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News, Info & Resources for the Cleveland Orthodox Jewish Community

Good news for students in Ohio – New EdChoice Schools

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agudah11(Agudath Israel Newsletter) The Ohio Department of Education released its new list of EdChoice designated schools this week. New to the list this year are several schools that serve the area in Cleveland where many in the Jewish community live. Many new students will now be eligible to receive an EdChoice voucher to attend a school of their choice. Schools in areas of Columbus and Cincinnati, where a large portion of the Jewish community live, remain on the list. [Read more…]

Jewish school enrollment up 12 percent, fueled by haredi Orthodox growth

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rabbiAZ(JTA) (Ed: Data from the national Avi Chai Foundation survey offering much information on trends across the spectrum in Jewish education)

Jewish day school enrollment in the United States is up 12 percent from five years ago, primarily due to growth in haredi Orthodox schools.

Nearly 255,000 students are enrolled in 861 Jewish day schools from the pre-K level through 12th grade, according to a new census of the schools conducted by the Avi Chai Foundation.

The day school survey, which has been conducted every five years since 1998-99, found 59 more schools and 26,437 more students since the last study, in 2008-09. Previous surveys found enrollment growth rates of about 11 percent in each five-year period.

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Which Kriah CD Should You Buy?

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Are you trying to choose a good kriah (Hebrew reading) CD for your kids, but you’re confused about which to buy? It can be hard to find detailed information about what each CD offers. Since our family recently bought a new kriah CD, we thought we’d share our experiences with the two that we own. Hopefully this review will help other families choose which one is best for their family.

Kriyah Coach is a new CD that was created as a way to raise money for tzedakah. It assumes that kids already know the alef-beis; there’s a quick alef-beis review you can click on, with video footage of a rebbe and his class pointing to the osios and reviewing them, but that’s all that’s offered for alef-beis. The CD’s focus is on learning the nekudah sounds and learning to blend. For each nekudah, there’s a 3-step approach: first, a computer-animated scene with characters introducing the nekudah; second, video footage of Rabbi Henoch Potash teaching that nekudah to his class; and third, a brief exercise for the child to practice with.

The pronunciation used is mainstream yeshivish.

Overall, Kriyah Coach is cute–the little boys in Rabbi Potash’s class are adorable, and the animated characters interest kids–but it doesn’t offer a lot of practice.

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