In addition to being an ex-Hillel president, a UJA board member, the mother of a Maccabi athlete and a Bronfman Youth Fellow, I’m a contributing writer to multiple Jewish publications and an author of Soviet-Jewish historical fiction.
I’ve also been a New York City school consultant for 20 years. I help parents navigate the admissions process for not only private schools but the city’s public schools, too. Together, we figure out not just the best school fit for their child but how to maximize their odds of getting in.
Here in New York City, students are required to apply to public high schools (and public middle schools and kindergartens, too). Much like college applications, the public school admissions process is byzantine, often contradictory and extremely opaque. It can be an enormous source of stress for families — there are tests, grade tiers and ranked-choice strategies to contend with — and it’s not uncommon for kids to be rejected from a public school, sometimes even their zoned, local public school.
That’s where my role as a consultant comes into play. By factoring in a student’s academic strengths and weaknesses — along with assessing the school’s sports and arts offerings, say, or their support for students with disabilities — I help parents strategize their applications so that their child lands at a school that’s right for them.
Ahead of the city’s public high school application deadline on Dec. 4 — with middle school and kindergarten application deadlines to follow — I’ve noticed a new concern among many of my clients: Parents are now taking into account just how safe a school’s climate is for Jewish students.
Since the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — killing some 1,200 people, taking another 251 hostage, and launching the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands in Gaza — antisemitism has risen sharply in New York City. According to NYPD data, hate crimes targeting Jews have surged over the past year.
Antisemitism has reared its ugly head in the city’s schools, too. Last November, city officials investigated Hillcrest High School in Queens after students allegedly rioted over a teacher’s participation in a pro-Israel rally. In March, swastika graffiti “rattled” Beacon High School in Hell’s Kitchen, while earlier that month, teachers at Brooklyn’s Origins High School complained of a hostile, antisemitic work environment. “I’ve had students call me a ‘dirty Jew.’ I’ve had students draw swastikas on my desk and bulletin boards,” global history teacher Daneille Kaminsky told CBS News New York. “I’ve had students tell me they wanted to kill my family.”
Such sentiment isn’t exclusive to public schools. In June, the New York Times wrote about parents at the private Elisabeth Irwin High School filing a grievance after their children were taken on a field trip to be “subjected to anti-Israel and anti-American propaganda.” Earlier that month, David Lourie, the head of school at the Upper West Side’s Collegiate School, stepped down after an internal audit found evidence of “religious and cultural bias,” including antisemitism.
But there have been other, less publicized incidents. “On Monday, Oct. 9, my child came to school and found their teacher chanting, ‘Palestine all the way! Israel is going to get what they deserve!’” a Brooklyn mother, whose child attends a public high in Manhattan, told me. “When my child complained to the administration, they were accused of harassing the teacher.”
At my own daughter’s public high school in Harlem, a swastika was drawn on a wall immediately following Oct. 7; another was carved into a desk at the beginning of this academic year. The principal sent out an email encouraging everyone to be tolerant of different points of view, and musing that the person who drew the symbol probably didn’t know what it meant.
“Did he just ask us to be tolerant of swastikas?” I double-checked with my husband.
My daughter is currently a senior who loves her school and her friends. It is too late for me to consider moving her.
Support the New York Jewish Week
Our nonprofit newsroom depends on readers like you. Make a donation now to support independent Jewish journalism in New York.
But, increasingly, I’ve noticed that switching schools has become an imperative for some of my clients.
“In math, the better performing kids were sitting at one table, and classmates were calling it ‘Jew table,’” a mother whose child was a freshman last year at a highly coveted Manhattan public high school told me. “She was sending me pictures from the bathrooms of stickers that said ‘resistance by all means.’ The school was covered in swastikas and graffiti. When I emailed the principal, the response was, ‘Your daughter is wrong about the swastikas and graffiti, and we already called the police and we are wiping everything every day.’ She finished 9th grade but didn’t want to return to school this year.”
Such incidents have many Jewish parents on high alert — and confused about what the best options for their children may be.
Lena, a Brooklyn mom who asked me not to use her last name, told me that when her eldest child applied to middle school two years ago, she was looking for schools that were close to home, had good reputations and plentiful after-school programming. Now, however, as they consider high schools, “I’m absolutely looking at which schools have a reputation for being safe for Jewish students,” she said.
For some parents, sending their children to a Jewish day school is the obvious solution.
Naomi Levin Schoenkin, whose two children attend Emet Classical Academy, a new Jewish grade 5-12 private school, confessed, “After Oct. 7 it became clear to us that we wanted an education that was more energetic about the contributions of Jews and Jewish values to the world. It became increasingly exhausting to justify that to non-Jewish educators.”
This isn’t to say that every non-Jewish school, whether public, charter or private, is a hotbed of antisemitism. My sample set is obviously skewed as my clients are a self-selecting group; they come to me because they are unhappy with their schools and looking to make a change. I don’t hear from the happy parents.
Many schools host very active Jewish student unions and affinity groups for students and families. A swastika may have been inked on a wall and another carved into a desk at my daughter’s school but, in between these incidents, there was also a Cultural Day when students came bearing their ancestral flags. My daughter took many pictures with her friends — each draped in a flag from a different country, like my daughter was in the flag of Israel — with their arms wrapped around each other, making peace signs. Some of her teachers have also facilitated calm, rational and balanced discussions around issues of Israel, as well as the protests taking place only a few blocks away at Columbia University.
For parents hoping to avoid sending their child into a hostile school environment but unsure of what to look for, I recommend first and foremost speaking to other parents — preferably ones you weren’t directed to by the school. For starters, ask your friends and co-workers where their children go to school. Many schools have dedicated Facebook groups that are independent of the administration and can be excellent resources for incoming parents.
There are also social media groups specifically dedicated to the topic of antisemitism in various institutions — including schools — such as NYC Parent Alliance, the NYC Public School Alliance and End Jew Hatred. While these advocacy organizations are by nature on the lookout for antisemitism, parents affiliated with these groups will be able to alert you to a school’s potential red or yellow flags, and can provide perspectives that may differ from the typical open house jargon that promises a vague “respect for all.”
When considering a school for your child, It is perfectly appropriate to ask for a list of what books students are assigned in English and Social Studies classes. If a school is reluctant to provide it, that’s a red flag. (No, you are not a book banner if you ask what your child will be reading. You are not demanding that the book be withdrawn from other children. You are trying to get an indication of what’s on the curriculum and if it’s right for your child.)
You can also go on the school’s website and see who their recent guest speakers were, the topics of their assemblies and what decorations are hanging in the classrooms. For those willing to go the extra mile, you can check social media accounts: the school’s official ones, and the personal ones of teachers. (No, it’s not stalking if they make their posts publicly available.) There are some NYC teachers — from the high school level all the way down to pre-K — who are proud to share their anti-Israel views.
Support the New York Jewish Week
Our nonprofit newsroom depends on readers like you. Make a donation now to support independent Jewish journalism in New York.
NYC families have until Dec. 4 to finalize their public high school application list, until Dec. 20 to submit their public middle school list, and Jan. 24 for kindergarten.
Based on all the concerns about antisemitism I’ve heard over the past year, I strongly suggest parents and students implement at least some of the above suggestions before committing to any school, public or private, for 2025 and beyond.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
