Why is it so difficult to be accepted to a Jewish school?

amother

Plum

Tue, Apr 12 2016, 11:50 pm

Sorry it's my DD. My DD has an outdated IEP. The services listed is speech OT PT. she is a normal mainstream child. No behavioral issues. These schools obviously have children with iep. Two of the the schools I was most interested in don't even want to meet with her Based on this very old iep. Yes I will have her re-evaluated but that will take time. I feel as though she has been labeled. I've tried to open dialogue and get guidance from rejecting schools. But I keep getting stonewalled. I've gone to the more right MO schools and her Hebrew is not up to standards. They are unsure. I've heard stories where because of this frum families are sending their kids to public schools. is having an iep that bad?!?!

imasinger

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 2:15 am

Wait, I am confused.

Doesn't an IEP get reviewed yearly, with input from the full team?

If she no longer needs services, wouldn't the state be delighted to take her off an IEP and save money?

And how old is she that her Hebrew is "not good enough" for the MO schools? One is much more likely to say that about HS than kindergarten.

Something strange is going on here.

I'd suggest that you try to find someone to connect to in her current setting who will give you honest answers as to what is going on. Maybe she is getting a poor report from someone where she is now?

JoyInTheMorning

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 4:31 am

Why even mention an IEP when you apply? I don't think it's something you *have* to mention, do you? So my first advice to you would be not to mention the IEP in any further applications, or in any discussions with schools that you look into.

Regarding Hebrew, this shouldn't be an issue at all if your daughter is entering elementary school. If your daughter is entering middle school, as long as she knows how to read Hebrew and daven, she should be fine; perhaps you could help her with that, if she doesn't know it already. And you may need to be prepared to spend time with her on getting through chumash and rashi during the school year, or hiring a tutor, or getting a peer tutor from a kid who needs to do community service / cheesed hours.

If your daughter is going to high school, there is an expectation in more MO schools of knowing Hebrew. I know two kids, living in different cities, whose families decided to send them to Solomon Schechter type schools because of this issue. (These were both kids who had gone to Orthodox day schools but who had somehow not learned Hebrew there. Some kids just aren't great at languages, and if the parents aren't on top of it, and don't know Hebrew themselves, they can sometimes slip under the radar and graduate eighth grade without knowing much Hebrew.) Solomon Schechter schools obviously don't give the kind of in-depth learning that you'll get in an Orthodox day school or a Beis Yaakov type school, but it gives a whole lot more than public school would.

Good luck.

saw50st8

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 4:46 am

amother wrote:

I've never heard MO schools reject kids because of their hebrew level (there are plenty of kids who transfer in from public schools). If you think that school would be a good fit, why not offer to get her a hebrew tutor over the summer?

amother

Teal

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 5:20 am

I have a daughter transitioning from public middle school back to a Jewish high school. She has no IEP right now, but had one in elementary.

We had her work with a Judaic studies tutor for the years she was in public school, so she has some textual skills, but not near the level of her grade.

In our area we have 2 options, a more MO school, with I think more of a "Get them in to selective colleges" push, and a more BY style girls high school, where there are girls who go to selective colleges and many who do not (also good academics).

In our situation, the administrators at the BY style school were more flexible. They recognize that the lemudi kodesh classes are not part of the state High School degree requirements, and we have discussed different ways they can accommodate her. Such as letting her continue the language she was learning in public school, and not trying to start Hebrew, letting her take tests in English in her Kodesh classes, letting her use texts with an English translation.

She was accepted into the BY style school. The MO school may have accepted her, but their institutional structure was much more formal & was difficult to get meetings set up, they would not disclose relevant information about the class make up etc.

Sometimes schools put up barriers that are meant to discourage so that they do not have to outright tell you WHY they do not want to enroll your child.

I think it can be difficult to re-enroll a child into Jewish school after being in public school. For many reasons. If this does not work out, I would encourage OP to look into the 2 on-line Jewish day school programs. You can enroll a child for specific classes, or for the whole program, depending on what you think your child can handle after a full day of school.

melamedacademy.com
nigrijewishonlineschool.com

Anon for privacy of schools location.

nicole81

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 5:26 am

I just want to say that it is totally conceivable that an MO school is hesitant to take her dd due to her hebrew level.

We just put my stepdaughter into a new school for September for 1st grade. It's a girls MO school and based on the fact that she came from a less intense more kiruv type school for early childhood, they expressed uncertainty about whether or not she would be a good fit due to her lower hebrew level. They were, however, willing to interview and evaluate her and in the end accepted her.

OP, you said the MO school was unsure. That doesn't mean no, and I agree with the recommendation of offering to get a tutor for hebrew.

Maya

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 6:13 am

saw50st8 wrote:

I agree. An MO school accepted my son into fourth grade after coming from a Chassidish Cheder and being on a very low level in all subjects. They just requested that we get tutors over the summer, which we knew we would do anyway.

JoyInTheMorning

Wed, Apr 13 2016, 6:24 am

From what I have heard, different MO schools have different expectations in this regard. Some really do expect a relatively high level in Hebrew, but it's hard for me to understand what difference it can make in a child younger than 9 or 10. That is to say, in a more frum school (like the one that I went to as a kid) kids are really learning chumash and rashi at a very young age, but in the MO schools that I've gotten to know through my own kids experiences, the level of learning in the early years is very, very low; it takes kids a month or two to get through a perek of chumash and they barely dip their toes into rashi. So, except for the fact that you need to know the alef-bet in block, cursive, and rashi scripts, it's not like the quantity of Hebrew you need is very large in elementary school.

It's possible that OP's daughter, while having mainstreamed into most of her classes, isn't yet at the point where she can also learn another language. And some kids never do well at other languages. It is a great shame on frum and MO schools if they cannot accept such kids. I think the idea of a flexible structure, where kids who do not know Hebrew can still participate in class at some level, is a very good one. I'm appalled that this is not the standard. Then again, if Lakewood schools are turning away perfectly qualified kids, other schools probably don't have any qualms about turning away kids who may need some accommodations.

amother

Powderblue

Tue, May 03 2016, 10:44 am

amother wrote:

Do you still need a school? Approximately how old is your child and where are you located? I might have a solution for you.

amother

Linen

Fri, May 06 2016, 12:21 am

"Plum", I hope things are going better for you.

Yes, schools do sometimes reject due to IEP's. I would say, if you can afford it, get a private eval done. They are often faster to set up than an official Board of Ed one.

Re Hebrew skills - I've run into the same issue trying to get my child into high school. She's a great kid, good middos, but behind in some things (including Hebrew), so some schools don't feel they can accommodate her needs. Her last IEP was from years ago, and that was just for therapies.

When the schools' applications asked about IEP's, we just put down that she used to have one for OT, but hasn't had services in years. If she's not receiving services now, you may be able to say something similar. If she is receiving services, I would just say that she's not receiving any educational services (resource room, special ed instruction, etc.), but just ones relating to physical issues. That might make the schools a little less hesitant.

Keep trying yeshivas - a kiruv type one might not care as much about her Hebrew skills. Another option would be to set her up with a tutor now, so that you can tell perspective schools that she is already being worked with to catch up to grade level.

Good luck Wave