BBY vs TAG elementary

amother

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 8:38 am

We are IYH moving to the five towns for the 25-26 school and I will have two girls who will be sixth and 4th grade then. I am speaking to people in the area and am having a very hard time getting clarity on the differences between the two schools.

My older daughter is a happy friendly kid with no social, emotianal or behavioral issues but she uses the resource room to help her academically. I am told that TAG has a far superior resource room but there is also a lot more academic pressure in the school so you are winning and losing at the same time. Also, BBY apparantly just spent a lot of money restructuring their resource room. Are there any current BBY parents that can weigh in on the differences if the resource room improved this year?

Dh is a rebbe and we would definitely be labeled yeshivish. I am from oot and I definitely don't follow the yeshivish shtick of needing all the kids matching, and needing the right brands etc. At the same time I really only want my kids watching jewish vidoes and plan on following all school rules regarding devices and technology.

I know that BBY is officially more yeshivish, more klai kodesh families but at the same time I am hearing that the TAG yeshivish class is going to more low key and simple then a BBY class and I may be the happiest there.

We are looking for a house in either Inwood or Woodmere and I am hearing that there is nice mix of both schools in both areas. Can anyone chime in and let me know some real differences between the two schools and based on my post do you think I may be happier in BBY or TAG.

amother

Magnolia

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 9:48 am

Tag was extreme pressure and some teachers make weak girls feel like less than. We used to send there before moved out of the state. I only realized after that my very intelligent kids who are straight A students were feeling extreme pressure for no reason. Before we moved I considered switching them to BBY. I also spoke to others who had a similar experience.

amother

Hibiscus

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 10:16 am

Tag us definitely very academically focused. Also, there’s only one yeshivish class in each grade, and all the other classes are not yeshivish at all. Through fifth (maybe 6th?) grade, they’ll stay separate. After that, they mix the classes up for the second half of the day.
I know I myself got very unsheltered in tag 7th and 8th grade, and it only got less yeshivish I believe.
I know that all the “very good” tag girls who now are sending their kids to schools, are almost ALL sending to BBY. But they wouldnt necessarily have been in the yeshivish tag class… more in between, of very frum and want to shelter their kids, but not super yeshivish…
Bby has a mix of girls in each class, but the LEAST yeshivish girls still all dress more tzniusdig, mostly only watch jewish things, and are overall much more sheltered, etc.
In response to resource room, I have a friend that was going to send to tag for that reason, (her daughter needs a lot of help) but in the end, she was able to do bby. It’s possible she has to pay extra to get more tutoring though, im not sure.

amother

Yolk

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:11 am

BBY is extremely extremely strict about applying on time. Even if your reason for applying after the normal time to apply (right after succos) is because you are moving in I don't think they would consider it at all. Have heard this several times.

We switched into TAG this year but we first applied to BBY because we really fit into there better. But it is very very difficult to get in, even if you have pull, because they are bursting. They fill up every incoming grade almost entirely of just siblings. We tried valiantly to get in for a year. Finally we decided to apply to tag. And looking back I see this is absolutely bh the best place for us. It was a chessed Hashem did for us by blocking us from going there. I don't think my daughter would have survived in BBY. She is in a yeshivish class and doing very well bh and we are bH thrilled with her class.

Also we found administratively TAG to be so so warm and welcoming whereas the opposite with BBY. They make it like they are doing you the biggest favor by granting you an audience. And like what do you have to offer us kind of thing. I think it's a good school and we did love what we saw when we went but that was a big difference that was very apparent to us. Much hatzlacha! Do your hishtadlus and Hashem will guide you on the path that's right for you.

amother

Yolk

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:16 am

I just realized you wrote for the 25-26 school year. So that's in 2 Septembers, right? In that case you can apply at the right time; I was thinking you're coming for this coming school year. That's great that you're giving yourself plenty of time to research things. So you should apply on time which like I said is I think right after Succos, and also try to find people you know who can vouch/pull for you. If you know any local rabbanim. Hatzlacha!!

amother

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:22 am

amother Yolk wrote:

I keep hearing oh you need such pull to get into BBY etc. What makes them such a better school than TAG that everyone is banging down their doors. I am not able to put my finger on it.

amother

Yolk

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:24 am

amother OP wrote:

I keep hearing oh you need such pull to get into BBY etc. What makes them such a better school than TAG that everyone is banging down their doors. I am not able to put my finger on it.

It's not that they're better. It's that they're smaller. So they can't accept as many girls as TAG can.

amother

Pear

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:29 am

amother OP wrote:

I keep hearing oh you need such pull to get into BBY etc. What makes them such a better school than TAG that everyone is banging down their doors. I am not able to put my finger on it.

It’s bec they are smaller so less slots but also that lent itself to becoming more “exclusive” it’s really narishkeit honestly. It’s became a place for the rich pple who want to feel like they “got into” the “it” school. Ive worked in both. Bby is a very nice school-with many flaws. Tag is the same. But for the record tag has really been moving more right and are much more selective about accepting the type of families they want.

Also want to add that some of the most solid, articulate and balanced girls I have met are recent tag graduates (I work in schools so many are at their first jobs in the local schools)

amother

Lemon

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:35 am

Also… if b’ezras Hashem Ateres Miriam is in good shape, the two schools other may push you to go there bc they are so full…

Many families, especially with older daughters, moving in from out of town are not given a choice and end up at our little school.

I say this not to discourage you, but you should be aware that this is the dynamic and you should also look into Ateres Miriam if you’re moving here.

amother

Seashell

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 5:43 pm

Disclaimer: TAG parent here
False regarding one yeshivish class per grade, it depends on the grade dynamics. My 4th grader is in 1 of the 2 yeshivish classes, my 8th grader as well. Pre1a has 3 strong yeshivish classes this year.
BBY has a reputation as less academic. Less text based. No experience so I can just tell you the label.
TAG has a strong ivrit b’ivrit emphasis starting from first grade where they are writing simple compositions in Hebrew by the end of the year and a lot of drilling of shorashim so they can learn to read and translate psukim on their own.
My kids don’t feel pressure at all. Perhaps they are especially bright, or just conditioned to learn like this from the school 🤷🏻‍♀️.
I do think BBY has been looking to pull the family money kollel type families for years now, going as far back as the rebranding from Tapeinu over 20 years ago, and they have been successful so it’s the play where ‘cool’ yeshivish families default. Probably does end up being a more sheltered environment. But for what it’s worth, my TAG daughter was in the BBY bunk in daycamp over the summer and came home complaining that none of the girls davened and they all do TikTok songs and dances (which my daughter had zero frame of reference).
Bottom line, we are lucky to have solid school choices in the 5 towns and it’s a reason on its own to live here!

amother

Lime

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 5:53 pm

amother Hibiscus wrote:

This may have been true for a few years but it's not true now. Some TAG alum are sending to BBY, but most "very good TAG girls" who I know are now sending to TAG. Some less yeshivish families who would otherwise send to TAG are sending to Shulamit, which means that in the past few years TAG has been trending more to yeshivish then it had been. It's still a bigger mix than BBY.

amother

Red

Thu, Apr 11 2024, 7:43 pm

Seems like you really did your research.

I have looked into both of these schools extensively as well. There is indeed a lot of overlap, and there are plenty of all the local types of families in both schools.

I would add that BBY is particularly known for the feeling of natural warmth towards yiddishkeit, and TAG is particularly known for an intellectual and hashkafic honesty and integrity.

If I had an independent minded intellectual and academically motivated daughter, I’d be more likely send her to TAG. If I had a more bubbly, feminine and sensitive daughter, I’d be more likely to send her to BBY quicker.

Hashem blessed me with both types of girls 😃

So I needed to make the decision that would work best for all of them, and for our family as a whole. This may sound funny but I chose based on the HS that I felt would be a better fit. It’s not always simple to go from one to the other, and I think in the high school you see more of a difference in style. Most girls go straight through, so I tried to envision the end product we feel most comfortable with and chose that way.

Obviously, life doesn’t always work out the way we picture, but we do the best we could.

amother

Yolk

Fri, Apr 12 2024, 12:13 am

amother Red wrote:

Many would not at all agree with the bolded.