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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
Ohr Chadash - Baltimore



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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 5:55 am
I'm the OP from the TA post a few weeks ago. now looking for info on OCA. Anyone willing to help me out please (if you have kids there)?
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 6:22 am
My husband teaches there. Its a very good school, has classes for kids starting at age 3 and goes through 8th grade. Still new and finding their way a bit. People love it there. The classes are mixed up to a certain age and then split I think in 5th grade, maybe earlier. The learning is ivrit b'ivrit which is a major plus for many. The down side is there is not a local high school for the kids. OCA opened a new boys high school this year for the boys to attend, only somewhat connected if I understand correctly. The girls tend to drive to Silver Spring for high school. They are too frum for BT so that is not an option. BY and Bnos are not really options for high school for the OCA girl grads.

The school is very tzioni which in my opinion is very important and the other schools in the area, other than BT, dont have that kind of agenda. This year there is an interim principal and they are searching for a permanent one. The school is experiencing growing pains but thats normal for any new school that has grown as rapidly as OCA has. It was a much needed addition to the local Baltimore school scene. Once Rambam closed, there was not another school like it in town.
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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 6:47 am
amother [ Royalblue ] wrote:
My husband teaches there. Its a very good school, has classes for kids starting at age 3 and goes through 8th grade. Still new and finding their way a bit. People love it there. The classes are mixed up to a certain age and then split I think in 5th grade, maybe earlier. The learning is ivrit b'ivrit which is a major plus for many. The down side is there is not a local high school for the kids. OCA opened a new boys high school this year for the boys to attend, only somewhat connected if I understand correctly. The girls tend to drive to Silver Spring for high school. They are too frum for BT so that is not an option. BY and Bnos are not really options for high school for the OCA girl grads.

The school is very tzioni which in my opinion is very important and the other schools in the area, other than BT, dont have that kind of agenda. This year there is an interim principal and they are searching for a permanent one. The school is experiencing growing pains but thats normal for any new school that has grown as rapidly as OCA has. It was a much needed addition to the local Baltimore school scene. Once Rambam closed, there was not another school like it in town.


Thank you so much. I have heard that they are looking to strengthen themselves. What do you mean by "growing pains"? (I can give you my email address if you'd rather not respond publicly on here). Do you feel like the education the students receive is on par with BT and TA? Would a child theoretically be able to switch to either of those schools and do well academically (no plan to do so just asking to try to figure out where they are in regards to this)?
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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 6:48 am
Also, what does iveit b'ivrit mean?
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 6:53 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Thank you so much. I have heard that they are looking to strengthen themselves. What do you mean by "growing pains"? (I can give you my email address if you'd rather not respond publicly on here). Do you feel like the education the students receive is on par with BT and TA? Would a child theoretically be able to switch to either of those schools and do well academically (no plan to do so just asking to try to figure out where they are in regards to this)?

Growing pains means that as a school grows, sometimes unpleasant things happen.

I would not say the education is on par with other schools and no, students can generally not switch past a certain grade. TA is on a higher learning level for kodesh than OCA and possibly (though I cant say for sure but OCA claims) lower in chol. OCA wont take TA transfers past a certain grade (an admin told me). BT is a college prep school and in a totally different world in every way. You can not compare at all.
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Wed, Dec 04 2019, 6:54 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Also, what does iveit b'ivrit mean?

Means Judaic subjects are taught all in hebrew. And its modern hebrew.
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amother
Cobalt


 

Post Mon, Dec 23 2019, 1:48 pm
amother [ Royalblue ] wrote:
Growing pains means that as a school grows, sometimes unpleasant things happen.

I would not say the education is on par with other schools and no, students can generally not switch past a certain grade. TA is on a higher learning level for kodesh than OCA and possibly (though I cant say for sure but OCA claims) lower in chol. OCA wont take TA transfers past a certain grade (an admin told me). BT is a college prep school and in a totally different world in every way. You can not compare at all.


I graduated a child from OCA and I do not fully agree with this assessment. The approach to learning Kodesh is completely different at OCA than at TA. I can tell you with certainty that my graduate is in a higher track in HS then a lot of his peers in school who came from TA. I prefer not to post identifying information publicly but OP if you want to post an email address I'm happy to get in touch with you and share my experience.
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amother
Saddlebrown


 

Post Fri, Dec 27 2019, 8:54 am
I have two boys in OCA. I do believe the Chodesh education is a little behind TA, but I know quite a few kids who switched in the past year or so and I don't think it was a huge deal (that was in the younger grades). My sons are getting a fantastic Hebrew education and I really like the kids they are in school with (which is really important to me). You said on the other post that your child is in preschool now - pick the school that you think is the best fit and see how it goes. You have several years before you have any feeling of being stuck and unable to switch.

And I do believe that OCA graduates ended up at Bais Yaakov, BT, as well as the new high school and Silver Spring schools. I think the reason they don't end up at TA is that the TA high school has a very different vibe from the lower schools - the majority of kids who go to middle school at TA end up elsewhere as well.
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