Girls' high schools Lakewood - positive posts only!

debsey

Thu, Dec 01 2016, 1:49 am

amother wrote:

I don't know any twelfth graders and I live in a young development where my daughter is the oldest so I can't ask neighbors.

But maybe your neighbors know some girls - or relatives - or your neighbor's relatives - I just find networking to be your best bet. When I applied to schools I was also the oldest one in my development, but I asked girls who babysat for me, mothers in my DD's school who had older daughters in HSs what they did or didn't like about the school, and occasionally, asked mothers if they minded if I spoke to their older daughters.

I just felt like I got the best and most accurate information from 11th and 12th graders and it really helped narrow down my choice. talking to my DD's principal really helped as well, although she wasn't as helpful as I expected her to be (I wanted her to help advocate for me to get into a certain school and she basically said "I have other people I'm advocating for more than you" - not in a mean way, just saying, don't rely on me)

DD also spoke to older girls in camp, and that helped her decide as well.

amother

Cyan

Thu, Dec 01 2016, 8:05 am

Yesodos- its a greta new hs. iT HAD ITS ROUGH BEGINNING, BUT IT is doing really great. academically, its competitive to all the other high schools. The teachers are amazing, and are teachers that also teach in other high schools. Principal is amazing. Im sure in a few years, this will become the IT school to go to.

Just a warning--sometimes if you dont get into any schools, they try and get you into bais shaindel. If you are not a bais shaindel type, do not go there!!!!!! They will make your life miserable. They do not like girls that are not their own type. You daughter will suffer from their mental abuse.

Good luck.

debsey

Thu, Dec 01 2016, 12:56 pm

1525 wrote:

Thanks.
Chayalle, you write" to apply to schools that make sense for you and where you will likely be accepted." How do you know where you're more likely to be accepted (except for schools into which everyone says it's hard to get accepted - Bais Yaakov & Bais Shaindel)? And, if the four schools don't accept you, why does/would the fifth?

first of all - Bais Shaindel isn't even allowed to be one of the four.

Here's what Chayelle means. Let's say you want BY, but BY does not want you. (not because you're being actively rejected, simply because you're part of a larger crowd, what distinguishes you from everyone else applying?)

Oros or BK would love you - you have a great daughter who did well in school, from a nice responsible family. Shiras Devorah would also probably want you (although they're getting harder and harder to get into).

It's not smart to say "I won't apply to Oros and BK, because they for sure will take me, so I'll apply to Bais Leah (the chassidish school) who for sure won't take me, because then the Va'ad will HAVE to get me into SD or BY" because that's how you end up in a brand new school with no track record at all.

The system knows when it is being played! Now, there's nothing wrong with a brand new school, and a lot that's right, but it is a gamble, and maybe it's a gamble you don't want to take. But now the Va'ad is saying to you - well, we said we have to find you A school. We didn't say we have to find you THE school of your choice.

debsey

Thu, Dec 01 2016, 1:01 pm

Here's my daughter's experience, FWIW - she had her heart set on Bais Shaindel. Didn't get in. Applied to 4 schools. One school she applied to wasn't even on her radar as a school she wanted. Came home dancing from that interview, saying "Mommy, I want to go to this school. The principal is such an amazing lady. Everything I saw there is so terrific!"

Told her - call your camp friends, see if you can find some 11th or 12th graders in that school you can talk to. She did. The more talking to people she did, the more excited she was. I called some mothers in her elementary class who had daughters in that school. Liked what I heard. She was accepted there.

She graduated after an amazing four years! It was a perfect shidduch for her. I don't think she would have had nearly as good an experience in Bais Shaindel.

That's why I say - be open-minded. Look into the school. Don't just listen to rumors.

debsey

Thu, Dec 01 2016, 4:31 pm

cnc wrote:

Debsey OOC why can't Bais Shaindel be one of the four schools to apply to?

I dk, but I think it's because it's so full with siblings, children of alumni, and children of teachers that there's pretty much no way you're getting in unless you're a "legacy" so to speak.

It wasn't like that 5 years ago when DD applied to HS, btw, but now that's how it is. You can't apply there as one of your 4.

Chayalle

Fri, Dec 02 2016, 11:26 am

debsey wrote:

This is exactly what I meant.

There are no guarantees, but by and large, people who apply to a range of schools that are their type, more or less, will get into at least one of them. So if you are regular BY type, you could apply to 4 of BY, Oros, BK, BBY, and SD, plus Bais Shaindel if you want (but that can't be one of your 4.) Just decide which of these is your least favorite, for whatever reason, and apply to the other 4. If you have pull in any of these, by all means use it.

If you are more RW, you might consider Maon. If you are Chassidish, Bais Leah. If you need a small, warm school that is more out of the box than BK, Yesodos.

That's pretty much what we did, though back then it was 3 schools. SD was very new (DD wanted to go to a full high school), and BBY we got mixed feedback, so we applied to the other three - BK, Oros, and BY. However we looked into these three extensively, and felt that BK would be the best fit for DD, so a relative of ours who is a parent in BK let them know that we were really enthusiastic, etc....

debsey

Fri, Dec 02 2016, 11:48 am

Chayalle wrote:

Chayalle -we should start an "experienced, sane Lakewood mother" advice column on Imamother.

One thing to add - when Chayalle was looking into HSs for her DD, BBY was under completely different management than it currently is. They have an amazing new principal and a really nice new hanhalah. If you are looking into schools, look into it as it is now, not as it was four years ago.
five years ago, when DD was applying, it would not have even made it onto our radar screen. It still probably wouldn't - DD is very RW, but it's a whole different type of school now.

Chayalle

Fri, Dec 02 2016, 12:05 pm

debsey wrote:

BBY does have some very RW students, BTW. I know a few of them. My friend's niece comes to mind - she would fit right into Bais Shaindel.

Simple1

Sun, Dec 04 2016, 9:21 am

Debsey, not sure where you're getting your info about BBY from. But I'm under the impression that the past administration very much wanted a RW, solidly frum school. And it was. OK, not like Bais Shaindel. But I doubt that will change with the new administration. I think there were other issues which caused them to leave. They always had a nice mix including yeshivish families. Also in certain ways, the old principal was excellent. Don't know what will change now.

Chayalle

Mon, Dec 05 2016, 9:10 am

amother wrote:

I feel I must chime in about bby. Just be happy the previous principal is not there anymore.

I have two cousins who pulled out of BBY and when we were applying to high school for DD, they told me to run away. But that was their experience, a few years ago, and their DD's are both not like my DD. Both switched to BK and advised me to just go there to begin with.

I have a niece who attends BBY (not for lack of getting into other schools - she chose to go there) and is very happy there. Funny, she's a bit wary right now of the new administration. It's an adjustment.

What I heard - and this is just what I heard, which is not necessarily the truth - is that the previous administration was very tough. Some girls found them (or someone in particular) to be very in your face when it came to infractions. Teenagers are in flux, they don't always toe the line. So for example, a teen is just in that mood, she comes to school wearing not-the-uniform sweater. The girls found the school response to be harsh. Things like that. They felt that the administration was very focused on building up their school, and some girls felt lost in that process.

I know some girls who loved the school - most of them are very in-the-box, go-with-the-flow, bright girls.