Moving to Boca Raton

amother

Sun, May 29 2022, 1:44 pm

Hello! I've been coming on here for years, and finally have the courage to post:)
It looks like we're moving to Boca Raton from Israel. I have 2 girls bh, ages 4 and almost 2. I would say we're American Chareidi?
The truth is I'm very nervous to move. Can any of you tell me what it's like there? Is it hard to get into schools there? Is it a high cost of living? Where is a good place to look to live? How's the community? What are the job prospects there?
I'm a nurse. ( My husband got a research position there until he applies for residency next year)
I'm really looking for helpful information from women who live there. Thank you!

amother

Cantaloupe

Tue, Jun 07 2022, 5:14 pm

Hi there!

I moved to Boca about a year ago. There are a few main areas, based on the shuls:
BRS, BJC, Young Israel, East Boca Kehilla, West Boca ("R' Gibber's Shul"). They are all of varying degrees across the frum spectrum, and where you fit best just depends on you and your family. BRS is probably the most modern, but it is also enormous and so the spectrum is pretty wide. Young Israel is more mainstream, East Boca is probably most yeshivish and out-of-towny.

In terms of schools, there are two main schools, Hillel/Katz (affiliated with BRS and definitely more to the left) and Torah Academy (TABR). I don't know much about the more modern school, but Torah Academy is an excellent school, and used to be the typical out of town situation where there was no "getting in" or needing to be "accepted". But so many ppl have moved in recently that the school is exploding and it does have to limit ppl now. But I'm pretty sure it's first-come-first-served - you don't have to interview or anything like that. TABR does not have a high school. There is a new girls high school opening up this upcoming school year, but until this point the girls who want a Bais Yaakov school (so pretty much girls coming out of Torah Academy) go to North Miami Beach each day. Just so you know, Torah Academy is in East Boca, which is about a 20min drive from the BRS and Young Israel neighborhoods.
There is also a boy's high school and bais medresh (TTB) and the Boca Raton Kollel.
Both your daughters could be in school, as TABR starts from age 2. The early childhood division is beyond amazing!!

The housing market is insane right now... Even if you would be able to find a house (for an exorbitant price, I'm sure), I would recommend renting first. Get the feel of the place and see which neighborhood you think will suit you best.

All in all, we are loving Boca. It's out of town, but still has plenty of restaurants and kosher store options. The people are generally really nice, and you get the benefits of being in Florida without being in a huge city like Miami.

Feel free to ask more questions!

Hatzlacha, looking forward to meeting you 😊