What school did you go to?

debsey ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 11:58 am

Bais Yaakov of Boro Park. Depends how you look at it - I'm yeshivish and living in Lakewood, so I guess I'm a poster child. But I have a very different type of profession/life than most of my classmates, so in that way, not a poster child. Went to "real" college, which was definitely not encouraged.

would NEVER send my kids there. I hated feeling like one tiny cog in a giant machine, elementary and HS both, teachers had no idea who you were as an individual. Sent all my kids to small, new schools, just so they could benefit from individual attention. I feel really strongly about this.

↑ amother ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 11:59 am

amother wrote:

I went to mesorah high school in Dallas, tx. I would say I am a poster child because there is no one type there- they just want you to be yourself and be happy while being frum.
If going to BJJ and being a kollel wife makes you happy, or becoming a doctor makes you happy, they stand behind you and help you achieve your dreams.
So I am a poster child, because I am leading a happy, frum, warm and accepting life with my family.

Another Mesorah girl here! Wave

It's so true, there is no "poster child", they aim to make B'nos Yisrael out of the girls no matter what path they choose to take in life.

I don't think that I'm the poster child in the sense that I married a Chossid, which so far I don't think any other graduate has done. (Have I just given myself away?) But there is a lot of respect from the Hanhala for what I stand for, and for the kind of home and career that I am building.

Chayalle ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 12:57 pm

debsey wrote:

Interesting. I sent my kids to a very big elementary school (BF in Lakewood) and found there are pros to a big school, but to avoid them feeling like a number all their lives, I sent them to a smaller high school. They LOVE high school.

I think there are advantages both ways sometimes. I myself went to a very small elementary school - and believe it or not I HATED it - and then went to a larger high school (not BYHS large - but more like 3 classes to a grade large) and loved it.

↑ debsey ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:03 pm

Chayalle wrote:

That's the whole reason I didn't send to Bais Faiga! Would not contemplate a huge school. I think either extreme can be a problem, but I just plain HATED not feeling like an individual ever, until seminary. 3 classes to a grade is small, IMHO! BYBP had 6 classes of 30 girls each when I was there, 20 years ago. I'm sure that number is way higher now.

amother

↑ Cerise ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:11 pm

debsey wrote:

It's not.
My daughter has 7 classes in her grade with 20 kids per class. Some grades have 6 classes. The theory as to why it is getting smaller is because many graduates moved to lakewood and are obviously not sending their kids there. Wink

In addition they added on many more principals and grade supervisors.
My daughter's grade principal knows her(and myself) very well.

↑ debsey ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:13 pm

amother wrote:

In addition they added on many more principals and grade supervisors.
My daughter's grade principal knows her(and myself) very well.

It's good to know it's different now. There were no "grade principals" when I was there. Still wouldn't send there......My kids all thrived in the schools they went to.

↑ Chayalle ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:14 pm

Simple1 wrote:

I do love small schools. But some girls benefit from larger schools, as it gives them more breathing space. If they don't fit the perfect student mold, they may be better off with less personal attention - or what they considering pestering from well meaning teachers and principals. As long as their social life is good.

This. exactly how I felt in elementary school. Like I was under a microscope.

BF is big but at the time I registered my oldest there, they actually had the smallest class sizes from all schools in Lakewood, and the smallest staff-to-student ratio. So I felt like there was enough individual attention, with room to breathe.

But for high school, I want my girls to have the opportunity to really shine. To be recognized and to be able to join whatever extra-curricular program they want to, without so much competition that they get side-lined. So I send to a smaller high school, and B"H the girls are really thriving there.

↑ sequoia ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:35 pm

As long as we're on the subject, what does "class" within a grade mean? It sounds like the Soviet/Russian system, with 9-a, 9-b, 9-c, 10-a 10-b, etc. Is it similar in BY schools?

In my high school, some subjects like English and math had several classes per grade (obviously), some like philosophy or economics had one, and some like Russian or Japanese had one with only a few students. But there wasn't a set group of people you were with all the time.

↑ bigsis144

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:43 pm

sequoia wrote:

At least in the Bais Yaakov schools that I've been to (out of town, so much, much smaller than Brooklyn or Lakewood), a grade was divided into multiple classes, ex. 64 9th graders meant two classes of 32. (In my school, we were split alphabetically, but it's different in different schools.) For all kodesh classes, this group stayed together.

For secular subjects, we'd be split by levels (ex. Honors math vs. regular math vs. the class that wasn't labeled as "lowest math" but everyone knew it was for the weakest math students), or by interest (ex. everyone in 12th grade had to take a science class, but you could choose Physics or Anatomy/Physiology or First Aid), or seemingly at random (I have no idea how we got sorted for Spanish or gym or history, but these groups were all different).

I know of some schools that have Honors Chumash and stuff, so I guess they split the kodesh classes by level as well.

ETA: I assume most frum schools don't have the financial flexibility to have classes for just a handful of students (like the Japanese class you mentioned). Too much of a niche, and ha ha ha that they would give students the power to request a class?!

Though I have taught in schools that had a specific "Electives" period where the students got to suggest courses they wanted to take. That's how I ended up teaching drama, guitar and Music History/Theory in Edison, NJ. Other students got to do hair styling or basketball.

Last edited by bigsis144 on Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:51 pm; edited 2 times in total

DrMom

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:44 pm

sequoia wrote:

I attended public schools in NJ.

In the US (at least where I went to school), it meant that if there were, say, 60 pupils in 1st grade, they might be divided up into 3 "classes" of 20 students each. In primary school, each of these classes would be taught all of their academic subjects by a single teacher (except for subjects that required specialized teachers, such as phys ed or art or music).

In high school, a "class" referred to a particular subject, in which case the definitions were as you described it. Each pupil has his/her own class schedule. Popular courses or courses offered on different levels required more classes to accommodate all the students enrolling in that subject, whereas more obscure courses required fewer classes.

↑ Chayalle ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:46 pm

sequoia wrote:

In many BY schools, the grade is divided into groups, or classes, and they spend most of their time with their class. Usually the division is so that the class size is a number of students the teacher can handle.

For example, there were around 75 students in my graduating class, and there were 3 classes.

Some classes are dividied according to student level. For example, in Bais Faiga in the upper grades, there are Math classes by level. In the younger grades, there are reading groups by level.

In elementary school, you tend to be in the same class for all subjects, with the exception of subjects that are divided by level.

In high school, there can be different classes for Hebrew subjects vs. secular subjects. Often this is due to the different course options available in the secular department.

Hope this helps!

↑ Chayalle ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 1:55 pm

sequoia wrote:

Chayalle, so high school students CAN choose their own courses, at least somewhat?

In the high school I went to, there were some different options, and that is true in my DD's school as well.

There are some core subjects that everyone has to take. Everyone took English for all four years of high school. Global studies and American History were also mandatory.

I remember French being optional. After Algebra and Geometry - which were mandatory - you could choose to take Trigonometry or Business Math. There were also options in science. I took Bio and Chemistry, but never took Earth Science.

↑ debsey ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 2:03 pm

sequoia wrote:

Chayalle, so high school students CAN choose their own courses, at least somewhat?

Not Chayalle, but it's not like a menu. It's more like Choice A or Choice B, and both are pretty much predetermined. If you're not a great math student, Business Math. If you are, Trigonometry. Although DD is a great student in every subject but math, and the school did offer her a choice. She chose Trig because I told her it's worth accepting a challenge. I think there was also a choice of Earth Science or Chemistry, but given that DD is a good student, she didn't have a choice, she was placed in Chemistry.

When I was in HS, the only choice was whether or not to take business math/trig, and whether or not to take French. I don't recall what the alternative was to French. Yiddish, maybe?

↑ Chayalle ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 2:13 pm

debsey wrote:

When I was in HS, the only choice was whether or not to take business math/trig, and whether or not to take French. I don't recall what the alternative was to French. Yiddish, maybe?

We all took the Hebrew Regent, which qualified as a foreign language and was pretty much a joke....so French was not needed for a diploma.

In my high school, Business Math went with accounting and was a serious subject. There were many top students in the class. It was more of a choice between getting an Academic or Business diploma.

↑ debsey ↓

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 2:23 pm

sequoia wrote:

That's harsh LOL

Everyone has different talents/interests.

True. I didn't mean anything offensive. I meant that the girls are primarily sorted by grades. It's not like anyone went to DD and said - what are ur future career plans? What subject interests you more? She was just assigned to Chemistry, presumably because her grades are high and were high on all other science related subjects.

She is really not talented at math - at ALL - but I very much wanted her to stretch herself and try to take Trig. I was willing to pay a tutor, just because I don't believe in taking the easy way out. What's wrong with a challenge? And she said at the end of the year that she's glad she took Trig, she didn't think she could pass it, but she did. I guess I'm more old fashioned, but I believe in education.