Ohr chadash academy vs bais yaakov baltimore

amother

Today at 8:58 am

Hi,

I am debating between sending my daughter to ohr chadash academy in baltimore or bais yaakov school in Baltimore. Anyone know if ohr chadash is a good school academically? Any insight on these two schools will be really helpful!

amother

Vermilion ↓

Today at 10:38 am

Both schools are good. And they’re very different.
BY is a typical BY and or Chadash is a MO mixed school. It’s like night and day. (Not in a bad way.) What are your hashkafos? Where do you go to shul? Is there something specific you’re looking for in a school?

amother

Electricblue

Today at 10:48 am

While OCA may serve a predominantly MO population, it does not look like an MO school to me. The hashkafah of the administration appears to be more to the right.

Based on their website, OCA does not teach girls gemara, and their Rabbinical Advisor is a musmach of Ner Israel. I was not able to find the words "Modern Orthodox" in their self-descriptions on the website at all.

That probably wouldn't bother OP if she is also considering BY, but if someone was looking for a lehatchila MO school like Maimonides or Ramaz, OCA would be a significant compromise.

jellybean24 ↓

Today at 11:07 am

amother Vermilion wrote:

Last edited by jellybean24 on Tue, Nov 26 2024, 11:21 am; edited 1 time in total

↑ jellybean24

Today at 11:09 am

amother Vermilion wrote:

We daven at Rabbi Teichmans shul and I am looking for a frum school with good academics

amother

Quince

Today at 11:36 am

My girls go to Bais Yaakov and I have nieces in Ohr Chadash so am familiar with both schools. There is a definite difference in the hashkafas (and you can tell I send to BY because I didn't write hashkafot), even though there is some overlap in families. The BY hanhala and teachers are more to the right and the school advocates for strict technology guidelines, certain standards of tznius and a more yeshivish outlook. There are all kinds of families who send to BY, but the school hashkafa and the messages they get from the teachers is very different than OCA. A good example is Yom Haatzmaut. BY does not teach about it or commemorate it in any way, whereas OCA has a big public celebration every year. My nieces at OCA had their own smartphones while in middle school, since every single kid in their class did. My girls only got "dumb" phones while in high school, as was normal for their peers. You really can't compare the two schools since they are so different.

amother

Cobalt ↓

Today at 12:08 pm

My kids go to OCA if you have any questions.
It’s a good solid school. Very very sweet atmosphere and they really try to make learning fun. A lot of hands on/visual learning.
They’re very different school. Have you had a tour at each of them? If not definitely do. Ask to tour the entire schools not just the preschools.

amother

↑ Cobalt

Today at 12:47 pm

justforfun87 wrote:

Honestly academically I think BY is probably more up there than OCA. If you want academics first over hashkafa then send to BT.

lol that’s what I was going to write but wasn’t sure if it would come off as insensitive. 😝
We chose the school to send our kids to based on hashkafa and not academics. The kids come out knowing enough to get by just fine in life that’s what mattered to me.

BY used to be a TON of memorizing- very very strong on the memorizing. Not sure if it’s still like that or not but that was very hard for me personally. Especially in the Judaic subjects. There were other aspects that I found difficult which I won’t mention here because I don’t know if the school has changed much since then. But really write a list of what you are looking for in a school for your child and ask specific questions that will get you the answers you need (from the staff and parents that send their kids there and even from students themselves).

amother

↑ Vermilion

Today at 1:58 pm

jellybean24 wrote:

We daven at Rabbi Teichmans shul and I am looking for a frum school with good academics

Where are their friends going? Where do your friends send? BY is pretty academic and also very frum.
Edited to add-speak to Rabbi Teichman. He is familiar with all the schools and will be able to guide you.