Passaic versus Staten Island versus Elizabeth

amother

Mon, May 06 2013, 7:24 pm

3 of my children went to jec hi schools and one wasn't a fit for bruriah so she traveled to another high school which was better for her .

amother wrote:

I am in Elmora in Elizabeth . It is a warm and accepting community. Lots of nice people so you can find friends here. I like the JEC school , but my kids are out of school , so I can't really say how it is now.

Thank you imamother. May I ask what schools your kids went to after JEC? How did/do you like them? Elizabeth does sound very nice. I was trying to get a comparison between JEC and RJJ.

amother wrote:

Chiming in from si here:

My kids are in Rjj. They both have about 20 kids in their classes. In both classes I would say, 90 percent of the parents cover their hair. Most families are jpf. There are some yeshivish kids in their classes most families have tv Internet etc. not makpid on cy, but accommodating if that's necessary.
The academics seem to be on par for a yeshiva boys continue to regular yeshivas a few go to darchei in far rockaway. They recently started a branch of chofetz Chaim here where a lot of the boys are continuing for highschool.
Tuition is about 9k for elementary with various multi child discounts etc

There are a bunch of houses which have popped up recently. Checkout sibor.com for housing options

I don't know if u are the same poster who posted previously ,but I have to caution you that the agudah here is not really a "young" shul. Most of the younger crowd davens at rabbi Pollocks shul

I don't know anything about the other communities to compare it to. Hope this helps a bit

Wow 90 percent is higher than I thought, not that I actually care about hair and pants on my neighbors, it's just hard to find other ways to get an idea of what a parent body is like. 9k-10k for elementry is typical of other schools, but I guess the question always is if breaks are available for people in our income range and that is hard to know without applying.

Would you know how to compare RJJ to any other schools? I don't know what I am looking for exactly, but I really like my kids' schools now. The girls are pretty creative, accepting of different learning types, have a good mix of English and Hebrew, etc. The boys school is more traditional I suppose, but I find the teachers to be really happy with their jobs, and they have a reputation for graduating boys who can learn at the best yeshivas and have the academic skills to keep up with high schools where a percentage pursue professional degrees. Losing my schools I think is the hardest part about leaving, but affording a house that fits us, giving my kids more space to play outside, and improving dh's commute are hard to ignore. Also the girls school doesn't give breaks except for a small sibling discount so depending on how many girls we have I might have to leave there anyway.

How young is young? I've been told I'd probably find the most friends at R' Pollocks shul. My husband tends to appreciate a yeshivaish, shma on time, no talking, not too much singing, fast - but each word enunciated, type davening so I don't know what minyan has that. He is just a fan of R' Weiss and would probably start there for that reason. I don't know if I am that worried about making friends, I mean what can you do anywhere, but invite your kids' friends over, invite your neighbors for lunch, and see whom you click with? Do you find that Staten Island women mostly spend time with their seminary or high school friends and aren't looking to make new friends? One concern I had was that dh and I don't have family close by so when we have IY'H an emergency or a baby we have to ask friends for help and I usually find I feel better if we can return the favor. Sometimes it seems like most people in SI have their parents or in laws in SI as well to help with their children, make yom tov, etc.

amother wrote:

I would look into the neighborhood which has more playmates for your children and people who you can befriend. While I am not from Staten Island I have heard that the community is not big at all.

I don't think of the eruv as that big, but 20 kids per class, two classes per grade, and the kosher food available makes me feel like SI is still a big enough community. I don't know about Elizabeth, because students are from other communities too and Passaic has like three schools.
Are people really able to pick a neighborhood where each of their kids has playmates their exact age and the house meets the family's needs? I guess the advantage with SI is that after a certain age, the whole eruv is walkable enough for kids to play with any classmate in the area. The Elizabeth and Passaic eruvim are huge, but can one really find the neighborhood with kindergarten girls and pre1a boys and toddler girls? It seems to specific to be realistic.

amother

Mon, May 06 2013, 7:24 pm

3 of my children went to jec hi schools and one wasn't a fit for bruriah so she traveled to another high school which was better for her .

amother wrote:

Thank you imamother. May I ask what schools your kids went to after JEC? How did/do you like them? Elizabeth does sound very nice. I was trying to get a comparison between JEC and RJJ.

amother wrote:

I would look into the neighborhood which has more playmates for your children and people who you can befriend. While I am not from Staten Island I have heard that the community is not big at all.

amother

Mon, May 06 2013, 7:24 pm

3 of my children went to jec hi schools and one wasn't a fit for bruriah so she traveled to another high school which was better for her .

amother wrote:

Thank you imamother. May I ask what schools your kids went to after JEC? How did/do you like them? Elizabeth does sound very nice. I was trying to get a comparison between JEC and RJJ.

amother wrote:

I would look into the neighborhood which has more playmates for your children and people who you can befriend. While I am not from Staten Island I have heard that the community is not big at all.

amother

Mon, May 06 2013, 7:25 pm

3 of my children went to jec hi schools and one wasn't a fit for bruriah so she traveled to another high school which was better for her .

amother wrote:

Thank you imamother. May I ask what schools your kids went to after JEC? How did/do you like them? Elizabeth does sound very nice. I was trying to get a comparison between JEC and RJJ.

amother wrote:

I would look into the neighborhood which has more playmates for your children and people who you can befriend. While I am not from Staten Island I have heard that the community is not big at all.