Yeshiva ketana passaic vs. YBH

amother

Natural

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 3:14 pm

We are new to town and deciding between these two schools for my 5 year old daughter. Any information would be helpful! Thank you so much

amother

Natural

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 7:20 pm

Bump

amother

Gold

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 8:21 pm

sorry no advice. as can be seen on the other thread there are plenty of people who were very happy with both the schools. unfortunately we weren't one of them so we moved LOL- yes that was seriously one of the main reasons we moved. If we still lived there our daughters would be the same age though, oh well.

l'toeles though- as said on the other thread YK is the larger school- different pple view that differently. depending where you live it can be a "social" thing. In Clifton I got the impression that the percentage of YK to YBH kids is not as large as in Passaic. YK is also more what you see is what you get- this is their haskafa, this is the way they do stuff. When we toured YBH we were told by Mrs. Stern how the school has evolved recently and that there are meetings with the teachers telling them about new changes... our impression was that the school seemed to be moving to the right- its unclear where it will end up compared to ykp... we know people who send to YKP because they have older kids and when they were first deciding YBH wasn't relevant hashkafically but if they were deciding now it would definitely be an option.

wishing you much hatzalacha!

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 9:08 pm

We have been at YBH for the past 10 years and have been very happy there. My kids have wonderful friends, the level of both limudei kodesh and limudei chol are high, and we have seen them all grow tremendously in their learning, their middos and as thinking people in general. I think the girls division is particularly strong, the programming is excellent, and the ruach among the girls is incredible.

Both schools are good options - good luck with your decision

amother

Goldenrod

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 9:14 pm

Do you have specific questions? That might help.

I'm a YBH parent, with kids who have graduated and gone on to high schools together with their YKP compatriots. That happens a lot.

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 9:42 pm

welcome to town I send my 2 girls to ybh and we are so happy there but kind of info are you loooking for ?

amother

Natural

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 9:56 pm

This is all very helpful. I dont have specific questions, I just want to get a feel for the two places as much as possible. Its important for me that my daughter is in a warm place that Emphasizes middos and torah values.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Aug 20 2015, 6:19 pm

IMHO, Passaic yeshivas produce students with beautiful middos. There are always exceptions, and the schools handle those exceptions (as well as parents - both their existence and their presence in the school) differently.

One option is the Cheder, which has a tiny but loyal parent body. There is an intriguing new online option, meant to cut down on costs. Google Melamed Academy.

On the surface, the biggest differences between YKP and YBH are school size (YBH is much smaller, which can be an easier transition if coming from a small school) and stance on the State of Israel.
YKP supports Eretz Yisrael but not concept of the State of Israel, as a matter of hashkafa.
YBH is more Zionistic, and sends buses of kids to annual Salute to Israel parade in NYC. They've had an IDF member who is with a hesder yeshiva speak to students for several years.
I've heard YKP called "heimish", which is a better fit for some than others.
Academics are stronger at YBH. Unfortunately there is an obsession with Common Core now, but there have been 4 general studies principals in 8 years, so who knows how long that will last.

YKP: multiple classes in all grades for years, and growing.
YBH: one class per grade in the upper grades, but incoming grades have multiple classes.

YBH: nursery through 8th.
YKP: nursery through 12th for both boys and girls (Bais Yaakov of Passaic).

Kollel/Yeshiva Gedolah families send to YKP, balabatish families send to both. Families on scholarship at the larger are made to feel less nebuch-y, if at all. It is a problem at the smaller.

Both schools have rabbeim, morahs, and LK teachers who are fantastic, with the ability to build a kesher (connection) with their students, and others less so. Office staff at YKP is generally warm and welcoming. Fortunately YBH's has warmed up some recently.

There are a few Passaic families that have kids in both schools for whatever reasons. YBH boys have to go out of Passaic for HS, usually to Teaneck, MTA, or JEC in Elizabeth. YKP boys who do not stay for HS and YBH boys generally have to compromise on either limudei Kodesh or limudei kol, or board/dorm, possibly hundreds of miles away. YBH boys do not go to YKP for HS - strong LK just isn't there, but if that's less important to a family, they'll already have been at YKP for the younger grades.

Most YKP girls go on to BYP. YBH girls tend to go to Bruriah for H.S., which is a huge hassle of a commute. The 10-30% of YBH 8th grade classes that do not go to Bruriah go to Rinas BY in Highland Park, Ateres BY in Monsey, Manhattan, BYP, or the new BY in Passaic called Machon Ora, that is supposed to have stronger academics than BYP.

Rabbi Stern built Yeshiva Gedolah, which put Passaic on the Yeshivish map. His wife is BYP's principal, and a tzaddeikes who loves her students.
Rabbi Hirth basically built YKP, and is a mentch and tzaddik. What he says goes at YKP, but he truly and deeply cares about Passaic families.

YBH has been around for many decades, and was originally very modern. It has gone far right over the years. In recent years the board has been hand-picked by the main funder, and the administration is under his control.

Hatzlacha in your decision!

amother

Pearl

Thu, Aug 20 2015, 6:35 pm

We have multiple children in YBH and are thrilled all around. The administrators and teachers are very approachable and all really care about giving each child a great experience in school. My kids are really happy to go every day to school and their friends come from quality homes.
The academics were mentioned above - I am an educator in a stellar day school and am very pleased with the level of academics and methodology used.
In terms of hashkafa, they set the tone for appreciating all of Hashem's world.

amother

Gold

Thu, Aug 20 2015, 6:53 pm

I'm pretty sure friends of ours spoke to Rabbi Eisenmann who told them to speak to Rebbetzin Weissman- she told them that she thinks YBH would be a better fit for them personally. may be speak to someone like that and ask them what they think.

since the cheder only goes up to pre 1a for girls personally I wouldn't bother sending a 5 year old girl there....

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Aug 20 2015, 8:20 pm

amother wrote:

IMHO, Passaic yeshivas produce students with beautiful middos. There are always exceptions, and the schools handle those exceptions (as well as parents - both their existence and their presence in the school) differently.

One option is the Cheder, which has a tiny but loyal parent body. There is an intriguing new online option, meant to cut down on costs. Google Melamed Academy.

On the surface, the biggest differences between YKP and YBH are school size (YBH is much smaller, which can be an easier transition if coming from a small school) and stance on the State of Israel.
YKP supports Eretz Yisrael but not concept of the State of Israel, as a matter of hashkafa.
YBH is more Zionistic, and sends buses of kids to annual Salute to Israel parade in NYC. They've had an IDF member who is with a hesder yeshiva speak to students for several years.
I've heard YKP called "heimish", which is a better fit for some than others.
Academics are stronger at YBH. Unfortunately there is an obsession with Common Core now, but there have been 4 general studies principals in 8 years, so who knows how long that will last.

YKP: multiple classes in all grades for years, and growing.
YBH: one class per grade in the upper grades, but incoming grades have multiple classes.

YBH: nursery through 8th.
YKP: nursery through 12th for both boys and girls (Bais Yaakov of Passaic).

Kollel/Yeshiva Gedolah families send to YKP, balabatish families send to both. Families on scholarship at the larger are made to feel less nebuch-y, if at all. It is a problem at the smaller.

Both schools have rabbeim, morahs, and LK teachers who are fantastic, with the ability to build a kesher (connection) with their students, and others less so. Office staff at YKP is generally warm and welcoming. Fortunately YBH's has warmed up some recently.

There are a few Passaic families that have kids in both schools for whatever reasons

. YBH boys have to go out of Passaic for HS, usually to Teaneck, MTA, or JEC in Elizabeth. YKP boys who do not stay for HS and YBH boys generally have to compromise on either limudei Kodesh or limudei kol, or board/dorm, possibly hundreds of miles away. YBH boys do not go to YKP for HS - strong LK just isn't there, but if that's less important to a family, they'll already have been at YKP for the younger grades.

Most YKP girls go on to BYP. YBH girls tend to go to Bruriah for H.S., which is a huge hassle of a commute. The 10-30% of YBH 8th grade classes that do not go to Bruriah go to Rinas BY in Highland Park, Ateres BY in Monsey, Manhattan, BYP, or the new BY in Passaic called Machon Ora, that is supposed to have stronger academics than BYP.

Rabbi Stern built Yeshiva Gedolah, which put Passaic on the Yeshivish map. His wife is BYP's principal, and a tzaddeikes who loves her students.
Rabbi Hirth basically built YKP, and is a mentch and tzaddik. What he says goes at YKP, but he truly and deeply cares about Passaic families.

YBH has been around for many decades, and was originally very modern. It has gone far right over the years. In recent years the board has been hand-picked by the main funder, and the administration is under his control.

Hatzlacha in your decision!

Couple of notes on high schools. The boys from YBH are increasingly dorming in Queens, as are the YKP boys. Going to YKP does not automatically get you into the mesivta and many of the YKP boys don't go there- they dorm elsewhere, like Far Rockaway, Queens, etc. There is another mesivta in Clifton that is getting boys from both schools, though less from YBH because they are still building their secular studies program. Also, the incoming class at Machon Ora has a large group of YKP girls too.

Also, families do sometimes switch. If she's going to Pre1A, you can make your best decision, and if you change your mind you can switch.

amother

Slategray

Thu, Aug 20 2015, 10:11 pm

There are no boys HS that are official feeders from YKP. The mesivta of Passaic and mesivta of Clifton are independent and you have no guarantee of getting into either. Some YKP boys commute to Monsey but many do dorm in NY or elsewhere (think Telshe Riverdale, Long Beach, Philly, Shaar Hatorah in Queens).
I send my kids to YKP, it's good for us. There are assistant principals/directors for the different grades that do have a handle on things even though the school has gotten pretty big. They are very accepting almost everyone who applies gets in unless you really don't fit their hashgafos.

eight

Tue, Jun 28 2016, 5:43 am

Is the chol and kodesh good/great at Ykp ( boys and girls )?
Are both the boys hs and girls hs good/great ykp ?
Do most of the kids at ykp elementary go to ykp hs ?