Bergen County elementary schools

amother

Slategray

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:27 pm

We are considering a move to Bergen County (from outside the NY/NJ area) and I am interested in some background on the elementary schools and how they compare educationally and socially. We know some people in the area but aren't ready to let people know.

We are more to the left and I think YNJ is least likely. We are also not from the NY/NJ MO community and did not go to YU; the potential for feeling "left out" is my major worry about moving to the area.

TIA

saw50st8

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 1:36 pm

amother wrote:

We live in Teaneck and are thrilled with the local schools. What you will find is that they are all pretty similar hashkafically (YNJ being a slight outlier) and all have great education. they all have a slightly different education philosophy, but your kids will come out with a solid foundation pretty much anywhere they go.

We send our Kids to Yeshivat He'Atid. Here are the things we love:

1) The price - it's currently $9500/year including all fees

2) The educational model - they do a rotation system throughout the day. Different groups work in different stations. One small group works with the teacher, one might do work on computers (which tailors the lesson to the strength of the student), one group might collaborate together and another might do an independent project. They also teach kids that they first try to problem solve themselves, if that doesn't work collaborate with their peers and then finally ask the teacher. It teaches the kids to be independent learners.

3) Project Based Learning (I realize this could fall under #2, but I think it deserves its own) - they love to implement project based learning, which allows the kids to integrate knowledge from different areas and helps them solidify it in real learning. Last year, they had a school wide project to learn about simple machines. Even the kids in pre-k learned about them! The focus was on mini golf. The whole school took a trip to minigolf to see how it works. Then they broke up into teams, designed and built mini golf setups using recycled materials. Did they all work? No, but it taught the kids so much at an age appropriate level.

4) Ivrit B'Ivrit - the hebrew/Judaic studies teachers are all Israeli teachers who talk in Hebrew from 1st grade and up (they do a lot of hebrew language in Pre-K and Kindergarten as well).

5) Before care and after care - He'atid has partnered with Kol Chaverim to provide before care and after care for the students. They also have a daycare onsite, so if you have babies or toddlers, they can all be in the same facility.

Feel free to ask me any other questions!

saw50st8

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 1:49 pm

Here's my non-professional opinion about other schools:

1) BPY is an amazing school. It's also the most expensive one. They have a really warm learning environment, Ivrit b'Ivrit and strong secular studies. They have a lot of resources for kids with ADHD (I know a bunch of parents who have kids with ADHD and the school deals with them really well). They can provide enrichment and help depending on what the kid needs. I can put you in touch with a lot of parents from the school. Coed

2) Yavneh has one of the strongest secular education departments (probably the strongest) of the local schools. They also have a lot of special ed support and do have enrichment as well. They don't do Ivrit b'Ivrit but have a very good Judaic program. It's been around forever and is a very known product. It's a great choice. Coed

3) Yeshivat Noam is a school I don't know a ton about. My friends with kids there LOVE it. They have a very cool art appreciation curriculum in early childhood (it might continue into upper grades too, I'm just not so familiar). They do Ivrit b'ivrit and have a very strong Judaic studies program. They have both special ed and enrichment, but I've been told Noam's special ed is slightly different from BPY, and the schools will give you information on which one will work better if you speak to them about it. It's a shade more to the right than BPY and Yavneh, but really a tiny bit and almost splitting hairs.

4) Moriah - I don't really know anything about

As to socially - I'm not 100% sure what you are asking here. There are nice kids and mean kids in all the schools. In my shul, the kids all socialize together regardless of where they go to school but some areas aren't like that.