1. why cant every girl got into only one high school like this every girl can get a letter with the first batch. anyone that is not happy with the school they got into let them be the ones to wait for another answer

2. Wow!!
   Now this is amazing news. Thank you all for listening to the needs of the parents. There is nothing more gut wrenching than not knowing what school your precious daughter will be going to the entire summer.
   Thank you for finally realizing the importance of giving a timely answer.
   I hope TLS is proud knowing that they are the main reason for all of this. Thank you so much for all you are doing to improve this wonderful town.
   The only reason I am upset is that I had a whole series of sarcastic high school ads ready to be published. Oh well, I am sure I can find something else to complain about.

3. Stop complaining Hershel. Nothing really matters.

4. im sorry but your comment defies logic . If a girl works hard on her midos and tznius and yiras shomayim and scholastic for 8 years and several schools would like to accept her because of her hard work and efforts in midos and tznious and studies ,she should not get that chance to choose ? thats ridiculous . There has to be some reward for good behavior and hard work .

5. Hershel your a great guy, but stick with the toys.

6. It is so nice to have an official date instead of the unknown. Thank you to the chosheva askanim who work on this.

7. Hershel I love the TLS just as much as you, but you don’t really believe they are the “main reason” for this. Kind of naïve…..

8. Hershel we love you, but stick with the toys.

9. I am already crying for the girls my daughter got in a night before school and that entire week is not enjoyable to remember . From the bottom of my heart i really feel bad . Just a little tip for the people don’t be offended if your daughter doesn’t get accepted cause a lot off people. go through it and i don’t think its a good idea to give out the answers when the girls are still in school. Hatzlacha Rabba

10. i spoke to someone who i think is in the know and he said there is nothing much different about this year . Every year the schools generally have their answers ready within a couple of weeks after pesach . It is the process of the vaad trying to place as many girls as possible before the letters go out that holds up the answers from actually going into the mail . If letters will truly go out on april 15th then it must be that the vaad decided not to try and place anobody before the letters go out this year . For those girls that would have gotten placed that might not be such good news .

11. I wonder how many schools are going to take our children now. Maybe we should get our letters before pesach with everthing that we are going through.

    A crying parent from BYE

12. here we go again…only earlier this year. so are ALL girls guaranteed an acceptance letter after they take in their choice girls? or are girls going to still be not placed into the summer?

    how is this system any better exactly? now there will be hurt feelings during the school year amongst their friends, instead of in the confines of their home during the summer.

13. If this is really true then its terrible news . There will probably be 50 girls who would have gotten placed before they got a rejection letter if we would give the vaad the time it needs to place them . Now these 50 girls will be hurt for no reason .

14. This is frightening news . At least in the past years every girl graduated elementary school without the embarrassment of a rejection . Now the rejected girls wont want to come back to school after pesach to face their friends .

15. i heard that an influental group of 8th grade parents are going to the rosh yeshivas to ask them to make sure the letters do not go out before graduation unless the askanim have verified that every girl will get at least one acceptance letter from at least one school

16. before we go out and protest this very bad decision we need to find out if this was decided by the high schools or by the askanim so we know who to protest against

17. For various reason we are concerned that our daughter might not get accepted right away .Our daughter was ok with that because she knew that the jockeying and bizyonos would not start until she was in camp .She is horrified by this news and is already planning on not going back to school if our fears come true and she is not accepted on april 15

18. Seems like you can’t please anyone! If they are late we are upst. If they are early other people are upset!!

19. just ridiculous . School is over about june 15 why not give those 2 months to the vaad to try to place more girls and then send out acceptance forms whats the big rush

20. i know for a fact that the families that didnt get accepted till close to the end definitely feel that its better to send out the letters in July after school is over this is a selfish wish which only benefits those top girls who know they are getting accepted somewhere .

21. it sounds to me like the girls who belive they will be accepted right away want the letters sooner and the ones who nebach feel they might not get sccepted till the end want the letters to go out later .doesnt it make sense to try and accomodate the second group who is going to have much more bushos by the letters going out during school

22. does anybody know who on the vaad or which askanim we can call to try and change this decision ?

23. Hey guys relax Before we all get bent out of shape why dont we find out if this information is really accurate or its just a rumor like most things in Lakewood

24. Yes. anyone can see nothing really matters to me but these girls are under pressure. The girls need a crazy little thing called love from their parents and somebody to love them. If the schools won’t help us we will mock you. We have gotten a sheer heart attack from all the rejection letters. There is no time for losers because we are the champions of our girls. This is not a bicycle race or day at the races. for them to finish. High school is over in a flash. So I hope you’re not mad because you are my best friend still. Being on the phone all day worrying about aceptance keeps the mother tied down. Please understand every time a girl gets rejected another one bites the dust and goes off.

25. Chacham einov berosho… Please all parents out there who plan on moving to or want to continue living in Lakewood, realize that this community was founded by bnei torah for bnei tora. If you feel in any way that this is not your focus and direction in life please dont come live here! I know tuition and housing is cheaper but have rachmanos on your children, dont take this personaly but be honest with yourselves These are private institutions not public schools.

26. Hey HH If you are really so concerned about the girls stress why dont you collect money so that we can make another high school . we all know that no matter what anybody says there is an extreme shortage of space and withoutr that shortage every girl would get asccepted somewhere look at the boys there are so many mesivtas in town so that evey boy no matter how shvach he is gets accepted to at least 2 mesivtas. So theres your proof that all it takes is a few bucks or in the case of the boys a few determined yungeleit who want to be marbitz torah and if we have enough space the stress is gone . So put your money where your mouth is and spend it on the right thing making new schools

27. it’s not a matter of pleasing everyone to which timing is better, its the fact that NOT everyone gets accepted and THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG!

28. To those that mock . Dont be so proud of your mocking . Maybe just maybe you are one of the causes that people are not running to open the so desperately needed new schools . Would your wife let you open a school if she knew that all you will get in return is mocking and derision and loads of debt to boot ?

29. I am not mekane the ones that caused this to happen . Who paskened that it is mutar to cause additional tzaar and agmas nefesh to some girls in lorder to satisfy the curiosity of other girls and their parents . Was there a psak vfrom an Odom Godol on this

30. The Fact that not everybody gets accepted is due to your and mine and the communities fault that we dont give money to open new high schools . Why dont you go out and count the number of 8th grade elementary classes and compare it to the number of 9th grade high school classes and you will see that we are short a few 9th grade classes . so of course not everybody will be accepted right away . It is a nes if everybody will get accepted eventually at the end by oversizing the classes

31. insane-the rabonim shouldn’t let any letters go out till every girl is in school.
    These letters kill kids every year and there are those who full of the derech.
    They should make a board of all different people to make sure NO one in Lakewood receives such a letter

32. Im pretty sure that this is not going to happen judging by the opposition i seen here

33. kim-
    Lakewood was started FUBU yada yada yada………. Get with the program- its no different than any other city now! I came here from Flatbush because of affordable housing and NOT the BMG!!!! I have been living here for 4 years and have yet to pay BMG a visit!
    Move on bro- ur no more welcome here than I.

34. Let’s believe it when we see it. In past years when initial letters went out at the end of June, dozens of girls were not placed until the night before school started & they even missed orientation. So theoretically, this should give the mechanchim, askonim & other powers that be two extra months to figure out a final solution to the high school problem. Until they actually believe that each girl is their responsibility and is entitled to a seat in a high school, there will always be girls left out of the system. The schools’ elitist attitudes attracts certain girls and their families; they would not be as interested if these institutions offered an education to every frum girl. It also leads to some comical scenarios, whereby less-than-tznius girls from “choshuva” families are accepted, and wonderful tznius girls with lower grades are rejected. Shame on all you who have any part in this. Why not take a stand for what is right and insist that every girl get an acceptance letter? B’mokom she’ein ish hishtadel lihiyos ish.

35. I would like to know the sooner the better whether my daughter was accepted or rejected. That will give me time to potentially work out something else for my daughter not last minute.

36. Yehoshua ben Gamla, a Cohen Godol during the second Temple period, initiated a quiet revolution. Observing that significant numbers of children did not have fathers to teach them Torah, he enacted a takonoh that teaching facilities be established in every town. The maintenance of this system became a communal obligation. Thus, public education has been part of Jewish life for the past 21 centuries. For this innovation, the Sages crowned him with the following accolade: “May this man be remembered for the good, for if not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from Israel” (Bovo Basra 21a).

37. I’m walking warily down the street of high school acceptance week.
    i’m just a poor boy but I need no sympathy. All I’m asking is can anybody find me somebody to take my daughter. I want a good school,
    not some easy come easy go any way the wind blows type of school. Goodbye everybody I must get some sleep.

38. In the future Hashem will arrange a banquet, He will look for someone worthy of the honor of Birkat Hamazon. First, He will ask Avraham Avinu. But Avraham Avinu will decline because he has a son, Yishmoel, who did not turn out so well. Yitzchok will decline the honor because Esau was not the best of children. Finally, Hashem will turn to Dovid, and, indeed, Dovid will gratefully accept the honor and lead the Birkat Hamazon.
    There is one difficulty with this Gemara. If Avraham and Yitzchok were disqualified not because they were unsuccessful parents who could not keep their children in line. It was not their fault that their children opted out of their tradition. Rather, the disqualification of Avraham and Yitzchok was grounded in something else. It was grounded on the fact that they rejected their rebellious children. It is here that Dovid distinguished himself. Certainlly Avshalom did not walk in Dovid’s footsteps. Avshalom rebelled against him. But never did Dovid reject his child, rebellious as he was. Never did Dovid reject Avshalom.

39. Is it true that (moderated) will wait and see the reaction of the families that did not receive acceptance letters and if their is great demand,
    open a 3rd class?

40. Stop all this nonse about elitism or Yoshor Vtov . where is your sense of responsiblity to the klal . You know full well that if you and the rest of the klal would take our childrens education seriously and would fund the necessary schools,then this problem would cease to exist . Look at the boys mesivtas where there is an abundance of mesivtas every boy geys more than one acceptance . So stop using these “elitist ” and Yoshor vtov slogans and open your checkbook to make more schools the same way that the existing school owners opened their checkbooks .

41. Exactly right . The Takana was that every town use its communal funds to establish schools . We do not follow that takana . We rely on private volunteers to use their own money and to solicit their friends and relatives . That is not the way . It has lead to a shortage of schools and the consequent rejection for lack of space .

42. to 34
    The Mechanchim, Askanim and powers to be cant figure out a solution to the crisis . We all know what the solution is but it will cost us money so we do nothing . The solution is for all of us to spend big dollars to open and subsidize the money losing schools . Neither the mechanchim nor the askanim nor the principals can do that . Only we all of us together can do that . Why pass the buck to the mechanchim and principals that are moser nefesh . Where is the same mesiras nefesh on our part ?

43. My daughter is a top girl who knows she will get asccepted to at least 2 out of 3 schools . She is itching to know where she will go . Why does she have to wait an extra 2 months so some other girls wont get a rejection letter during the school year . She is very curious to find out .

44. I agree with Mr Yoshar Vehatov that every girl is entitled to a seat in a High School . The only thing is that he conveniently forgets that it is his job among the rest of us to make sure that there are enough seats to go around . why is it the job of an already overcrowded school to do more . That school and its administrators already did their share for our childrens chinuch . Let new people do more to make the necessary seats

45. The issue in the gemorah was not so much about whether or not the children were tzaddikim or reshoim.
    I think that the phrase of ” al brischa shechosamta”
    in birchas hamazon posed a problem for someone with an offspring like Yishmoel or Eisav to lead the bentching, as their bris was incomplete or rejected. I’m sorry if this affects the moral lesson your pshat allowed you to darshun about. Avrohom Avinu and Yitzchok Avinu were both extremely concerned and caring about their sons’ behavior. They both needed heavenly approval to part ways with them. As far as Dovid Hamelech , I’m think your mehalech is incorrect as well. I certainly am not qualified to say when unconditional love and acceptance is correct– especially when we are discussing the behavior of the greatest Tzadikim in our history.
    Are you?

46. Why dont you look at the Chofetz chaim and other mefarshim as to the reason Sarah sent away Yishmael and how Hashem agreed with her because when it comes to bad influence on your other children you can not take chances .

47. It’s not really about curiosity vs. sensitivity.
    The high schools want to have some say in the matter.
    They want to offer the right of first refusal to those highly qualified applicants who through their academic achievements and middos tovos merit their being such sought after students(ability to pay full tuition will not have a negative impact!). It’s not easy to run a high school(this is a tremendous understatement). Of course you cannot directly hurt someone’s feelings. The whole system is set up to avoid this. No rejection letters are sent out. But both the schools and the students have a right to make the best choices they can.

48. Dear 33 your welcome to stay but with an atitude like yours toward BMG all I ask is that you have rachmonus on YOUR children the private schools want ppl who are more Torah focused because like it or not that is what Lakewood stands for world wide. All the best hope you make the right choices..

49. I think the menahalim should give the answers as to whose accepted to which school, on a master list and post it. A new school may open for next year for the rejects and hopefully some prized students will give up their spaces in the elite schools & voluntarily go with the weaker/rejected girls. Their schar will be felt enermously in both worlds.

50. If ability to oay full tuition were a major factor in the admissions process ,then it stands to reason that the most sought after schools should be doing well financially . Since it is common knowledge that even the sought after high schools are running large annual deficits due to low tuitions then obviously paying full tuition does not factor highly in the reasons for acceptance to those schools

51. Five comments from one person. Let’s look at the numbers. 148 applications. To one school. Everyone wants the best for their daughter.
    The first week of Iyar is going to be very interesting.

52. our girls are princesses not Queens.
    still until we get to the fat bottom layer of the issue, this will make people crazy and who wants to live forever in such a state of suspense? meanwhile Brian may get his kid into a school but the mercury will rise again before the killer queens relent and do the right thing.

53. To #43 parent….I sincerely hope that you are joking. Aside from the obvious insecurity and immaturity that we show as town, its comments like yours that really scare me. The total self centered uncaring attitude that you are displaying is probably what is scaring Mashiach about Lakewood too. Your daughter is itching to know? Your 12 yr old daughter itching is what is so important when so many peoples feelings are being hurt? THIS isvthe root of our problem and I hope everyone is paying attention.

54. To #25, Kim,
    As a long time Lakewood resident, I understand what you’re trying to say. But, as usual, it’s not that simple. Because of the lack of space, it’s not only the children of newcomers who can’t get into our schools. Also, not all the children of Bnei Torah, choose to become Bnei Torah and the children of newcomers can be “shtarker” Bnei Torah.
    In the end, it’s a numbers issue and as the previous comments have said, that has to be resolved before anything else. If there’s no room, it doesn’t matter who you are, there’s just no room!

55. 1. Your daughter is in danger of not getting accepted to any high school if:
    a) she does not have an older sister in high school
    b) she has been labeled not tznius
    c) she receives tutoring and/or therapy
    d) she does not have a ra-ra personality (not to be confused with lack of tznius)
    e) all of the above

    2. Your family may be rejected because:
    a) you wear a blue shirt
    b) divorce or other scandal in family
    c) older sibling(s) with issues
    d) all of the above

    3. Which of these is true?
    a) parents have been told that their daughter will be accepted if they pay extra tuition
    b) parents have requested and been granted the right to see the list of accepted girls before they decide where to send their daughter
    c) every year, seats are held for girls who are waiting to get into another school, which only makes their final decision the night before school starts
    d) parents are told by schools that “there is no more room”, only to see a dozen more girls accepted after they were rejected
    e) all of the above

56. if I passed your exam am I accepted or not. great points brought out!

57. I agree with duvid about #43. A child’s curiosity is petty compared to the hurt of rejected girls, have empathy for them.
    Also, what does “top girl” mean any way. Doesn’t every child shine in their own way. (I’ve also heard of “top girls” who developed severe problems, so you can never be guaranteed.)

58. I happen to know the guy who wrote comment # 43 and I’m pretty sure it was written sarcastically to bring out the absurdity of this rush to send out the acceptance letters and thereby not caring about the hurt of the rejected girls.

59. The answer to your quiz is as follows :

    Your daughter is in danger of not getting acceted to High School because

    1) There is a severe shortage of high schools and space is very tight
    2) The reason for the shortage of schools is that people would rather blog ,mock and criticize than taking out the time and money to make new schools
    3) We are going to be adding hundreds more of high school kids applicants every year going forward and will need more schools almoat every year from now on
    4) It has been proven time and again that if space is not tight then every kid is given a chance no matter what family background or issues they have ,just look at the boys mesivtas in town
    5) people are getting turned off from making new schools because of a combination of the financial stress and the knowledge that they will be mocked and called all kinds of names
    6) If we dont take out the money and effort on a communal basis to fund new school for girls then this problem will keep getting worse and worse
    7) There are about 450 girls going into High school in 9th grade this year
    8) There will be about 900 girls going into High School in 9th grade in about 5 years
    9) There will be about 1500 girls going into High School in 9th grade in about 10 years
    10) Other than a handful of yechidim who have made High schools and spent money nobody else has done anything to resolve this space crisis other than kvetching about others

60. number 9 quiz answers are direct and to the point . finally we see somebody who gets to the real point .

61. Any news on the BY elementary crisis?

62. whats differentb this year My daughter also got her letter a few weeks after pesach a few years ago

63. Was Daas Torah consulted on this ? Were the Rabonim told that this will hurt some girls who might have been placed prior to getting a rejection letter ?

64. I heard that in previous years Daas Torah was consulted by some schools and they were told not to send out ant acceptance letters as long as it was still possible to place children quietly before the letters went out . Im not sure why things changed this year

65. I AM THRILLED BEYOND THRILLED I WONDER WHICH HIGH SCHOOL I’LL GET INTO I HOPE IT’S MY #1 CHOICE…… LOL….. CAN YOU GUESS??????????

66. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

67. What are the Rabbonim doing about the BY Crisis? So many poor girls not in school!!!!!!!

68. as the daughter-in-law of a holocaust survivor [who has watched his own granddaughters suffer from this system] i think there is only one way to describe this mockery of yiddishkeit > “THE YEARLY SELECTION OF WHICH JEWISH GIRLS IN LAKEWOOD WHO WILL BE ALLOWED TO BE EDUCATED”

69. If it is a mockery of Yiddishkeit then we have to determine who is guilty of the mockery . Is it the few people who have opened schools a few years ago with their own funds only to realize that the growth rate in Lakewood made their school building obsolete and overcrowded before their second or third year and they have no more money to expand and have to borrow every week to make payroll because they dont get nearly enough tuitions to meet expenses ;

    Or is it the rest of us who have money for vacations ,summer homes ,nice houses ,two cars ,trips to israel ,restaurants etc etc but somehow cant find the money to create and keep funding enough schools for our kids .

    Please enlighten me .

70. oh gosh all we hear about is $$$$$$$$$$ all day its sick

71. What ever happened to tghe rule NO GIRL WILL GET HER LETTER UNTIL EVERY GIRL PLACED . What happens to those girls who do not get into any school. how crushed will they be? How sad will they be when all the other girls gloat about which school they will be going to. THIS IS A REALLY BAD BAD IDEA> I Hope you people are listening before you destroy the lives of about 50 girls. A while ago some guy had a great idea, get all 5 schools in a room, and dont leave the room before Everygirl is placed. I really want to utter profanities here but I know TLS wont let me so @@#$^&$&%*!!!

72. people are always willing to get involved as long as all they have to do is complain about others who do somerthing . But once you tell them that getting involved means spending a lot of time and money then theu suddenly disappear

73. As long as we have such a shortage of space it is impossible for every girl to be placed on the first round. The law of supply and demand dictates that there needs to be at least 10 to 15 per cent extra supply in the system for things to work. Right now we only place people by overcrowding and no school will willingly keep overcrowding year after year. They always hold out on the overcrowding hoping that somebody will open another school or at least another class. Why don’t people just get it fr once. WE NEED MORE SCHOOLS.

74. I know that years ago the letters went out earlier in the year until the elementary school principals begged the high schools to send them out as late as possible so that it wouldn’t destroy the 8th grade year.

75. According to a well connected prominent Askan this date is not exact and it will depend on how fast the askanim can place kids before the letters really get sent out . bottom line no different than every year . System will not change unless we have more school seats than applicants

76. # 75
    You forgot to mention that the system will not change until people are willing to go to any school in town. The fact that most people want to go to 2 or 3 schools which are full also is part of the problem. Imagine in the public school system if everybody would have the right to choose their school district. You would have a ituation where the 2 or 3 best districts would have 80 percent of the states kids and places like Lakewood would have empty schools.

77. True
    People do not realize that this is a large part of our problem . Everybody screams that every child is entitled to get in to a school . But if every parent would be required to publicly state in writing that they are willing to go to ANY one of the schools without fighting and screaming then most of the problems would be solved . Of course you can still apply and hope to get in to your first or second choices . But if you want a system of public education where everybody has a school you shpuld also be required to apply to every single school and be willing to go anywhere you are accepted .

78. well People in Lakewood want the best of all worlds . They want a system that guarantees them a school . They also do not want to be taxed for that or be required to pay for funding . 80% of the parents can not or will not pay a tuition amount that equals the cost of educating their children . They want to be able to choose the school and feel entitled to get into a particular school even if that school is full and there are other schools with more room . This is a great recipe for a functioning school system

79. HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I HOPE I GET INTO (which hs rimes with “hooray”)

80. Genug shoin! This topic should be ilegal. Its coming out of my nose!!!

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