Will travel anywhere for a warm HEALTHY girls highschool

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, Nov 19 2019, 10:23 pm

If you are serious that this is the most important priority for you and you want to look into school options, I would throw in another one not yet mentioned.
ataragirlshs.com

Passion you will get. Small you will get. Non-judgemental you will get. The curriculum is wholesome and based on basics and fundamentals, and let the girls go through their journey in self-growth. Text based skills, not rote memorization.

amother

Denim

Tue, Nov 19 2019, 10:29 pm

Years ago when we were looking for such a school, people recommended Shulamis (NY) and Bruria (NJ) for more warmth than any BY type school. We went with Shulamis and they were good, but DD was damaged by a BY school, so... no matter how much Shulamis admin tried, and they did try!, it wasnt enough.

How are those schools today?

amother

Puce

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 12:27 am

My children were 8 and under when we made aliyah and they literally would have killed us if we would have moved back to America when they were HS age. I'm not exaggerating.
Please speak to your daughter first and she what SHE wants. I'm not in the BY system so I have no recommendations for you but there must be resources here in Israel that you can exhaust before you even think about America. please please please think about your daughter and let HER decide this.

amother

Copper

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 1:28 am

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

Chabad in Israel is nothing like it is in America. It's practically a diff religion. They are way more intense and extreme in Israel not an open, friendly "brand" like in USA. Basically if you're thinking of chabad it's not Israeli chabad.

Definitely influenced by general chareidi mentality in Israel and the intensity of Israel itself .
But I would look at the chabad schools that take naaleh, so they have girls from the usa and Europe there (mixes it up so not as Israeli).
I’m not local but it’s with a try.
Also what about the Tzvia schools in Israel? (I know kids from my daughters class who went to one in י-ם area for half a year and they had positive experiences)

familyfirst

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 1:59 am

Hmmm...
Why don’t you consider a good after school club or something like that?
She can continue with her friends and easiky transition to high school butnhave the influence of a more passionate group of friends from her club.

There’s gotta he something.

Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. The home, culture, settled parents, friends, community... country, its a lot to give up for no guarantees.

amother

Bronze

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 5:03 am

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

I assume you mean the Brooklyn shulamith- I think it’s struggling to stay afloat, and there’s a new one in 5 towns but I don’t know much about it other than being small and having awesome administrators .

Bruriah has undergone a lot of administrative changes in the past 10-15 years, and is in the middle of another one, so make sure you’re getting current info from whoever you’re asking.

amother

Ginger

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 7:55 am

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

My daughter went to Beit Chana Tzfat as a naale student and had a great experience. But I would really look at it very carefully if its a good fit for your daughter. Most of the Naale students are children of Shluchim, mostly from Europe and some with Israeli parents. My daughter explained there are three types of students in the school: Naale girls, who are mostly kids of shluchim and a great bunch, local Tzfat girls, and girls from other parts of Israel - these are often troubled kids or from broken homes.

The other chabad school that takes Naale girls is much more Israeli from what I understand.

chanchy123

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 8:11 am

There are so many amazing ulpanot to choose from in Israel. Does your daughter have a specific talent? I heard wonderful things about the ulpana in Ofra for instance.
I agree that moving to another country might create a whole bunch of other problems.
I'm very happy with my DDs school but it is very specific and not sure would be classified as "warm".

amother

Tan

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 8:29 am

I am sorry, but you are making a huge mistake.
I can tell you this, because I am probably much older than you, and I have been there.

A kid's education is so so much more than the school and the teachers. Yes you should choose the best one available, but they are all imperfect, ultimately.

You want to change your kid's school, culture, country, remove her from all her friends and her roots, in order to register her at a 'warmer' school??

I am sorry, what have you been drinking?? Your kid will lose all the warmth around her, to go running after a pipe dream that maybe some teachers elsewhere are 'warmer'???

Is your dd miserable where she is now? Or are you the one who is unhappy? If SHE is miserable, you need to understand why, and perhaps the transition to high school is a good chance to switch schools (not countries!)
If you are the unhappy one, you need to let her be. Don't criticize the school. Let her stay if that's what she wants.

That is the most important question here - who is unhappy?? And if she is also unhappy, what is SHE looking for?

amother

Aubergine

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 10:04 am

OP, I have two girls in high school currently. (Aaagh! Writing that makes me feel so old! But inside I still feel 20!) We're OOT and they're in a school that's considered small and warm. But no school is perfect and I have plenty of things I would change about it. Most of the teachers are more Lakewood type, not super expressive emotionally and spiritually, and kind of into a cookie cutter mentality. But their values are consistent with ours, just their way of expressing their values is a bit different. So I'm fine with the school. Because school's impact is limited, IME. My girls have been most affected by what *I* do, not by what their school does. I'm into really davening (not just saying the words) and talking about ruchnius and not into superficial stuff, and that makes an impression over time. If you create the warmth and you show them by example what it's like to connect with the Ribono shel Olam on a deep level and yearn for more, they'll want more for themselves. It just takes time. You won't see that until at least 10th grade, IME.

I definitely wouldn't move a kid who's spent her whole life in E"Y to OOT America. It would be a huge culture shock. My girls had a couple of kids who did try coming to their school from E"Y and they didn't end up staying. The mentality was too different. My girls also go to a Midwestern sleepaway camp and have a few girls from E"Y who come to camp every summer because their American families want them to absorb some American-style Yiddishkeit and experience a different culture. For one of the girls, it does works well, but for the others, it's not a good fit. So please be cautious!

amother

Blush

Wed, Nov 20 2019, 12:07 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

I don't know anything about Shulamis but Bruriah today does not have the positive reputation it used to have. I know many families that sent their older girls and are choosing differently for their younger girls. It is also a large school so if a girl wants warmth she has to look for it it's easy to get lost.