Shulamith School for Girls

Shulamith School for Girls is a centrist Modern Orthodox Jewish school. It was the first Orthodox Jewish elementary school for girls in North America.^[2] The name shulamith (Hebrew: שולמית‎) is a feminine form of the Hebrew name Solomon, which loosely translates to "peace".

History

The school was founded in 1930 by Bertha Blazer, together with Rabbi M.G. Volk in Borough Park, Brooklyn.^[3] From 1941, Dr. Judith Lieberman served as Hebrew principal and later as dean of Hebrew studies. Shulamith moved to a building in Flatbush which originally housed Vitagraph Studios.^[4]Shulamith opened an elementary branch, originally called Bnot Shulamith, on Long Island in 2000.

In July 2010, Shulamith was divided into two schools: the Shulamith School for Girls is now located in Long Island, and the Shulamith School of Brooklyn. Each has its own board, administration, and finances.

Under the leadership of the new Board of Directors and Menahel Rabbi Shmuel Klammer, the Shulamith School of Brooklyn began to flourish once again, with near-record enrollment in the Pre-School program.

The Shulamith School for Girls on Long Island has grown quickly to 546 students in grades N-8 in 2014-5. The school is opening a high school in the fall of 2015.

Mrs. Joyce Yarmak is the Long Island school's founding principal and runs its Lower Division. Mrs. Estee Scher is the principal of the Early Childhood Division. Mrs. Rookie Billet (principal) and Dr. Evelyn Gross (associate principal) administer the Middle Division (grades 5-8). The High School principal, Mrs. Rina Zerykier, is working full-time during 2014-5 in anticipation of the school's opening in September 2015. Rabbi Perry Tirschwell serves as the executive director of the Long Island school.

Shulamith of Brooklyn currently serves students from preschool through twelfth grade. The high school was founded in 1980 with Dr. Susan Katz serving as principal. She retired in 2007. Over the years the high school has received numerous outstanding academic achievements. Shulamith High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.^[5] The high school is Middle States Accredited.

Post graduation, students have pursued professional careers in law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, business, and others. Graduates pursued their advanced education at some of the most recognized universities across the nation including Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, New York University, Yeshiva University, SUNY colleges,CUNY colleges, etc.

Facilities

The Brooklyn school houses a state of the art gym, Olympic size pool, auditorium, computer lab, fully equipped Chemistry and Biology labs, and the Yavneh Minyan led by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol.

In September 2007, the Brooklyn high school had a major change with the retirement of founding principal Dr. Susan Katz. Replacing Dr. Katz was Rabbi Avraham Lieberman serving as the Hebrew principal and Penina Karp serving as the general studies principal.^[6] Rabbi Lieberman left the school in 2008, and Mrs Penina Karp retains the position.

The Long Island school is currently in three facilities in Cedarhurst and Woodmere. The school purchased an over 200,000 square foot campus in Inwood in October 2014 which, when converted, can house the entire eventual N-12 school.

Educational philosophy

Said Rabbi Lieberman:

Extracurricular activities

Shulamith participates in the Salute to Israel Parade and Chidon HaTanach, which is an International Bible Contest. They also have a school bowl team called the "Torah Bowl" and compete with other (Yeshivot) schools in the district. Shulamith School for Girls also stage annual music, dance, and drama productions.

The student newspaper, the Kaleidoscope, won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown in 1995.^[7] The student literary magazine Serendipity won the National Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award for Humor in 1997.^[8] Students may attend the Bais Yaakov Convention. Shulamith also competes in an all-Yeshiva league in basketball, volleyball and softball. The honorable Shulamith's mock trial team, which has victoriously won countless competitions, was first instituted in 1999 by Michelle Hagler (now a NYS admitted attorney) and Yocheved Kleinbart. The high school division offer other extracurricular activities including the Math Team, the Math Magazine, the National Honor Society, the Student Body President Committee, Model Congress, yearbook, the Debate Team, and a weekly foreign language newspaper called Sidra. Students participating in the extracurricular activities have won countless awards, championships, metals, and trophies.

Athletics

The Shulamith Cyclones and Dynamites compete in the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League (MYHSAL) "B" Division.

References

1. ↑ Middle States Accreditation listing
2. ↑ Jewish Women's Archive on Nacha Rivkin
3. ↑ Shulamith Institue for Girls of Borough Park Graduation Number, 1936
4. ↑ The Vitaphone Project
5. ↑ Blue Ribbon Schools Program - Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 5 Towns Jewish Times Vol. 7 No. 7
7. ↑ Columbia Scholastic Press Association 1995
8. ↑ Columbia Scholastic Press Association 1997

External links

• Shulamith of Brooklyn
• Shulamith of Long Island

Coordinates: 40°37′6.4″N 73°57′39.5″W / 40.618444°N 73.960972°W / 40.618444; -73.960972