Kosher money tuition podcast

amother

Peachpuff

Wed, Aug 28 2024, 10:47 pm

dena613 wrote:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VCERRUEineQ&t=14s

She is so fast and sharp!

Lots of strong ideas. Curious as to people's thoughts.

I had no idea what to expect, but I was really really impressed. What an eye opener.

Reminds me how much hakaras hatov I have to my own HS for treating me regularly and lovingly, while educating me basically for free (my father was terminally ill and my parents didn't have a penny to spare on anything).

She brought up some very good points that I had never thought of, and it was refreshing to hear the other side - usually I just hear grumbling about how expensive it is, everyone feels mad, etc

amother

Kiwi

Wed, Aug 28 2024, 11:08 pm

I didn't listen yet, but I see that the guest is from an OOT school. I'm wondering how much of what she says applies to the RW yeshivish schools in Brookyn/Lkwd (the world I am part of). Unfortunately our schools are not run remotely like the OOT schools. There is zero transparency, the schools keep everything hidden and secret, they are not clear about how much government funding they get and how it's used, the process to get a tuition scholarship is horrific and dehumanizing etc. I doubt any director of the Rw in-town schools would agree to go on a podcast (I wish they would!!)

The fact that this director agreed to the podcast already is an indication that her schools is probably run much, much better than the in-town yeshivish schools and in a much fairer and more transparent manner.

↑ Hashem_Yaazor ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 2:52 am

Nothing is going to be the same in all schools but I liked hearing what works for them and feeling good that we do similar (actual budgets with transparency to finance committee for example), things that make sense in theory but wouldn't work in my school due to differing circumstances, some food for thought if we can integrate some of the ideas.

We're both part of the same email group that share ideas (and if life wasn't busier for me I'd be going to the same fun conferences) plus I've worked with her in the past in a totally different capacity so I already knew I would like it. But what's important to me is that parents, especially those who are critical and don't have an ayin tovah, listen to it. I'm kind of the "choir" that didn't actually need to hear the "preaching" but of course I jumped on the chance to listen within hours after it being released 😄

amother

Daffodil

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 8:08 am

I didn’t listen because to me it’s obvious that tuition is going to be expensive.

Maybe a podcast on why clothing, simchos, etc needs to be so expensive would speak to me more Wink

I love kosher money podcasts and now I’ll listen to this one but I guess I felt I already am on the school’s side and I never complain about tuition but rather the other societal expectations.

amother

Lightpink ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 10:29 am

She’s great! Wish there was a sister school run like this in Lakewood. I want to hear an in town administrator’s side of things but it seems they’re not willing to put their school and themselves on blast in case they say anything the public finds upsetting.

amother

↑ Peru ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 10:39 am

amother Lightpink wrote:

Bnos has always been transparent. If anyone doesn't like it, they can go to BY Baltimore (which is also a wonderful school).

The best part about Bnos (IMO) is that even though the school is tiny, getting in is not a game like I've seen described here about other schools in other cities. It's not dependent upon the family, their money, their influence. It's a literal lottery. When we interviewed, we were clear we were going to be asking for financial assistance and we still got in.

amother

↑ Lightpink

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:15 pm

amother Peru wrote:

Wow that is so interesting! Very, very, very different from in town schools.

mha3484 ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:25 pm

I liked it a lot but I did disagree with her about camp. I live in a city that has a lot of similarities to Baltimore and most of us push camp off as long as we can and don't send to expensive camps. AMW, MTM, Maarava are popular because they take one happy camper and Agudah itself offers some scholarships. Menucha has become more popular and my friend tell me the pricing is also very reasonable. So as much as we are very conscious about tuition we are also the same about our kids summer plans.

Last edited by mha3484 on Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Brunette ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:28 pm

I send my kids to Bnos. Ahuva Heyman and the school are amazing. They are open to questions and ideas. I've emailed and spoke to them directly about why they did specific things in the school (that I didn't particularly like) and always got a clear answer that actually made a lot of sense and shows they put a ton of thought into every aspect of the school.

Their tuition committee is really very fair. When my husband lost his job they really worked with us. When he started working again and we needed some time to catch up financially, they worked with us. When we called to say we were a bit more stable and ready to pay a little more, we got a huge thank you. When we were BH financially stable and paying full tuition we did get a personal letter from Ahuva Heyman thanking us for making it our priority.

amother

↑ Brunette

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:30 pm

Quote:

I liked it a lot but I did disagreed with her about camp. I live in a city that has a lot of similarities to Baltimore and most of us push camp off as long as we can and don't send to expensive camps. AMW, MTM, Maarava are popular because they take one happy camper and Agudah itself offers some scholarships. Menucha has become more popular and my friend tell me the pricing is also very reasonable. So as much as we are very conscious about tuition we are also the same about our kids summer plans.

She doesn't specifically mean sleep away camp. The tuition form used to ask even which day camps you sent to. When both parents are working, it's really not an option for kids to be home all summer.

↑ mha3484 ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:32 pm

I felt like she was saying that parents nickel and dime on tuition but then when it comes to sleep away camp they don't do the same. My experience is very different. But maybe I understood her wrong.

amother

↑ Peru ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 1:41 pm

mha3484 wrote:

I felt like she was saying that parents nickel and dime on tuition but then when it comes to sleep away camp they don't do the same. My experience is very different. But maybe I understood her wrong.

She has seen it ALL.

While camp is a must for daycare, you can't say that about sleepaway camp. When we moved to Baltimore, my daughter was going into 5th grade. I asked Bnos where most of the girls go to overnight camp the summer before we moved, thinking I'd send her there so she'd meet girls. I was told that it's not seen as much as a must here. And it's true. My daughter graduated 2 years ago. Maybe 1/3 of her class went to overnight camp. 1/2 tops. The rest had the summer off or they worked at camps themselves after they aged out of camps here. About 10 of her classmates ran their own camps.

But lets say overnight camp is a must. Look through this site to see the threads about camps.

Who calls the camp and nickel and dimes them? No one. Because the camp will just tell them that they have a waiting list a mile long and dismiss them.

And then you know none of the nickel and dime their daughters when they go to camp, we see it here, they get all the newest things to go and be like everyone else.

amother

NeonPurple ↓

Thu, Aug 29 2024, 2:48 pm

I loved the interview, it made me want to move to Baltimore and send to Bnos! But we live in town and the schools just aren't run with the same sensitivity as she was describing.

My general feeling on the topic is that people have more kids than they can afford to pay tuition for and as long as that happens there's always going to be friction between parents and schools. I for one don't understand how parents feel they have the right to have as many kids as they want without considering the 80k it will cost to send them to frum private school every year. If that is your "plan" then you should also plan on fundraising the difference. Scholarships should be for those who face unexpected hardships.