Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Gan Avrohom Yaakov Experiences

metacognizant

Wed, Jun 10 2020, 11:33 am

Hi wonderful ladies. Has anyone sent their son to Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Gan Avrohom Yaakov and if so would you be so kind as to share your experiences?

Some background: I have a 3-1/2 year old son who is currently signed up to go to Gan Avrohom Yaakov for UPK next year. But I got a different UPK offer from Gan Jewish Daycare, which is where he went to school before the pandemic.

Gan Jewish Daycare is much closer to where we live, they have really good options for extended care (you can drop your kid off as early as 7, and pick them up as late as 6) which is important to me because my husband and I both work. While Gan Jewish Daycare isn't a religious school per se (it's more like a chiloni Israel school) my son was getting a good education in Hebrew literacy while he was there, which I think is the most important thing in Preschool. At this age he'll learn all about frumkeit and yahadus at home. And they have a huge indoor gym which my son loved.

With that said a lot of the things at Gan Jewish Daycare rubbed me the wrong way, like the fact that all their art projects were 100% teacher creations that didn't give any space for kids to be creative. Whenever my son brought home an art project he couldn't wait to pull it out of his backpack and rip it to shreds, which should tell you something. And I don't think the teachers or administration really care about the kids. The administration is very business oriented and seems mainly concerned with making a buck. And lastly my son has told me repeatedly that after the pandemic he doesn't want to go back to Gan because "the morahs put the kids in time out too much" and "it's too crowded". Granted, he's 3 years old, and he's not the one making the decision. But I am in a position to "start fresh" with UPK, so I might as well take his input into account.

I used the nyc myschools website to put my son on the waiting list of every Jewish UPK I could find in my broader area, and now that I have offers, I need to actually learn something about the other school options. Because of the pandemic I don't think I can visit schools or meet the administrators in person, so I'd love to learn from your experiences. Anyone?