While most are enjoying their summer break, and school and its schedule are all but forgotten with vacation’s welcome change of pace, the newly appointed board at Bais Rivkah School in Crown Heights has been hard at work planning for the upcoming school year.
The new board, which includes members Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov, Chairman, Mr. Mendy Gansburg, Rabbi Ephraim Goldfein, Mr. Yerachmeal Jacobson, Mr. Dovid Junik, Mr. Yoseph Kazarnovsky, Mr. Yigal Niasoff, Mr. Itchik Orimland and Mr. Dovid Sputz, was finally legally installed last June after months of negotiation.
Members told principals, teachers, and parents of the school’s 1,800 students that they are committing to turning the school around for good and ensuring transparency of legal and financial affairs.
“We have spent several tireless weeks in fast-paced and goal-oriented preparation,” a board member told COLlive.
In a further effort to advance the educational standards at the school, the board has announced the formation of an additional board of “esteemed educators and community leaders,” whose aim is to “pave the way forward in terms of the school’s ruchniyus,” they said in a letter to parents.
“The Vaad HaChinuch will work together with Bais Rivkah’s principals and teachers, addressing, guiding and advising on all chinuch matters within the school,” they said.
The new Vaad HaChinuch includes members Rabbi Levi Garelik, Mara D’Asra of Bais Shmuel Chabad, renowned educator and communal activist; Rabbi Nachman Twerski, Long time Magid Shiur and Mechanech in Mesivta Oholei Torah, and Rabbi Boruch Hertz, Rov of the Lubavitch community in Chicago and Congregation B’nei Reuven and Dean of the girl’s school in Chicago.
“The esteemed members of the Vaad HaChinuch look forward to working with the community and hearing the thoughts of both parents and alumni of Bais Rivkah,” they said. “We wish the new Vaad HaChinuch tremendous hatzlacha and look forward to working with them on implementing the Rebbe’s vision for the Chinuch of our daughters.”
The Board of Directors said they are also available and accessible to parents for questions related to tuition or general school concerns the board should be aware of and address.
“We are happy to receive input from parents so that we can work together on forming goals and making progress to benefit students and teachers alike,” they said.
Many comments on this forum remind me of the story of a waiter who approaches a table of clients and asks: is ANYTHING OK?
Please think for a moment about the positive and if you want to help make things even better, come forward and offer your services.
Look for the attributes in everyone, faults are easy to find . If you you can do better than do so.
a huge need
Same thing
Haven’t heard a word back and school is starting soon
that is NOT OK
To whomever is in charge, please respond to us parents
ty
is there no women in the entire city who are role model enough or chassidish enough or learned enough or passionate enough to be on the board???
Are there no women mechanchos on the planet that can be trusted with girl’s education? what kind of message are you sending to the students? no role models and no aspirations and basically saying no place in society ;(
Besides no women, what is the educational background/qualifications of the vaad hachinuch members?
Using Tzach list to contact board members is NOT right. they all have personal lives and should not be bothered at home. At the same time, some clarity for parents registering kids in school would be helpful. as #22 said, scholarship request was submitted and there is no follow up. the school is starting in less then a month and there is no one to talk to. no clear chain of command, or who is responsible for what. everyone is pointing fingers and no one knows who is responsible for final decisions…..Hopefully, they pull their act together soon and school… Read more »
excellent beautiful Mazel Tov
why is there no women on the newly installed board or on this new chinuch board??? what is this, 1957 instead of 2007?
Before we uncork the campaign and start celebrating, maybe we should just take some time to wait and see what kind of change this will actually bring
Change is good, but only the test of time will be a reason to rejoice or regret
The new board is finally bringing back stability to our precious school. These men are accomplished business people who stepped into a situation that most of us couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to. Let’s applaud them and just say thank you!!
It’s so nice to see Chassidishe people with the right hashkofes on the board. Hopefully a lot of double standards will be straightened out!
I submitted a scholarship request online with registration and never heard back.
My sentiments exactly. Why are there no women on the board? Are they not as intelligent? Do they not have enough education? Is it a matter of tznius? They can’t sit at the same table as men? This is an all girls school and if the board wants the community to take them seriously, they should have included women on the board.
THE TEACHERS SHOULD WANT TO TEACH, SMILE LIKE CHILDREN AND COME TO SCHOOL ON TIME START WITH THAT SIMPLE AND BASIC
two things, please
a) pay teachers on time
b) insist that teachers are tzniusdik
dayenu
The board is working hard to make things better ! Is this really an issue that there’s no woman on the board ? Maybe no one stepped up to volunteer maybe they couldn’t find anyone willing to do it ! I have no problem with these men .. they are all powerhouses and will do GOOD for beis rivkah !
Principals are ALL women.
The teachers (ie the ones actually doing the teaching…) are all women.
The ONLY MALE ROLES in the entire school are board members. (Except probably security and custodian)
Just remember, board members are made up of volunteers and donors!
And for the vaad hachinuch the time consuming discussions back and forth are best done without having to be compromising in tznius (just so that commenters not have the possibility of throwing mud at it…)
Is there a reason that not one woman was included on the board or the Vaad hachinuch? Isn’t this a school for girls???
Aside from sending parents letters demanding tens of thousands of dollars for tuition from past years, what is the plan of the new board?
Why are there no women on the educational board?? This is a girls school, there are plenty of very educated,frum, ,capable, talented experienced women to do the job.-
These are wonderful people to have on a vaad ha chinuch. But what does this mean?
Will they be listened to?
Or is this just so the school can look good?
Looks impressive in an article on COL
Can parents reach out to them? How?
Why is there not a single female on this ‘Chinuch Vaad?’ Is it because women do not have enough to share or are not worthy of imparting chinuch? Oh the irony.
All the members of the vaad hachinuch have listed numbers in the tzachlist. I am sure they would be very happy to talk to you if you reach out to them other than commenting here. We had a question recently and got thru to rabbi garelik first try. He was very helpful. I am confident that they with have much hazylocha in turning our girls school into a place that they educate girls that are worthy of the title “bas chabad”
No woman has a voice in the chinuch of girls???
Baruch Hashem!
Much hatzlocha in paving the way to be a model school for other schools to follow!
it seems Beis Rivkah is slowly coming out of the huge mess it’s in. As a parent of a child in Beis Rivkah, it upsets me that the tuition system is not fair for everyone. It is not based on whether you can afford or how much you can afford. Rather your rate will be based on how much pull you have. I beg the vaad to create a fair system for all. A system that’s transparent. It would be comforting for those like myself who are struggling and going into further debt to pay tuition, to know that the… Read more »
It’s somewhat disconcerting, though, to see that the vaad to oversee chinuch of this girls’ school is made up solely of men. Is there some reason no women are on the vaad hachinuch?
I would just like to thank you for your efforts on behalf of my child’s chinuch!
I hope this brings change for the good in our school. Our children deserve a proper chinuch, with a thriving school, that cares for every child
How to reach the board?
Mazal Tov.
May you have the strength and abilities to bring
forth stability honor and grace to our community.
Chasiva Vachasima tova Leshana Tova Umisuka to great beginnings and a Gebentchte road ahead of us.
Thank you for doing this for our children
How can we reach them?