May 28, 2008
Yeshivat Rambam 60 Day Meeting
It's been sixty days since Yeshivat Rambam announced their big changes. Tonight there is the followup meeting, one for ECC/ES, one for MS/MS.
At the meeting:
- details of the changes include the formation of the Executive Management Team, hiring a Rosh Yeshiva and an Executive Director.
- Executive Director will be responsible for finances, business, fund raising, marketing, building. Position not yet filled.
- Rosh Yeshiva also not yet filled.
- Executive Management Team includes Dr. Shloush, R. Lubetski, R. Wagner, the Rosh Yeshiva, Executive Director. Focus will be on consistency of message from the school, creating a warm, caring atmosphere and be proactive in responding to problems/questions.
- Hired a school nurse. Nurse will be on site four days a week and on call, available to BHU campus as well.
- Student First - this is the name for the focus on the "whole child." Focus on three areas: social/emotional, religious and academic.
- The school is pursuing professional and qualified rabbeim to fill out the limudei kodesh staff for all grades.
- Homework clinic, along with after school activities in science, art, dancing, exercise, adventure sports.
- Elementary school will be split into two floors: General studies will be upstairs, Judaic studies downstairs. Boys will have one in the morning (same everyday, not switching as it is now), girls will have the opposite, so they will be on different floors all day.
- Curriculum will stay the same, Tal Am will be further implemented. Teachers will receive training in separate gender education (something to do with Goucher College).
- Each grade will have a Mechnech and Mechanechet, a religious role model, available for questions, discussion (sounds like a guidance counselor/rebbe/mashgiach).
- The faculty-to-student ratio will remain low. Splitting the campuses actually allowed for teachers to teach more periods of the same class, which reduces their daily prep time, giving them more time to focus on a single lesson. This also allows the school to offer more academic choices to the students. As a example, the 11th/12th grade will have six science subjects to choose from next year, where as this year, they had only four.
- By all accounts, the plan is working so far. Enrollment is up for next year.
You liveblogging it?
Posted by: aishel at May 28, 2008 9:20 PMI hear they are getting a Rosh Yeshiva
Posted by: Ralph Swiss at May 28, 2008 10:13 PMThis sounds good. I'm very interested in the separate gender education at Goucher. We visited Rambam about a year ago and one of the questions we asked was whether or not their teachers had special training in boys vs. girls learning styles. I became interested in this after reading Why Gender Matters, a book by Leonard Sax who is an MD and a PhD (psychology).
We also attended an parlor meeting a couple of weeks ago, which was very nice and the rabbis, teachers, and current parents were very candid about the school and the changes. We have another year before our oldest will be ready for kindergarten, but we are excited about moving him there.
Posted by: Adina Lav at May 29, 2008 9:53 AMWhen you say enrollment is up, what do you mean?
1. There are enough new students to cover those who are leaving, plus more?
2. There are more new students than previous years?
Does anyone have any idea how many kids are actually leaving Rambam?
Posted by: the nose at May 29, 2008 3:44 PMNumbers were not given. I have heard some numbers, for instance: about half the number of students that left the school after last year are leaving this year. Parents who would have moved their kids to other schools for middle school, as an example, are not.
I don't know anything else in terms of numbers. Last night it was mentioned that they have already exceeded expectations in terms of enrollment.
Informally, I've heard something like 40 new kids this year, so far.
Posted by: Greg at May 29, 2008 4:37 PMI know of 6 kids switching to Rambam within a 3 block radius of the school (including my two out of three). We are excited. FWIW these are TI, TA, and BY kids.
Posted by: tdr at June 2, 2008 2:45 PM
