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Ramaz School

Coordinates: 40°46′44″N 73°57′23″W / 40.7790°N 73.9564°W / 40.7790; -73.9564 (Ramaz Lower School)
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Ramaz School
ישיבת רמז
File:Ramaz logo.png
Location
Map
Manhattan
,
New York

USA
Information
TypePrivate coeducational primary, middle, and secondary
Established1937
FounderRabbi Joseph H. Lookstein
PrincipalRabbi Haskel Lookstein
GradesNursery-12
Number of studentsapprox. 1,100
Color(s)Blue and Gold
MascotThe Ramaz Ram
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New York State Association of Independent Schools
NewspaperThe RamPage
YearbookRamifications
Websiteramaz.org

The Ramaz School is a coeducational, private Modern Orthodox Jewish prep school located on the Upper East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan.[1] It consists of a lower school (nursery-4th grade), a middle school (5th grade-8th grade), and an upper school (9th grade-12th grade).

The Ramaz Upper School is a college preparatory school. It is located seven city blocks away from the other two school buildings, and draws students from throughout Manhattan, as well as commuters from throughout the New York Tri-State Region.

The school is affiliated with Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun ("KJ"), located on E. 85th street, which shares a building with the lower school and is across the street from the middle school.

Architect James Rossant designed the new school buildings.

History of school

Founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein, Ramaz got its name from the initials of Rabbi Moses Zevulun Margolies, the grandfather-in-law of Lookstein.[2] The current principal, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, is the son of Joseph Lookstein and was a member of the first class of six students.[3]

Classes were held in many locations over the years, including the vestry rooms of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. After the closing of Finch College, Ramaz bought the college's campus and renovated the buildings[4]

Leadership

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein scaled back his role as Principal of the Ramaz School at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, but he remained the rabbi of the associated Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue. He appointed Judith Fagin, formerly the headmistress of the Middle School, as Dean of the Ramaz School; she now administers day-to-day operations.

The Headmaster of the Lower School is Rabbi Alan Berkowitz, Ramaz '79, and the Headmistress of the Middle School is Smadar Seinfeld. The current Dean of the Upper School is Ira Miller. Rabbi Joshua Bakst retired in 2003 and is currently the Dean, Emeritus. Rabbi Jay Goldmintz is the Headmaster of the Upper School.[5] and Rabbi Shlomo Stochel now serves as Assistant Headmaster. Rabbi Kenneth Schiowitz is the Rosh Beit Midrash (Head of Beit Midrash)

Recent developments

On November 30, 2007, The Wall Street Journal listed Ramaz as one of the top schools for graduates entering the top eight universities in the country, with 10 out of a class of 100 (class of 2007) going to these schools[citation needed].

The Ramaz School had proposed a 28-storey project to be built in place of the Lower School during 2008-2010. The building would have replaced the current school with a new building split into ten floors used by the school and topped by 18 floors of condominiums. Air rights of the adjoining synagogue would be transferred for use by the adjoining school/condo structure. The project may have had to be scaled back following a review by the City's Board of Standards & Appeals because the height is more than what is permitted at this site.[6] The plans were withdrawn by the school in July 2008.[7]

Financial

In January 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ramaz lost $6 million in the collapse of the Bernard Madoff investment scheme[8]. Rabbi Lookstein did mention a month earlier in a New York Times article that "It is a small part of our endowment, we will be able to continue functioning normally"[9].

Sports

The Ramaz School's team name is the Ramaz Rams. Ramaz fields a number of competitive and recreational athletic teams throughout the school year, such as basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, hockey, track, soccer, tennis, fencing, and dance. Ramaz has recently created a crew team which will be begin its inaugural season this spring. In most cases, their teams are members of the Yeshiva High School Athletic League which represents many of the Jewish day schools throughout the New York metropolitan area. In addition, they play exhibition games against other schools both in the Jewish day school and non-Jewish private school communities.

The boys varsity basketball team won Ramaz's first championship in over 40 years in 2005 coached by Randy Dulny. Dulny and the boys also won the championship in 2008.

Academic teams

Ramaz's academic teams include the debate, College Bowl, chess, Torah Bowl, Model United Nations, and Model Congress teams, which compete solely against other Yeshiva high schools, and the mathematics, mock trial, and BIC (Business Investment Club), which compete against both public and private high schools. Ramaz Upper school students have also succeeded in numerous academic competitions in both the arts and sciences, including the 2004-2005 Siemens Westinghouse Competition [10] and the 2007 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing.[11][dead link]

Upper School Student Government (The G.O.)

'''2009-2010 G.O. Members'''

President: Ethan Stein

Sr. Vice President: Rachel Marcus

Jr. Vice President: Daniella Sakhai

Treasurer: Daniel Robbins

Secretary: Jackie Oshry

'''2008-2009 G.O. Members'''

President: Talia Thurm

Sr. Vice President: Adam Werner

Jr. Vice President: Ethan Stein

Treasurer: Corey David

Secretary: Rachel Bicky

Publications

Ramaz's publications include:

  • Breakthrough - a science and technology publication
  • El Ramillete - the Spanish student newspaper
  • Lambpage - the Middle School newspaper
  • Likrat Shabbat - a weekly publication devoted to Shabbat
  • Our Israel - a publication devoted to Israel
  • Parallax - the school's award winning literary magazine
  • Toses - the Hebrew student newspaper
  • Ramaz Voice - the school Politics and Current Events newsletter
  • Rambytes - the school's emailed newsletter
  • Ramifications - the school yearbook
  • RamPage - the Upper School newspaper
  • RamStreet Journal - a business publication of Ramaz.
  • SFAC News - Student Faculty Administration Committiee meeting minutes
  • Tarte aux Pommes - the French student newspaper
  • The Sports Report - a sports publication
  • XeVeX - the mathematics magazine
  • 78 - the school magazine

Notable alumni

Fun Facts

The current secretary of the Ramaz Upper School, Ms. Linda Malamy, was featured in a Liz Claiborne ad campaign run in magazines and on billboards from January through March, 2009.

References

  1. ^ Ramaz Mission and Legacy
  2. ^ Ramaz School Legacy, Ramaz School. Accessed August 8, 2007.
  3. ^ Gurock, Jeffrey S. (1989). Ramaz: School, Community, Scholarship, & Orthodoxy. Ktav. ISBN 0-88125-323-5.
  4. ^ Goldberger, Paul. "A Bridge Known as Ramaz School.", The New York Times, June 4, 1981. Accessed July 16, 2008.
  5. ^ Ramaz Contact Information
  6. ^ Beyer, Gregory. "Condos Above Classrooms Strike Some as an Odd Mix", The New York Times, November 11, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2008.
  7. ^ Snyder, Tamar. "Ramaz Pulls Plug On Condo Tower", New York Jewish Week, July 4, 2008. Accessed October 17, 2008.
  8. ^ Private Schools Feel the Pinch Amid Recession, Wall Street Journal, 2009-01-26
  9. ^ "Wall St. Fraud Leaves Charities Reeling", New York Times, 2008-12-15
  10. ^ Siemens Foundation 2004-2005 Winners
  11. ^ NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing 2007-New York
  12. ^ Damage to Diaspora ties, Jewish Living (Toronto), November 15, 2006. "Herzog calls his years at the prestigious Ramaz school 'the formative period of my life.'"
  13. ^ Biographies for "SELF-CONCEPTIONS: WOMEN, CREATIVITY AND JEWISH IDENTITY", YIVO, accessed January 2, 2007.
  14. ^ Heller, Jamie. "Mukasey’s Pedigree", The Wall Street Journal Online, Law Blog, September 17, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2007. "Mukasey graduated from Ramaz in 1959 and went on to Columbia College and Yale Law School."
  15. ^ Century, Douglas "The Yemenite Madonna: Bronx-Raised Nini Becomes Pop Star Noa", The Forward, January 13, 1995. Accessed October 17, 2008.
  16. ^ Cohen, Irwin. "Baseball Is Dull Only To Those With Dull Minds", The Jewish Press, February 7, 2007. "The best book you can get about Thomson’s homer, the 1951 season, the players, sign-stealing and more is Joshua Prager’s The Echoing Green. Prager, who grew up in New Jersey, went to Moriah Day School, Ramaz High School and spent a year in yeshiva after high school before going on to college and a writing career with The Wall Street Journal."
  17. ^ U.S. Treasury - Biography of Adam J. Szubin - Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), accessed December 5, 2007
  18. ^ Biography of Tevi D. Troy, accessed December 5, 2007
  19. ^ The United States Mission to the OSCE: Office of Public Affairs - Tevi Troy, accessed December 25, 2006
  20. ^ [1], The Jewish Journal (Boston North), July 2, 2004.
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