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Jewish Orthodox community in Englewood/Tenafly NJ



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amother


 

Post Sun, Jul 13 2014, 6:18 pm
I currently live in NYC but we're thinking of moving to NJ in the near future. I searched online and found a few orthodox synogogues in Englewood, but I'm not sure about Tenafly. How's the orthodox community over there? any kosher restaurants/grocery stores? Is it a mixter of sepharadic and ashkenazi?
Would it be safe to live in that town with small children? are the people friendly?
I'm also looking at the living expenses, in the beginnig we'd have to live in a rented house, is the rent reasonable?
I'm also looking at this area because it's not too far from the city for my husband's commute to work.
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Mom23gs




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 13 2014, 6:56 pm
Tenefly is the township adjacent to Englewood. It's a safe, beautiful place with very large homes and a large wealthy population. Its Jewish community consists of secular /conservative Israelis who send to either Solomon Shechter or the public schools, which are among the best in NJ. It also has many modern orthodox families, who daven at the Kesher community Synagogue in Englewood, or at Chabad.

Tenafly families mainly send to Moriah, but there are also a number that send to the other Bergen County schools, such as Noam, Yavneh, BPY and RYNJ.
The nearby Englewood Shoprite has a huge kosher dept. and there is also plenty of kosher supermarkets and restaurants in Teanck.
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amother


 

Post Sun, Jul 13 2014, 7:00 pm
OP here.
thanks for the reply.
So would you know anything about the rent in tenafly? I'm assuming it's expensive if the place consists of wealthy people. I'm lookin for 3 bedrooms in the range of $2000 (but it's probably much higher).
If Englewood is cheaper for living, would I still be able to send my kids to school by bus to the nearby schools in tenafly? I'm not sure how it works in NJ but in nyc, if I send my kids to public schools, I have to live where the district of the school.
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Mom23gs




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 13 2014, 7:15 pm
There are districts in NJ that will accept out of district students, but Tenafly is not one of them. If you are thinking of sending to public school, it would be best place to live. the other surrounding towns do not have a school system anywhere as good...it is ranked in the top 20 in the state. I am not sure what rentals go for...you can probably do a web search to find out.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 6:58 am
OP here *bumping*

I was searching for houses/apartments for rent 3 bedrooms in Tenafly and I can't find as many as in Englewood. I see the prices are similar (maybe a bit more expensive in Tenafly). So now I'm thinking it would be easier for us to move to Englewood. However, I'm concerned about the elmentary schools (public) for my kids since the poster above said that in Tenafly they have the best public school, so I'm not sure what to do yet.
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self-actualization




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 7:21 am
These are really expensive neighborhoods with really wealthy, professional people. Why don't you try to go for a Shabbos (call up the shul rabbis and ask if you can visit for a Shabbos) and see if the crowd is what you are looking for. There are many lovely communities in northen NJ and you certainly don't want to choose one where you may not fit in.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 7:59 am
amother wrote:
OP here *bumping*

I was searching for houses/apartments for rent 3 bedrooms in Tenafly and I can't find as many as in Englewood. I see the prices are similar (maybe a bit more expensive in Tenafly). So now I'm thinking it would be easier for us to move to Englewood. However, I'm concerned about the elmentary schools (public) for my kids since the poster above said that in Tenafly they have the best public school, so I'm not sure what to do yet.


OP, I grew up around there. While it's possible things have drastically changed, I would NOT under any circumstances send my child to a public school in Englewood. Elementary, maybe. Def not Dwight Morrow High School, and that's if you're Frum or not.

I hope someone will correct me if I am incorrect, but I do not think that I am.
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mille




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 8:17 am
amother wrote:
OP, I grew up around there. While it's possible things have drastically changed, I would NOT under any circumstances send my child to a public school in Englewood. Elementary, maybe. Def not Dwight Morrow High School, and that's if you're Frum or not.

I hope someone will correct me if I am incorrect, but I do not think that I am.


Englewood public schools are really not the best. Has nothing to do with being frum, they are just really not good. I have no idea about Tenafly though.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 8:40 am
Englewood public schools are pretty terrible.

Tenafly's schools are supposed to be amazing.

If you are considering Teaneck, they are mediocre, but we have friends with kids in the Teaneck public schools who are happy. (I'm only mentioning it because its close by to Englewood and Tenafly)
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Mom23gs




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 20 2014, 9:14 am
What about Fairlawn? Some of their elementary schools are ranked pretty high, such as the Lyncrest school, which I think is in a frum area. You can also look at this link and see if it helps ...just plug in school names for their 2013 ranking.

http://m.schooldigger.com/go/N.....00860
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 6:52 am
Mom23gs wrote:
What about Fairlawn? Some of their elementary schools are ranked pretty high, such as the Lyncrest school, which I think is in a frum area. You can also look at this link and see if it helps ...just plug in school names for their 2013 ranking.

http://m.schooldigger.com/go/N.....00860


Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking at Fair Lawn and the prices for rent over there aren't as high as Englewood. I'm still not sure about the public schools. So since many of you say that the best ones in Tenafly, I see I have no choice but look for other "best" public schools that aren't too far from the same area of Tenafly. Since if I don't live in Tenafly, I don't think the public schools will accept out of the district. I also interested in sending my kids to the JCC Israeli programs in Tenafly since they'll be studying in a public school and I want them to continue speaking hebrew (since they do it with me) and learning torah as well.
So I don't want to be too far away from Tenafly/Englewood area. But at the same time, I'm looking for good public schools and not too expensive houses for rent.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:53 am
Tenafly public schools are so good because the town is so expensive. The average house there is at least 1 mil. Teaneck and englewood have a majority of Jews who send to yeshiva and honestly the public schools suffer. The jcc in englewood is very expensive too. Honestly Bergen county is an expensive place.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:58 am
amother wrote:
Tenafly public schools are so good because the town is so expensive. The average house there is at least 1 mil. Teaneck and englewood have a majority of Jews who send to yeshiva and honestly the public schools suffer. The jcc in englewood is very expensive too. Honestly Bergen county is an expensive place.



This is why getting an eruv in tenafly became such a contentious issue.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 10:56 am
Posting anon, since easy to figure out who I am with this info :-)

OP, I grew up in Fair Lawn. My grandparents lived in Englewood. My mother works in the Tenafly public school system (she's worked in all of the schools but Maugham), and has for years. I worked in a kindergarten class at Smith school as a TA for as few months.

All that being said:

Tenafly schools are amazing. Highly academic, rigorous. They take education very seriously, and their standards are high. There is a lot of academic pressure on students in Tenafly to do well. Even in kindergarten, kids are expected to read, "write essays," and take standardized tests (they even put up barriers between the kids during tests to prevent cheating). A typical Tenafly graduate strives to go to an Ivy League college. I'm not saying all of them do, but that is the mentality there.

The Jewish community in Tenafly is relatively new, but growing. There was some antisemitism in the town a while back, when the Jewish community started to become larger (town didn't want an eruv put up), but I do not think that is the case any longer.

Fair Lawn public schools simply do not compare. Yes, the education is good, but it is nothing like Tenafly. The Jewish community in Fair Lawn is well-established, and also growing. It is a warm, friendly, nurturing community. Homes there are typically cheaper in Fair. Lawn compared to Tenafly an Englewood.

Englewood also has a well established, affluent Jewish community. But I agree with what others have posted about the public schools: avoid, avoid, avoid. They do not have a good reputation.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 11:25 am
amother wrote:
Posting anon, since easy to figure out who I am with this info :-)

OP, I grew up in Fair Lawn. My grandparents lived in Englewood. My mother works in the Tenafly public school system (she's worked in all of the schools but Maugham), and has for years. I worked in a kindergarten class at Smith school as a TA for as few months.

All that being said:

Tenafly schools are amazing. Highly academic, rigorous. They take education very seriously, and their standards are high. There is a lot of academic pressure on students in Tenafly to do well. Even in kindergarten, kids are expected to read, "write essays," and take standardized tests (they even put up barriers between the kids during tests to prevent cheating). A typical Tenafly graduate strives to go to an Ivy League college. I'm not saying all of them do, but that is the mentality there.

The Jewish community in Tenafly is relatively new, but growing. There was some antisemitism in the town a while back, when the Jewish community started to become larger (town didn't want an eruv put up), but I do not think that is the case any longer.

Fair Lawn public schools simply do not compare. Yes, the education is good, but it is nothing like Tenafly. The Jewish community in Fair Lawn is well-established, and also growing. It is a warm, friendly, nurturing community. Homes there are typically cheaper in Fair. Lawn compared to Tenafly an Englewood.

Englewood also has a well established, affluent Jewish community. But I agree with what others have posted about the public schools: avoid, avoid, avoid. They do not have a good reputation.


I'm the amother above, who posted about this but differently.

The issue of the eruv had nothing to so with anti-semitism. It had to do with the prospect of losing the excellence of the school system-- if an influx of frum people move there, they won't use the public schools, and as such the schools will suffer. Do you think Dwight Morrow became such a lousy place by accident?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 11:43 am
amother wrote:
I'm the amother above, who posted about this but differently.

The issue of the eruv had nothing to so with anti-semitism. It had to do with the prospect of losing the excellence of the school system-- if an influx of frum people move there, they won't use the public schools, and as such the schools will suffer. Do you think Dwight Morrow became such a lousy place by accident?



I'm the amother you responded to. And I agree, in part. Yes, one of the concerns put forth was about how the school system might change if frum people move in, but I recall there also being a sentiment that "the orthodox would take over," and change the entire character of the community, not simply the schools. I'm not saying that was the main reason for the opposition, but I do think it played a role.

Maybe "anti-frum" or "anti-orthodox would have been a more appropriate description than "anti-Semitic."
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amother


 

Post Thu, Aug 21 2014, 12:43 pm
amother wrote:
I'm the amother you responded to. And I agree, in part. Yes, one of the concerns put forth was about how the school system might change if frum people move in, but I recall there also being a sentiment that "the orthodox would take over," and change the entire character of the community, not simply the schools. I'm not saying that was the main reason for the opposition, but I do think it played a role.

Maybe "anti-frum" or "anti-orthodox would have been a more appropriate description than "anti-Semitic."


Above amother here, and I'll agree that it was a frum/orthodox thing. I wish it were different
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