Providence | Imamother

amother

Fri, Jan 09 2015, 10:35 am

Hi,
Does anyone have updated info about Providence RI. My friend is looking to move. She is interested in knowing housing prices, medical care, schools- types and tuition costs, type of community.

Thank you!

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 12:37 pm

bump?

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 1:26 pm

I am going to PM someone who is on here who can likely answer you.

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 3:00 pm

Housing prices: more expensive than other out of town cities, less expensive than New York.
A decent single family house, that doesn't need a ton of work will probably start around $375 K.
Also, two family houses are often for sale. People buy these, and rent out part of it. works out to be less expensive on a monthly basis.

Medical care is good. I think there is a hang-up in New England that the best medical care is in Boston. . I think that there aren't as many specialties in RI as there are in Boston, but Brown is a medical school with a good reputation. hospitals in boston are only an hour away.

schools: most people send to Providence Hebrew Day School. Not sure how to describe it. Most families are yeshivish. That means: no TV, filtered internet only. limited exposure to secular media. A good chunk of the parent body would just as easily fit in in a typical Brooklyn/Lakewood cheder or bais yakov. A few lubavitch families, a few "JPF" types. Everyone gets along. Excellent teachers. Principals very into professional development, etc...Kids are all very nice and aidel. Very little issues with kids being left out, bullying, etc... small classes, lots of attention.

Kids are much more sheltered than kids in Lkwd, brooklyn, monsey-- fewer kids have ipods, Wii, DS, etc...

Some of the "modern" families (whatever that means) send to Jewish Community Day School- that only goes until 5th grade, then those kids will often go to Maimonides in Boston (there is a van that leaves from Providence every morning to Maimonides). I believe that school is predominantly NOT shomer shabbos (not 100% sure).

tuition is high, but the school works with the parents. probably only about 10% of famiies pay full.

overall, a very nice place to live. less congested than other cities. very little traffic. easy to get around.

anything else?

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 4:51 pm

is Providence Hebrew Day School co-ed?
My friend also wanted to know what the situation is in terms of buying kosher food?

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 4:53 pm

this isn't for my friend but I'm just curious- why would a school set the tuition so that only 10% of people can afford to pay it. Seems to be setting the stage for ill feelings- both from those who have to pay the very high tuition and those who are forced to show all their financial papers....

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 5:03 pm

amother wrote:

Well, since I'm not on the board of directors, the only answer I can give you is my best guess-- they don't "set" the tuition at a stam random number. That's how much it costs to run the school. It happens to be that there isn't a lot of bad feelings, etc... I don't hear people complaining about it like I have in other places.

ETA: I'm sorry-- I realize that this maybe sounded a bit obnoxious. I'll just say that I don't have a ton of time to be answering general questions, especially ones that aren't particularly relevant. Hope I didn't come across as mean, just my computer time is limited. L'maaseh-- the school knows that they cost a lot, they know that housing in this area is expensive compared to other cities, they work with people.

Also, just want to point out that Providence Hebrew Day School has been "in the business" for 3 generations-- there is a family in the school where the kids are current students, their mom attended AND their grandmother (maybe the grandfather?)-- so I think they know what they are doing when they figure out what to charge.

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 5:16 pm

ok. glad to hear that it works for the community.

back to my friend's questions.
is the school co-ed?
how does it wok in terms of kosher food?

thanks so much!

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 5:33 pm

amother wrote:

is Providence Hebrew Day School co-ed?
My friend also wanted to know what the situation is in terms of buying kosher food?

Yes, its co-ed up until certain grades. the boys and girls don't hang out with each other. its a pretty frum crowd. The joke is "The frummest co-ed school in the United States."

Kosher food is readily available in Providence. You don't have all the choices you have in other cities, but you get everything you need-- chicken, meat, bakery products, dairy, deli...etc...

I will say like this: Providence is a wonderful city-- the chinuch is excellent--you can ask the schools that take the providence graduates. The fact is that there are many children who grow up here, go off to NY/Lkwd, get married, and bring their spouses back here because its a great place. to live and raise a family.

However, if a person needs all the conveniences of Flatbush, and the latest Venettini shoes, and the new styles of junee skirts-- forget about it. it's not for that person. It's pretty out of town-- there are not chinese auctions, dinners, and events every night. People dress simply, there is not a lot to do, and the houses are kind of plain. I had a neighbor who moved here who spent the first 6 months complaining that she couldn't get the types of snoods she like, the store doesnt' carry the brand of pizza she likes, etc.... of course she moved as soon as she was able to!

Personally, even though I am from NY, I love it here. I've made wonderful friends. My friends are not all "my type"-- meaning, they didn't all go to Prospect or Machon, then to Bnos Chava/BJJ, then marry a guy who learned in the Mir. Smile

My friends here are from all across the frum spectrum, and I can really say that I've really come to appreciate that.

I am not sure how much longer we will stay in Providence. We love it here, but my husband's company is probably moving to central connecticut in 2016. Depending on where exactly they move to, we might stay here and he'll commute, or we might move to Waterbury (which is much more like Connecticut's answer to Flatbush).

faigie

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 7:12 pm

I think from all that youve said about your town, the most telling is that kids may go away for school, but they choose to come back to raise their families.

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 7:21 pm

op here- the other place my friend is considering is Waterbury L0L. She is NOT looking for Flatbush. Thank you for the info- I'm passing it on to her.
I'm not sure why she was under the impression that " you can only buy kosher food on certain days of the week at the store. " is that true?
personally I agree with this statement-"I think from all that youve said about your town, the most telling is that kids may go away for school, but they choose to come back to raise their families."- wow!
How is the high school situation- boys and girls?

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 8:21 pm

op here- more questiosn from my friend
"Is the school supportive of kids with learning challenges or ADHD. Do they offer school support for this? Does Rhode Island offer speech, OT for the kids in private schools?How big is the community?
Are there kids my kids' ages 8 yr. old boy and 10 yr old girl? Are there kids in the frum neighborhood that play together on Shabbos? Are there buses that go from Providence to Boston? Are there after school activities for kids? How many kids are in each grade? Is the school co-ed through 8th grade?"

Thank you!

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 9:08 pm

amother wrote:

Yes, school is supportive.

Don't know about therapies-- the administration would know.

Community-- probably about 125 shomer shabbos families. School has about 150 kids (give or take).

Yes, lots of 8 year old boys and 10 year old girls. Also, kids will play with kids 1 grade above/1 grade below.

Yes, shabbos afternoon is a zoo on certain blocks and in the parks on in the nice weather. There is bnos, pirchei, etc....

Do you mean public buses from Boston to Providence? Yes, bus and Amtrak.

Yes, after school activities for kids. Music lessons, swimming at JCC. not as much variety as you will find in larger cities, obviously.

School separates for certain things beginning in 4th grade. By middle school almost completely separate.

Every grade is different. One grade has 17 kids in it. Another grade has 5 in it.

amother wrote:

She might have gotten the impression from this website:
http://eastsidemarket.com/kosher/

LOL. I've never even stepped foot in that place!! But yes, they offer fresh kosher meat/fish on thursdays only.

High School: Girls high school in town. OOT BY type. Big mix of girls. Many girls stay in Providence. Girls from more modern families often prefer to go somewhere else, like Bruriah, where they will have more of a chevrah of their "type."

There is also a new girls h.s. school in Sharon, MA that will probably be more attractive to Providence girls. It is more of a YU-type crowd.

Boys: no boys high school. Many of the boys from more yeshivish homes will go away: Scranton, Ner Yisrael, Chofetz Chaim, etc....

There are two boys high schools in Boston. I don't know much about them except one is new and one is not. I don't know if there is daily transportation (someone told me that there is to one of them, but I don't which one is which!), but I think the boys come home for shabbos a lot.

Of course, there is also Maimonides in Boston. daily van service from Providence and back.

amother

Mon, Jan 12 2015, 10:08 pm

op here- thanks so much- just forwarded the info. You are doing a big chessed and hopefully this info will help others as well!

amother

Tue, Jan 13 2015, 11:54 am

just want to clarify that Maimonides school is 99% shomer shabbat.

Maimondies is a coed sc hool that is more align with YU. The familes are modeern orthodox, meaning that some cover thier hair but wear pants, women and men work and often have high degrees and education is very important. Just as important as a torah lifestyle

amother

Tue, Jan 13 2015, 12:04 pm

amother wrote:

Just want to clarify:

Yes, Maimonides in Brookline is almost 100% shomer shabbos.

I meant to say that the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island: not sure if the population is predominantly shomer shabbos, that's "the school" I was referring to when I said that. Thank you for clarifying.

malkacooks

Tue, Jan 13 2015, 2:13 pm

amother wrote:

are there any kosher eaterys in providence?

doctorima

Tue, Jan 13 2015, 3:23 pm

Don't know how up-to-date this list is:

http://www.shamash.org/kosher/.....+area

amother

Tue, Jan 13 2015, 3:38 pm

no kosher eateries in providence.

There are two vegetarian restaurants under hashgacha-- however, the hashgacha is not considered reliable by local Rabbonim. I don't know if the vegetables are checked, hafrashas challah is not taken, etc.... The regional kashrus authority is KVH, headquareterd in Boston. they could tell you more, I think.

there are restaurants in Brookline MA (48 miles away), about 1 hour.

amother

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 11:27 pm

not sure if OP is still reading this thread. My brother and SIL live in providence. They said check out the website

shareitfilaprov.org (not sure if that's exactly how its spelled, but google 'sharei tefilah of providence' and you'll find it.

They said there is a hospitality committee-- you can find the contact info on the website. If you are coming from the NYC area it shouldn't take much longer than 3 hours to get there, and you can go visit for a shabbos and check it out-- much better than getting info from random strangers on the internet.

she also said check out providence hebrew day school website-- lots of pictures of the kids, you can see if it "jives" with you.