Help me choose a Flatbush school for my daughter

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 10:40 pm

My daughter is 3 and we're looking to apply for kindergarten for next year I"yh. Where do I start? Here is some background:

I went to Bnos Yisroel elementary, so we will be applying there and definitely leaning towards that as of now. We are middle of the road yeshivish; care much more about how frum someone is than how yeshivish they look. I went to Bais Yaakov schools, my husband went to Derech Hatorah in the beginning of elementary then switched to Darchei in Far Rockaway when his family moved. He grew up with TV; I did not. I wear both shaitels and tichels. No jeans. We have internet. Watch an occasional video.

I want a school that:

- gives over yiddishkeit in a way that the students internalize it in a very real way
- is preferably not too into brand names and all that
- the faculty is pleasant
- above all has genuinely good girls

I think that while of course education is important, my top priority is a school where my daughter will have friends who all have a lev tov.

Another school I'm thinking about is Lev Bais Yaakov, mostly because the few people who I know who send there LOVE it and only have very positive things to say about it.

Other considerations are BYA, and I'm not sure what else. Prospect?

Please consider before you post that you do not slander a whole school. I appreciate your feedback! Very Happy

amother

Silver

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 10:43 pm

If you care about no brand names, I dont' think bya is a good fit. You will find many, definitely not all though, who are into brand names.
Also as far as I know it doesn't fit your first criteria much either.
good luck though.
Schools are so hard to get in, so maybe just apply to all?

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 10:52 pm

Thank you for your response, silver. I only want to apply to schools that are a reasonable fit for us, though. Also, if nothing else, there is a registration fee for each school you register at so I'd rather not pay a few hundred dollars extra to a school that might not make sense for us apply to altogether.

amother

Mustard

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 10:56 pm

I dont know many people who would apply to both bnos yisroel and lev bais yaakov..to me those are two very different student and parent bodies hashkafa wise... and im not saying that in a bad way...they are just very different

Ashrei

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 11:11 pm

I was looking into both bnos yisroel and lev bais Yaakov for our daughter. Lev has a more hashkafic mix which includes more yeshivish. I spoke to a number of moms at lev who were also considering bnos yisroel at one point (I was looking to speak to the more yeshivish moms). You're welcome to pm me for details Smile

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 11:33 pm

amother wrote:

I know several people who applied to both or switched from one of those to the other. I hear them being rated together quite frequently, actually. But from your experience, how do they differ?

Ashrei, so where did you end up? If you'd rather not answer publically I can pm you Smile

amother

Ivory

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 11:39 pm

I send 5yo DD to Lev Bais Yaakov. She's only been there one year, so I can't tell you anything about the elementary school, but the preschool is really, really great. I am so happy with everything about the way the school is run - there is always someone to talk to, the preschool director is so warm and treats the children like they are her own. DD's teacher was great, attentive to a small fine motor issue that she noticed and corrected.

They are not over-the-top crazy with newfangled rules in elementary school. Any rules they have make a lot of sense and are based on logic not on hysteria.

There is a very nice crowd there - I found all the moms to be friendly and genuine and my DD made a few great new friends.

Ask away with any specific questions!

Ashrei

Wed, Jul 22 2015, 11:50 pm

OP, since you rightly said, "Please consider before you post that you do not slander a whole school," I thought I'd be extra careful and bring the rest of the convo to a PM only for that reason. I don't think there's anything to slander per se, but just to be cautious (in the merit for a refuah shleima for chaya kreindel bas ruda).

amother

Black

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 12:15 am

amother wrote:

This sounds very nice, thank you for that input. Always someone to talk to really appeals to me. So you don't know anyone in the elementary school?

amother

Black

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 12:16 am

Ashrei wrote:

Ok, thank you, I'll I"yh pm you Smile

And may Chaya Kreindel bas Ruda have a refuah shelaima!

bookie

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 7:28 am

I send to lev feel free to pm me. I was considering bnos yisroel as well.

cookiewriter

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 8:04 am

Just want to say I moved to Flatbush from Lakewood and my daughter went to 4th grade in BYA. We are there two years now. I find BYA extremely low key. There is absolutely zero pressure to wear brand names or go on fancy vacations. My daughter was one of the only girls going to sleep away camp this summer. In Lakewood there was triple the pressure, especially on mothers when they came to school events! It was a fashion show there! And I sent to a yeshivish school there. I came to orientation in BYA all dressed up like I did in Lakewood and I felt idiotic.
So basically I'm trying to say BYA is still a very very simple school and I love it that way

STovah

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 8:47 am

Chiming in to say that I have not felt the pressure for brand names in BYA either. From my experience in the school, I'm not quite sure how BYA got that reputation.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 10:29 am

Another happy BYA mother here. My daughter is very young so I can't comment about the materialism, but the school is warm and the teachers are wonderful and they seem to be doing a great job.

amother

Pink

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 11:44 am

Just wanted to add as another BYA mother (daughter in mid-elementary there and has been there since pre-school) that I have never found there to be any pressure materialistically what so ever. No pressure for the latest and greatest in clothes or toys etc. The crowd seems to be very nice, down to earth. The parents are a mix of working/koveia itim and some learning. Mothers have all been nice and friendly. The girls that I've interacted with on a whole, have been very sweet with nice middos. The teachers/principals have been nice, responsive and very accessible as well.

amother

Ivory

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 12:30 pm

Lev by was my first choice for many reasons:

Beautiful big school with lots of supplies and equipment. For example the library is a large room with bean bags instead of a closet. Everything is new and fresh, not old and run down.

Very warm teachers and directors. They place warmth, middos and extracurriculars on equal footing with academics. I didn't want a school that was overly focused on academics at the expense of everything else. Also, they have the equipment (smart boards, etc.) to teach in a multimedia way.

They are ok with parents using the Internet if necessary, no big deal. Same if students want cell phones on their way to and from school, they can't use them in school but don't have to be afraid that someone will find out they have this normal thing and expel them. Same with TV and movies, I don't have to worry that DD will be scolded or shunned for watching movies. Watching movies is a normal part of our life and doesn't have to have this ring of fear around it. They take this common-sense approach instead of a hysterical fear based approach to all these issues and I love it.

It's a relatively small school so it's easy to talk to the people you want without being rerouted through many departments. They are quickly growing though, the class average used to be 20 students and now it's closer to 30.

amother

Gold

Thu, Jul 23 2015, 2:29 pm

amother wrote:

I send to BYA and this is not my experience at all, none of my girls have friends that are into brand names and I think there is no materialistic pressures. I wonder, are you in the BYA parent body or are you basing this on something else?

amother

Seafoam

Sun, Dec 20 2015, 2:46 pm

Any update from the op of this thread? We are looking for a school on brooklyn as well similar to what you described and wanted to know what you've found.

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Dec 20 2015, 11:09 pm

Another bya mom here- as has been said I do not find there to be too much pressure name-brand wise and as a whole the school has a super- nice, down to earth, frum parent body. However as to the rest of your criteria...bya is high-pressure academically and not super warm, no one really to talk to if you have something to say

amother

Black

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 1:03 am

amother wrote:

Any update from the op of this thread? We are looking for a school on brooklyn as well similar to what you described and wanted to know what you've found.

We are I"yh going with Bnos Yisroel in the end! We applied there and I figured let's see if we get in before applying anywhere else. The interview went well b"H, and she got in, and then I decided I was happy enough there and didn't even end up applying anywhere else.

I think in the end I would not have applied to Lev. Our other option would probably have been BYA.

Since I started this thread I've spoken with people who send to Bnos and are happy there, and these are good, genuine, frum, "normal" Flatbush families. It also helped to go to the interview and see it in person (being that the last time I was there was when I was in 8th grade, I think..) and we were happy with what we saw. (Rebbetzin Groner gave me a hug and a kiss when she realized who I was Smile

)

Their one big negative is that they have big class sizes, but I realized that every school will have some negative-there is no perfect place-and being that I know the faculty I felt that that was significant.

I did notice that the kindergarten bulletin board and the things they told us they learn in kindergarten were pretty much the same she is learning now in nursery. But honestly it's probably like that in every kindergarten-they probably have basically the same curriculum for kindergarten in all schools.

I hope it works well for us-obviously you can't know for sure what is truly the best place for your child. We just daven that that will be the right place for her and Hashem should help her flourish there! and I wish the same to you! May you have clarity to choose the right school for your daughter.

Other schools you may want to consider are Bais Yaakov of 18th Avenue, Bais Yaakov of Boro Park (which has a large Flatbush contingency) and Bais Yaakov of Bensonhurst. Hatzlacha!

Page 1 of 1