inspire a love of Yiddishkeit in the overwhelming majority of our children.<br />
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No doubt some of you reading this are happy with both the price and quality of the current crop of Yeshiva High Schools. You can stop reading this now and we wish you only hatzlacha sending your child to one of the many excellent Yeshiva High Schools in our community using traditional teaching methods.<br />
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For those willing to entertain a completely redesigned Yeshiva High School (with the added benefit of being a fraction of the price), please read on.<br />
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AJE has just completed a survey of over 600 high school children, the summary of which can be downloaded here - <a href="http://ajeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/High-School-Survey-Results.pdf">http://ajeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/High-School-Survey-Results.pdf</a><br />
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General Conclusions were:<br />
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1. Students are different and want different things<br />
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2. Students are interested in learning, but they want to have a say in what they learn<br />
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3. Students want to learn actively (projects, discussions, etc.) rather than passively (lectures, textbooks, etc.)<br />
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4. Students hate tests and think they are useless<br />
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5. Students want to learn collaboratively in small groups<br />
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Is it any wonder that many of our children don’t have positive feelings towards Yeshiva High School? Should it surprise us that so many of our children can go through 12+ years of Yeshiva day school education and have little or no passion for their Yiddishkeit? Are we preparing our children for a 21st century economy where mere knowledge has been commoditized and collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills (among others) will determine their success in life?<br />
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We could go on and on. We don’t just need to tweak the way we go about Jewish high school education – we need an overhaul. We need a program that is much more flexible, is much more student centered, gives our children the new skills that they will need to succeed in life, and fosters a love of Yiddishkeit.<br />
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These programs already exist in the secular world and have been very successful. But we believe that the opportunity to do better is even greater on the Judaic side.<br />
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We would like to start a new high school in September 2015 that will not only provide an innovative and outstanding Yeshiva education in an affordable manner, but will change the face of Jewish education and be a model to be copied throughout the country (and beyond).<br />
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We are extremely confident that a superior and more cost effective high school program can be created. Since discussing this broad idea with numerous educators both inside and outside of the community, we have been inundated with requests from professional educators to work on and/or lead this project.<br />
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But we also know that parents have opinions on what is important to them in a high school - religiously, academically, and socially. We would like to take those views into account when designing this high school, as well as the opinions of high school students themselves. We also want to gauge how much demand there would be for such a school, because something like this cannot happen unless parents like yourselves will actually be willing to consider signing up your children.<br />
To that end, we will be hosting several focus groups over the next few weeks so that we can get a good gauge of the types of issues parents are concerned about.<br />
Please go to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/168F6_3r6U2EMdaFk10FSGoHWo2fxo9IZkvv64i_bs5w/viewform">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/168F6_3r6U2EMdaFk10FSGoHWo2fxo9IZkvv64i_bs5w/viewform </a>to indicate your availability to attend one of these meetings. We will then reach out to you to confirm your participation in one of them. If you are not interested in attending any of these meetings, you can still sign-up to receive future updates on this initiative.<br />
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To answer one question (among many) that you probably have: At this point we are open to designing programs for just boys, just girls or co-ed and would be happy to start more than one or even all three. All will be based on the demand.<br />
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We are really excited about the opportunity to reimagine Jewish high school for the 21st century. A broad range of perspectives is critical to designing the best possible program. We look forward to hearing from you and partnering with you as we move forward on this groundbreaking endeavor.<br />
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Gershon Distenfeld<br />
Jeff KidermanYeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-54271361887803780212013-07-09T08:50:00.000-04:002013-07-09T08:50:40.763-04:00Hebrew Comes To HarlemIf anyone wants to take another crack at starting up a Hebrew language charter school in Bergen County they should work with the <a href="http://www.hebrewcharters.org/">Hebrew Charter School Center</a>. Take a look at the extremely thorough job they did with this report filed to get the Harlem Hebrew school up an running: <a href="http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/documents/HHLACSAppRedacted.pdf">http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/documents/HHLACSAppRedacted.pdf</a>. 243 pages of information, which is 243 pages more than SACS ever provided.<br />
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HH <a href="http://www.harlemhebrewcharter.org/">is expecting</a> at least 168 students in just 2 grades (K&1) in their first year! And 20 more days of school than most of the BC yeshivas.<br />
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<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-20347686141450774782013-07-02T21:50:00.000-04:002013-07-05T07:02:41.794-04:00Pre-K Price WarsHere is the price of Pre-K at each BC JDS. One of these things is not like the others:<br />
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He'atid $7,990<br />
Moriah $8,500<br />
RYNJ $8,500<br />
Yavneh $8,750<br />
Noam $8,950<br />
BPY $12,700<br />
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You have to give credit to BPY for not caving in to pressure from the new competition and slashing pre-school prices as the other schools did. But you have to wonder whether this is going to impact the sustainability of the school. The reduced pre-k enrollment for this coming year could hurt them in the future if parents send to other schools to save money in pre-K & then keep them in the other schools by default in later years.<br />
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They may try to make up for high prices with generous tuition assistance but they have to take into account that a lot of upper middle class families don't want to subject themselves to the tuition assistance program, and don't want to feel that they are accepting charity.<br />
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<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-68980972231610150462013-07-02T15:49:00.000-04:002013-07-02T15:57:50.023-04:002013-2014 CalendarsThe calendars for next year are out. Not surprisingly, <a href="http://www.yeshivatheatid.org/uploads/8/3/3/6/8336566/school_calendar_2013_2014.pdf">He'atid once again leads the pack in total school days with 178</a>. Though for some reason He'atid clone Westchester Torah Academy <a href="http://westchesterta.org/calendar/">has only 172.</a> I still think we should have as many days as the public schools, which have 180. We can make up for the chagim by adding days in June. <br />
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He'atid is having Professional Development day on Christmas, rather than on election day as most schools do (except this past year, when we needed to make up days lost to superstorm Sandy). So I guess the consultants are all Jewish & don't mind working then.<br />
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I'm a little concerned about Thanksgiving break being called Thanksgiving/Channukah break. Does that mean that when Channukah & Thanksgiving are on different days that they will need 2 separate breaks?<br />
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[Update: <a href="http://www.harlemhebrewcharter.org/">Harlem Hebrew</a> will have 190 days. Though I'm guessing the high number was designed to help them accommodate the many students who will be taking off for Jewish holidays and who will need to make up for lessons lost]Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-52842589932927243912013-06-19T09:18:00.001-04:002013-06-19T09:18:17.577-04:00Modernize Bergen CountyHere's something that hopefully most of us can agree on. As BC MO's we are already suffering under both high property taxes and high tuition costs. One thing that could make life a little easier for us is having Sundays available to shop without having to trek to neighboring counties. <br />
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I don't want to rehash all of the arguments for and against the blue laws. They have already been argued ad nauseam <a href="http://teaneck.patch.com/articles/anti-blue-law-group-gathers-1200-signatures">here </a>and <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/bergen-county-s-blue-laws-repeal-the-blue-laws-in-bergen-county-and-allow-the-stores-to-open">here </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EliminateTheBlueLawsInBergenCountyNj?hc_location=stream">here</a>.<br />
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I'm just asking for those who agree that the blue laws should be rescinded to please sign & mail in the petition so we can get it a referendum on it for the November election. We are low on signatures and need more help! They need to be received by June 30th so please make sure it's in the mail by next Wednesday (6/25). Petition can be found <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9dy9e89keei9b6/Petition-RescindBergenCountyBlueLaws.pdf">here</a>. <br />
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Please mail it in to:<br />
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<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 8px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="messageBody" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38;">Modernize Bergen County<br /><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">P.O. Box 1247<br />Hackensack, NJ 07602</span></span></h5>
Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-33187982951387777502013-06-18T15:07:00.000-04:002013-06-18T15:07:20.532-04:00CNJKIDS ArticleNorth Jersey Jewish News<a href="http://njjewishnews.com/article/17729/day-school-fund-aims-to-ease-cost-burden#.UcCvK_lm-kc"> just published an article</a> about CNJKIDS, which is Central Jersey's answer to <a href="http://www.nnjkids.org/%E2%80%8E">NNJKIDS</a>. I emailed CNJKIDS with a few questions & here is their response:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">Thanks for the e-mail.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">This is CNJKIDS' first year as an organization. Our plan is to distribute the funds raised over 2013 - 2014 to the schools partnering with CNJKIDS at the end of the next school year in 2014.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">From the FAQS section of the website </span><a href="http://www.cnjkids.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" target="_blank">www.cnjkids.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">How will the dollars be divided among schools? CNJKIDS will aim to help every student in their respective schools by limiting future tuition increases as follows. Each of the schools that have agreed to partner with CNJKIDS will inform CNJKIDS of the tuition it has set for the coming year based on its needs. CNJKIDS will then divide its annual income from general contributions among the schools on a per-capita basis. Earmarked donations will then be distributed to specific schools. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.571428298950195px;">How will the dollars be credited to day school families? After CNJKIDS distributes the funding to the participating schools, each school will then provide a credit on the following year’s tuition bill of each of its students (i.e. if $100 was provided by CNJKIDS to each school, a $100 credit would appear on each student’s tuition bill the following year). Thus, each school may use the money it receives toward its budget for the following school year (i.e. any money schools receive in 2014 may be used for their 2015-2016 school year budgets).</span>Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-75817458212507499972013-06-14T06:35:00.003-04:002013-06-14T06:35:43.365-04:00Kindergarten Graduation For those who were so concerned, the He'atid Parent Association set up a graduation party for the Kindergarteners next Friday.<br />
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Congratulations to the graduates!Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-49105600883533455762013-06-11T10:58:00.000-04:002013-06-11T10:58:08.043-04:00RYNJ Report 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rynj.org/files/annualreport/RYNJ_AnnualReport_2013.pdf"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-asA440N_dWk/UbH19ihnWBI/AAAAAAAAAGo/oiUAOFZbDL0/s320/RYNJ+2013+Report+Cover.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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Once again, RYNJ has produced a <a href="http://www.rynj.org/files/annualreport/RYNJ_AnnualReport_2013.pdf">thorough report </a>showing its finances, budget, etc. Moriah did a <a href="http://www.moriahschool.org/uploaded/photos/Moriah_AR_2012.pdf">similar report for 2012</a>. More on that one another day. I hope all the schools follow suit so we can have an intelligent discussion about school budgets will all of the information being transparent. </div>
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Some interesting things I noticed in YNJ's report:</div>
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1. The school continues to grow despite the new competition so maybe the panic of a 6th JDS in BC was a bit overblown</div>
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2. The "baked-in" tuition is only $200, according to page 18. This is down from $300 last year. Of course this doesn't include what they called "bad debt" (see page 21). I believe this is what they called "delayed tuition payments" last year, because I don't see anything about "delayed tuition payments" this year. They had $300,000 for that figure last year and now they have $30,000 for "bad debt" but I think that might be a typo if they are indeed the same thing. Hard to imaging that it could have changed by 90% in 1 year. Also hard to imagine that in a school of over a thousand students there is only the equivalent of two tuition payments that were not made as required.</div>
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3. While small donations have gone down this year, large donations have gone up and it has resulted in an overall increase in voluntary donations that is not insignificant. This tells me that the majority of money raised comes from the top echelon and that as the economy improves so does their disposable income. </div>
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4. It was nice to see this comment in the summary: "Our goal is to continue to ensure we provide excellence in all aspects of our Yeshiva without increasing tuition obligations for the foreseeable future." If that is indeed their goal, the increased fundraising will continue to offset inflationary cost increases to keep tuition flat, rather than being used to add staff, programs, capital improvements, etc.</div>
Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-9494223619783148452013-06-10T14:34:00.000-04:002013-06-11T09:45:57.139-04:00School Ending on TimeBack in November we speculated on whether or not the local schools would add days to the school year to make up for days lost because of Superstorm Sandy. Not surprisingly, none of them did. They eliminated teacher training day (which should be eliminated permanently), but they did not add any days in June. <br />
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In fact, He'atid just announced that they are eliminating school on June 21st which was supposed to be the last day & are now ending school on June 20th, "in order to provide our faculty and staff the much needed time to properly end the school year."<br />
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Here are the dates of the last day of school for the 6 Orthodox JDS's in BC:<br />
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BPY - June 20<br />
He'atid - June 20<br />
Moriah (preschool) - June 20<br />
Moriah grades 1-7 - June 21<br />
Noam - June 19<br />
RYNJ - June 20<br />
Yavneh - June 19<br />
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P.S. When school ends at 11:30 it really shouldn't count as a day. For most families with 2 working parents it makes things harder than if school were just canceled altogether.<br />
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<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-23089320315469962622013-06-06T08:15:00.000-04:002013-06-06T08:15:11.105-04:00So you think you can dance? (I don't)Most of you have heard about the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/01/newly-released-irs-video-shows-employees-dancing/">IRS being under fire</a> for wasting taxpayer dollars on a silly video of employees line dancing at a company conference.<br />
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It kind of reminded me of this:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/idcUl1LK0xE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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and this </div>
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<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-55570520752098331692013-06-05T11:37:00.002-04:002013-06-05T11:37:38.170-04:00What are we voting for exactly?The OU had a major voter push for the election yesterday but didn't state publicly whom they were endorsing or why. I didn't wan't to say anything until after the primary election because i didn't want to undermine their efforts but now that the elections are over I'd like them to explain. They pushed for all schools and shuls in the area to vote so there must be something going on that they should share with the community.<br />
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In District 37, which includes Teaneck, Englewood and Tenafly the only election that had more than one contender was the democratic primary for governor, which was pretty much a foregone conclusion. In fact Barbara Buono won by 76 points. And whoever wins is going to get destroyed by Christie anyway in the general election. <br />
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Perhaps their push was in District 38, which includes Bergenfield, Fair Lawn and Paramus where there was a close call for state senate.<br />
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If one of the two candidates has a strong position on school vouchers or anything else that affects our community it's important that we know about it. Especially since that would affect out turnout in the general election in November.<br />
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If the reason for the silence is that they are concerned about their tax exempt status by being involved in politics we all know that is not true. Tea Party groups & others are doing almost nothing besides politics and they still got to keep tax exempt status despite extensive scrutiny by the IRS.<br />
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One of the letters from a school or a shul said that we should vote simply to show elected officials that we vote in large numbers. This seems like a very strange reason since we have closed ballots & no one will know in what percentage our community voted.<br />
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I applaud the OU's efforts to push for legislative solutions to work in tandem with other solutions (austerity, communal fundraising, etc) to solve the tuition crisis, but I wish they would be a little clear on whom they are endorsing and why.Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-62828489842461482922013-05-10T11:17:00.000-04:002013-05-10T11:17:37.425-04:00What Exactly is an "Abatement"Moriah has a tuition abatement program that is separate from its scholarship program. See link to last year's application <a href="http://www.moriahschool.org/uploaded//Abatment_application_2012-2013_(1).pdf">here</a>, or summarized after the jump.<br />
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Basically it allows middle income earners to get a little off from tuition by showing their tax returns but without having to go through the scholarship process that some find shameful.<br />
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To qualify you must have children in yeshiva (not necessarily in Moriah) from Pre-K thru high school and be making under certain amounts as follows:<br />
1 Child & making less than $135K<br />
2 Children & making less than $175K<br />
3 Children & making less than $210K<br />
4 Children & making less than $240K<br />
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<i>[UPDATE: Those were last years minimums that are higher this year. Now you can make up to $270K & get the abatement if you have 4 or more children]</i><br />
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I think the premise of the program is that if they simply lower tuition some of the "wealthy" parents will just pay the lower amount, without making up for it with any significant donations, and they will lose revenue. If they just raised the threshold for scholarships some of the "middle class" parents would leave rather than have to apply for a scholarship and feel like they are taking tzeddakka. This way its more of a sliding scale. Sort of like the progressive income tax system we have where "middle class" families pay less than the wealthy & no one considers that charity.<br />
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The question is if you are getting 3K off per child & aren't donating you probably aren't paying your share. So is that charity or just part of a progressive payment system?<br />
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Also, does this system allow those earning money "off-the-books" to get a reduction without any scrutiny beyond looking at their bogus W-2's? Then again often full scholarship recipients don't get much scrutiny beyond their W-2's which are usually bogus when someone works off-the-books, but that's a separate topic.<br />
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One thing I like about the program is that they look at the total number of kids you have in yeshiva, not just the ones at Moriah. So you don't get "punished" for sending different children to different schools. All schools should adopt that policy for their scholarship programs.<br />
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<i>The Moriah School is committed to providing a quality Jewish education to those who seek it regardless of financial means. As such we offer financial aid to all families who complete the scholarship application process and qualify. However, for those families who require a more modest level of assistance and who would prefer not to complete the scholarship application process, we encourage you to consider our Tuition Abatement Program, which is based completely on gross income level and number of dependent children in yeshivot.</i><br />
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We certify that our family’s 2011 gross income from all sources did not exceed the amount indicated below. We are therefore applying to reduce our tuition obligation to the school in the amount per child indicated below. You must provide copies of you entire 2011 individual and business returns with all schedules and W-2 statement in order to be considered for the abatement. Please check the appropriate box below. If unearned income (e.g. interest & dividends) is more than 30% of total income, applicant is not eligible for abatement.Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-23813508705748777152013-05-09T12:24:00.000-04:002013-05-09T12:27:22.673-04:00RYNJ Tuition Remains (Truly) Flat for 2013/2014Dear RYNJ Parents,<br />
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Baruch Hashem, we are close to completing another very successful year at RYNJ. While it is still a few weeks before our doors close for the summer, the planning for our next school year is well underway.<br />
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The Board of Directors has approved the budget for the 2013 – 2014 school year. We extend gratitude to our Finance Committee who worked tirelessly to prepare a budget that is fiscally responsible, recognizes and appreciates our staff’s dedication and maintains our commitment to Torah scholarship and academic excellence, while being sensitive to the hardship that paying for a Yeshiva education may create.<br />
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It is with great pleasure that I inform you that once again, tuition at RYNJ will remain flat for the upcoming school year. We are proud to have had no significant increase for the past 6 years and we remain committed to keeping our tuition steady for the foreseeable future.<br />
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Incidental and trip fees will once again be absorbed by the Yeshiva and will not be charged to parents.<br />
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Projected enrollment for 2013 – 2014 is once again at a record high and will necessitate the hiring of new staff to accommodate our growing student body. We are pleased to be providing our returning staff with a modest pay raise.<br />
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We have worked diligently and successfully to maintain our financial stability. While some of our costs have gone up and the Yeshiva has invested in numerous areas including professional development and technology to improve the education that we offer, it is a true credit to our administration and lay leadership that tuition remains steady. When factoring in inflation, it actually amounts to a 2% reduction in tuition for the year.<br />
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When I wrote to you at the beginning of this school year, I told you that the growth of our student body brings with it some logistical challenges as we must work to find enough room in the building to serve the needs of our children. I have made it one of the goals of my presidency to do whatever is needed to make certain that we do not have to turn away new families due to space constraints. As you may know, due to the very large number of children that we serve, the scheduling of physical education and indoor recess has become exceedingly difficult. With our children’s health and safety as our primary concern, the Board of Directors has begun to research options to alleviate this issue.<br />
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Later this week, we will release our 2nd Annual Report representing our continued effort towards transparency in our financials and the security of our financial future. The report is a tremendous accomplishment for the Yeshiva. I would like to express our gratitude to Shira Isenberg, Glenn Pfeiffer, Adina Wiener, Allen Pfeiffer and Uri Jacobs for all their hard work putting it together.<br />
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As guardians of our children and grandchildren's education, we remain committed to ensuring that the Yeshiva's finances remain on solid footing. As always, we are dedicated to providing all RYNJ students with a first class Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol education. We strongly believe that every Jewish child deserves a Torah education. If this proves to be a burden to any family we will offer financial assistance to those in need.<br />
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I invite and encourage you to contact me with any comments, questions or concerns.<br />
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Wishing you a Chag Sameach and continued nachas from all of our children.<br />
<br />
Azi Mandel<br />
President<br />
<br />Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-68839657315677844032013-04-30T11:34:00.000-04:002013-04-30T11:34:02.100-04:00Yavneh Freezes Tuition (except for additional $250 security fee)<br />
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<span style="color: #1e6887;"><b>Yavneh Academy - ישיבת יבנה</b></span><br />
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I am writing to report that Yavneh Academy’s Board has
approved the budget for the upcoming 2013-14 fiscal year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a result of hard work and cooperation by Rabbi Knapp,
Joel Kirschner, our Finance committee and its Chair; Adam Fried, we have once
again struck the right balance between educational excellence and
affordability.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In recent years, Yavneh has led the community effort to
reign in spiraling tuition costs. Yavneh broke historic ground by being
the first local Yeshiva Day School to cut tuition in 2011. Last year, we
instituted a significant cut in Early Childhood tuition, a more modest cut for
K-5, and a tuition freeze for grades 6-8.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>We are pleased to announce that there will be no tuition
increase for 2013-14. The tuition freeze will be school wide.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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We were able to achieve this, not only because of our
fiscal responsibility, but because of a robust increase in our projected
enrollment for next year, despite the expanded number of Jewish educational
options in our growing community.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Events of the past year have unfortunately reminded us that
we must always be vigilant when it comes to the safety of our children. As
such, we<b> </b>are instituting <b>a $250 security fee per family.</b> This fee
is reflective of the times in which we live. This money will be specifically
earmarked for staffing and technological and capital enhancements that will
further ensure the safety of our students and will enable us to work
cooperatively with our recently formed Security Committee in continuing to
safeguard our children's security and well being<o:p></o:p></div>
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Great things are happening at Yavneh, and I encourage you
to get involved in your children’s school, not only for their benefit, but for
the benefit of generations to come. We look forward to seeing you at Yavneh’s
annual meeting on May 6th.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Eric Fremed<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">President, Yavneh Academy</span>Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-2248344056429380202013-04-28T14:17:00.004-04:002013-04-28T14:17:58.064-04:002 Days Left to be BOLD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-PJIY-p5QQ/UX1jT2zfSwI/AAAAAAAAAGU/MF5WRKCBZJA/s1600/thistothat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-PJIY-p5QQ/UX1jT2zfSwI/AAAAAAAAAGU/MF5WRKCBZJA/s640/thistothat.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://www.bolddayschools.org/">BOLD initiative</a>, sponsored by the AJE Project, The AVI CHAI Foundation, and the Kohelet Foundation, is offering grants to existing schools to implement Blended Learning<br />
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Schools have until 4pm this coming Tuesday to apply.<br />
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I still have a few questions that the BOLD website left unanswered. These are not rhetorical questions that are intended to provoke skepticism. These are genuine questions that if answered satisfactorily could allay some of the skepticism found on this blog & various other media. Perhaps one of our readers can elucidate.<br />
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First, "schools have realized overall operating cost reductions of 25% and per pupil cost savings of $1000" What does this mean? Are these two separate cost savings, one per pupil and based on the total operating costs, that can be added up? Why not simply combine them since most operating costs can be calculated per student. If they are one and the same, just two different ways to calculate the same savings, $1,000 seems like a lot less than 25% based on the tuitions of most local schools.<br />
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Second, the following are listed as methods used by blended learning to reduce costs:<br />
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<li>Reducing and repurposing existing curricular and text budgets</li>
<li>Redefining teacher and staff roles and reallocating personnel resources</li>
<li>Increased class size coupled with greater personalization</li>
<li>Increased student enrollment fostered by innovative programs and personalized learning</li>
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Could we see some specific examples of these methods being used at He'atid or other schools? For item #1 are textbooks really a significant portion of the budget? are they less than technology costs? Doesn't the State partially subsidize them?<br />
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Are teachers doubling as administrators or vice versa as point #2 seems to suggest? Are they doing it more than, say, Noam, which has always had administrators teaching a few subjects<br />
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For #3 are student teacher ratios significantly different at He'atid or other blended learning schools than they are at traditional schools? Can we get some numbers on that? <br />
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For #4 does increased enrollment lead to lower costs per student? What if the building is already at capacity or if more enrollment means you need to expand or move?Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-65816482508590970352013-04-25T13:02:00.004-04:002013-04-25T13:02:49.968-04:00Moriah Town Hall Session<br />
Moriah had a "Town Hall Session" on Monday to discuss the recent changes they've made to keep tuition flat for this coming year. There's another one tonight at 8:00. <br />
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Here's what one reader wrote about the session Monday night:<br />
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"..it was great! They are working incredibly hard to achieve tuition sustainability. They are eliminating the multi child discount and raising the income level for which one can receive an abatement. This way it will be more of a needs based discount instead of an across the board discount. They were giving an AVERAGE of 78% discount to faculty members. The highest other school is Ramaz at 60% cap. Noam and Yavneh are 50% and 40% respectively. They are moving to a 60% cap. They recognize the shrinking enrollment but it's not necessarily a problem if they budget correctly for it. They are also moving to improve the morale."<br />
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"Also they reduced the number of administrators which is drastically reducing their salary expense."</div>
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Yasher Koach to Moriah for making the hard but, unfortunately, necessary decisions to stop the annual rises in tuition that their parents had become accustomed to.</div>
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Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17805657223546683.post-64550311032784502712013-04-17T11:50:00.002-04:002013-04-17T11:50:35.593-04:00Register to Vote<br />
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See letter below from the president of the Board of Yavneh:</div>
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I am writing to you to share some thoughts about a serious issue affecting our school and New Jersey’s Orthodox Jewish community. </div>
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<strong>Education Affordability </strong>is a major issue affecting our families and our schools. The Orthodox Union has formed NJVotes, a campaign dedicated to increasing voter participation in every election and by doing so making our community known to our Legislators and obtaining their support for increased State funding for day schools and families.</div>
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This year we have a unique opportunity. New Jersey's entire 120-member Legislature and Governor are up for re-election in the June Primary. Because this election does not coincide with a Presidential race, voter turnout is usually low, typically less that 12%. Therefore, our community’s votes will carry exceptional weight. </div>
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Our entire school community needs to vote in the June 4th Primary. <strong>In order to vote, you must be registered as either a Democrat or a Republican.</strong> <strong>Regardless of how you cast your ballot, politicians will see that our community is engaged.</strong> Only when we increase our voter turnout will our elected officials pass the legislation needed to alleviate the cost of Yeshiva tuition. </div>
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The job of an educator in the Yeshiva day school community is twofold. First, we try to instill the requisite knowledge for success in our highly competitive world. Second, we try to act as role models to form their religious, moral, and ethical compasses, ensuring the continuation of Jewish values.</div>
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Yavneh is proud to say that we take this responsibility very seriously. </div>
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We ask parents to help our school by <strong>registering with a political party </strong><strong>and voting in the Primary Election June 4th</strong>. We also ask that parents continue to be positive role models for their children and take action <strong>by registering other community members or volunteering to help NJVotes at phone banks or events. </strong>Visit<a href="http://njvotes.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">njvotes.org</a>, call <a href="tel:201-416-7741" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+12014167741">201-416-7741</a>, or visit the OU office here in Teaneck at 696 Palisade Ave.</div>
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<strong>Please recognize the importance of this campaign</strong><strong> and our responsibility to<u>register by May 14th <em>and</em> vote in the June 4th Primary.</u> If we want to effectuate meaningful change our entire school community must vote in June. </strong>Please let me know if you have any questions about this issue and its centrality to the continued strength and growth of our community. I look forward to working with every one of you on this vital initiative. Thank you for your participation in this school-wide effort.</div>
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Thank you</div>
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Eric Fremed , Yavneh President-</div>
Yeshiva Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433628684898276563noreply@blogger.com0