Schools in baltimore

amother

Bottlebrush

Fri, Sep 06 2024, 1:47 pm

It's a complex question, but I will try to answer.

For starters, do you have any children (girls or boys) in Baltimore schools now? If so, where do they go? Also, what shul do you go to and where do you consider yourself hashkafically? That can help narrow it down.

All schools have a mix, but I would put OCA in a different category then the other 3 - it is Modern Orthodox and co-ed.

TA and TI are the two big boys schools. TS is much newer and smaller. Their first 8th grade graduating class from TS was this past year, whereas TA is over 100 years old. For the preschool TS currently has one class per grade, whereas TA and TI both have multiple classes, although both preschools are extremely well-run and class sizes are small.

Although as I said above there is a mix in all schools, for the most part (with exceptions!) the more yeshivish crowd sends to TI. I haven't figured out yet where TS families fit in hashkafically or if they just send there specifically because they want a smaller school than the other too.

Some other differences between TA and TI are more significant as the boys get older. TI has a longer day at an earlier age and has school the first half of the summer. TA has a Mesivta, so boys can stay there all the way through 12th grade, although most do not. About a third of the grade stays, and others go to Ner, Kesser Torah, a few to Slanger's, and out of town. TI only goes to 8th grade so the boys have to find a different Mesivta.

Happy to answer any other specific questions you have. I have several boys and the youngest is now a teenager. Smile

Hatzlacha!

amother

cornflower

Fri, Sep 06 2024, 2:15 pm

I can't say much about YTS as it's newer. As said by a prior post, they just had their first graduating class. They are small. They have 11 months with the last month being part camp.

People will tell you TI is more yeshivish. Maybe the school is run more yeshivish and probably 2/3 of the families that send are, but you don't have to be yeshivish to send. There are plenty non-yeshivish even some leaning modern that send. They don't start any chol (no abc, nothing) until 1st grade. Their level of kodesh learning is a bit more intense, but the chol a bit more laxs. Preschool is only until 2 something, but come 1st grade they go until 4:30. Middle school is 5 something. They go 11 months but the last month is kodesh only. I don't send but have relatives and friends that send and this is what they told me directly.

I sent to TA, which is more a community school but a huge mix in the hashkafa. I'd say the preschool-8th is mostly just plain frum with a decent mix of yeshivish and some a bit more modern. The Rabbaim are amazing (or at least the ones we've had with multiple boys going through the system). They stress midos. Their learning may not be as strong as TI, but a rebbe in a local yeshiva said that the TA kids catch up by Chanukah of 9th grade and some surpass in skills after that. Majority of the boys do not stay in TA for high school, although they have one. Probably between 15-20 from a class of mid 80s stay in TA for high school.

My boys went to TA through 8th and went on to good yeshivos after.

You really need to go to the schools and speak to the hanhala. Look at the classes etc.

You can see a lot from observation. I used to live in a different state and went to check out the few local boys schools. One was obviously hefker. We were there for probably 90 min and the same kid was wandering and playing in the halls almost the whole time we were there. The Rabbaim were great, but major lacking in supervision. I called a friend who sent there and asked point blank about supervision and she told me that was her one major complaint. Similarly when we looked into girls schools here. We really got a feel of the environment and although both were really great, we decided one was a better match for our daughter and our family.

One more thought. If you are on the fence between 2 schools, look where your neighbors send. There is no bussing in the city, so you want to find a carpool. And nice to have friends local to play with after school. I have a neighbor that could send to either, she started her older boys in TA when there were more neighborhood kids in TA. The area changed to be more TI based on new families moving in. She didn't switch your older boys, but she started her younger boys in TI. She's happy in both.

amother

Waterlily

Fri, Sep 06 2024, 4:09 pm

I have a few boys in Toras Simcha. Happy to answer any questions you gave. There has been a lot of administrative changes and it’s all for the good bh! They keep learning and growing. It is more like Bnos and we love that! I believe they plan to start a second track next year. I agree that it is similar mix to the other schools. There is an emphasis on Torah im Derech Eretz. The mix of boys in all classes I have boys in is very nice. We don’t have a lot of TS boys in our neighborhood which can be challenging but as my boys get older they are able to walk to friends. We do a lot of play dates. We live in a bit of a quieter neighborhood so I think it’s extra hard for us. As the school grows this will hopefully change. Many new families joined the school this year and all new grades aside from 8th have new boys.
I also want to say that the academic curriculum in both kodesh and chol is much improved from what was. It originally was not “on par” but that is changing. Last year, we got a “program coordinator” who has brought a lot of ruach and fun to the school with various learning programs and other things.