Litmus Test for Day Schools

yonah · Star Poster Joined: Jun 18, 2004 Posts: 57

My oldest is turning three soon, and we currently send him to a secular pre-school in our area. Obviously, being that 3 is the age to begin chinuch, we have decided to send him to a Jewish Preschool next year, and we are going through the process of 'vetting' the local choices. We are primarily focused on sending him to a pre-school program run by one of the two schools we are considering for his elementary education, and are planning to attend open houses, and tour their schools, etc. Hopefully these trips will include conversations with the principals/pre-school directors in each school, and I am curious as to what kind of questions to ask. Here are some that I feel important, and I am looking for some suggestions:

- How do you handle children that learn differently (i.e. Visual Learners)
- How do you address cliques?
- What opportunities do I have as a parent to get involved hands-on in my kids education?

- How well rounded is your limudei kodesh? - Does it focus largely on Gemara or does it also include Jewish History (bibilical and otherwise), and significant levels of Hebrew Conversation?

- What do you do to inspire kids to love being Jewish, and not feel that they have to be Jewish?

- What percentage of your kids come from Shomer Shabbat homes? (not a big problem in, say, brooklyn or teaneck I'm sure).

- How are disciplinary issues addressed, and how can you assure that there is minimal $$$ bias.

Less important:
- What facilities and physical fitness programs do you have?
- Do you encourage kids to use modern technological tools in their projects?

Any other suggestions?

libabe · Guest

I like your questions better. Just don't forget the basic questions too:

How large are class sizes?

What are teacher requirements and turnover? College degree? How many teachers are only on their first year at the school?

Hours and bussing?

Religious level of other kids in school, and teachers?

Emphasis on health? Cafetaria food? Gym class? Recess facilities? Nurse on staff? Policy for sick kids?

As a not-yet-parent (since you boviously know who I am already), this is all I can think of for now (and some of it is based on what I read in Parents Magazine anyway). Good luck.

heshy · Star Poster Joined: Sep 06, 2002 Posts: 59

Here's a few more:

How accessible are the teachers?

What is the schools attitute toward Israel? (the country in general, is it mentioned.)

What is the school's tendancy toward study in israel for a year.

What steps do you take to addresses students who may be falling behind?
Conversely, what steps do you take for students who aren't challenged enough?

What extra corricular opportunities are available?

How much homework to teachers typically give per night?

What do you do to encourage kids to be shomer shabat?

I know it's been discussed many times on this board but dont forget to ask about "all costs"- what additional costs, fees, dinner, trip costs will be charged and ask what is not included. ie they may say tuition is $8,300, but with fees it will 10,600. Only later they may admit that this doesn't include lunch and transportation (that's just an example of course Wink

). The $8,300 to $13,000 can make the difference of sending your child to the school or not.

yonah · Star Poster Joined: Jun 18, 2004 Posts: 57

Guys,

Thanks for the feedback. Although Heshy's point about the fees is a good one, were past that stage, having polled our friends, and the cost is more comparitive - as the difference between the two schools in cost is only several hundred dollars. For a $5K tuition that's a lot, but when your forking over $15-20K, 500 won't be a deal breaker.