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Frisch School

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Coordinates: 40°56′03″N 74°04′49″W / 40.934173°N 74.080172°W / 40.934173; -74.080172
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Frisch School
Address
Map
120 West Century Road

Paramus
,
Bergen County
,
New Jersey
07652

United States
Coordinates40°56′03″N 74°04′49″W / 40.934173°N 74.080172°W / 40.934173; -74.080172
Information
TypePrivate High School, Yeshiva
MottoCougars Run Together
Established1972
FounderR. Menachem Meier and Alfred Frisch
NCES School ID00868382[2]
PrincipalRabbi Eli Ciner[1]
Asst. principalsRabbi Joshua Wald
Elaine Keigher /kiːr/
Rabbi David Goldfischer
Deborah Herzog
Faculty85 FTEs[2]
Grades9 – 12
Enrollment750 (as of 2017–18)[2]
Student to teacher ratio8.8:1[2]
Color(s)  Red and
  white[3]
Team nameCougars[3]
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1992-2022)
PublicationFrisch Off The Press
NewspaperThe Struggle
Websitewww.frisch.org

The Frisch School, commonly known as Yeshivat Frisch /frɪʃ/, is a coeducational yeshiva high school located in Paramus, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1972 by Rabbi Menachem Meier and Alfred Frisch, it adheres to the tenets and practices of Modern Orthodox Judaism. Most of the students are from the Jewish communities of Teaneck, Englewood, Fair Lawn, and Monsey, with some commuting from New York City and Central New Jersey.

As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 750 students and 85 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.8:1. The school's student body was 99.3% White (745), 0.4% Asian (3) and 0.3% Hispanic (2).[2] In the past five years, Frisch has grown from a population of 549 to 861 students during the 2019–2020 academic year.[4]

Campus

For the 2007–2008 school year, Frisch moved to 120 West Century Road in Paramus. Frisch purchased this site, 14 acres (57,000 m2) of land and an 115,000-square-foot (10,700 m2) office building, and renovated what had been an office building, constructing an 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) addition. The campus includes 41 classrooms, a learning center, six science laboratories, a state-of-the-art gymnasium, a two-story library, music and art studios, a Beit Midrash, a makerspace (fab lab), and a publications room. Outdoors, the campus has a softball field, two tennis courts, a basketball-hockey, and a soccer field encircled by a running track.[5] The campus is named in honor of Henry Swieca, who donated the campus.

The school formerly resided at E. 243 Frisch Court in Paramus, on a 7-acre (28,000 m2) plot of land.[6]

In 2018, the school purchased the next-door building, at 100 Century Road. As of the 2020 school year, it hasn't been used for anything.

Academics

Frisch offers a dual curriculum of Judaic and secular studies. Incoming students choose between seven specialty tracks: Art, Beit Midrash, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Music, Sports Management and Business Analysis, World Languages, and Writing. Each track provides specialized academic/vocational training.[7]

Student government

The school's student government consists of two chambers: the executive board and the regular student council. Seats in government are very competitive, and elections are held at the end of each school year.[8]

The executive board is comprised of four members, including both the president and vice-president of the school. The president is the person who wins the most votes, and the vice-president is the person who wins the second most votes.

The student council is comprised of eight members, two from each grade.

Co-curricular programs and activities

Clubs

Frisch currently has over 100 co-curricular activities, including: Art Club, Biophysics Club, Drama Society, Film Club, Photography Club, Poetry Club, Sewing Club, Chessed Society, Chess Team, Chidon HaTanach, College Bowl, Debate Team, Federal Reserve Bank Challenge, Math League, Model Beit Din, Torah Bowl, Robotics Club, Coding Club, Girls Who Code, Science Olympiad, Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Performance Ensemble, America Israel Student Action Committee, Mock Trial, Model Congress, Model United Nations, Student Council, Frisch Torah Journal, Foreign Language Journal, Kalliope (Literary Magazine), Yearbook, American Sign Language Club, Cougar Nation Network (sports broadcasting), Dance Club, Finance Club, Frisch Farm, Lacrosse Club, Intramural Sports, Improv Club, Outdoor Soccer, Memory Club, Peer Tutoring, Pre-Med Society, Environmental Club, Arabic Culture and Language Club, Ocean Preservation Society, and Ski Club.[9][10]

Sports

There are 25 athletic teams and seven athletic clubs in total. More than 70 percent of students participate on one or more of the sports teams and clubs. There are four basketball teams, one baseball team, two boys floor hockey teams, one girls floor hockey team, and one boys wrestling team, which consecutively won five Wittenberg wrestling titles. There are three volleyball teams – the girls volleyball teams have won the most championship games of any yeshiva volleyball team - three soccer teams, two swimming teams, three softball teams, one bowling team, and two track teams, among others. Frisch also has the first-ever yeshiva ice hockey team, which, in its first year of existence, qualified for the NJ state tournament.[11] Frisch competes in ice hockey under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[3][12] In 2016, half of Frisch's Yeshiva League sports teams qualified for the championships, and six teams won the championships.

The baseball team won three consecutive Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League titles (2014, 2015, 2016),[13][14][15] and won the Columbus Baseball Invitational yeshiva high school tournament, dubbed the "Jewish World Series", in each of 2016 and 2017.[16][17]

In 2015, Frisch won the Red Sarachek Tournament hosted by Yeshiva University for the first time. After losing in the championship game in 2013 and 2014, they defeated the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway by a score of 75–73 in triple-overtime to claim the title.[18] In 2017, Frisch came back and won the Sarachek Tournament, defeating the Shalhevet Firehawks (of Los Angeles) by a score of 49–47 in the tournament final.[19]

In 2016, Frisch began hosting the Wittenberg Wrestling Tournament, after Yeshiva University announced that it would no longer host the annual event.[20]

The ice hockey team won the McMullen Cup and Monsignor Kelly Cup in 2018.[21]

Chesed

A Chesed Society coordinates community projects throughout the year.[22] Frisch students run a winter camp for children with special needs who have off from public school during the winter break week.[23]

Shiriyah

Each year, students at Frisch take part in Shiriyah, a week-long extravaganza of creativity and camaraderie based around a Torah theme. Students create artistic murals, Rube Goldberg machines, "stomp" dances, music, skits, Escape the Room games, decorate the hallways, and more. The week provides an opportunity for every student to shine at something they excel at, or try their hand at a new skill. The week of Shiriyah culminates in a school-wide event during which the students present their work to family, friends and faculty.[24][25][26]

Notable alumni

Controversy

In 2018, students were invited to participate in a voluntary letter writing campaign thanking President Trump if they "believe[d] that the president's decision was correct" regarding the relocation the U.S Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They were informed of the letter-writing campaign by the school's then-director of Israel education and faculty adviser of the school's Israel advocacy club, Rabbi David Sher. However, the letter-writing campaign itself was initiated by the Israel Advocacy organization NORPAC. Instructions for participating in the campaign included a reminder to "sign your name at the bottom," while NORPAC's boiler-plate letter praised the president's "courageous leadership" for the embassy decision. [42] Sher's email stated twice that the campaign was voluntary. [43]

The email was sent to students without prior parental consent, and some parents at the school lodged complaints in private forums, stating that the move was "sycophantic" and that the school should be "apolitical" and not attempt to "normalize Trump." [44] Journalists at Ha'aretz and Newsweek got wind of this disapproval, and published articles misleadingly implying that the school forced or strongly urged all students to write letters praising Trump. [43] [45]

The school principal, Rabbi Eli Ciner, noted that these private conversations were leaked to the press also without parental consent.[46] Ciner acknowledged that parents who did not agree with Trump complained, though stressed that the campaign was "completely voluntary" and that expression of different political opinions was an expression of democracy [47] In a statement to the JTA, Ciner stated, “As a religious Zionist school, we encourage our students as civic minded American citizens to write to the administration when they agree or disagree with the government’s policies regarding the State of Israel. In this particular case, many of our students strongly supported the president’s decision recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.” [43]

A columnist for JTA wrote regarding the letter writing campaign press coverage that "behaviors considered typical going back decades" were "distorted by their proximity to the 45th president" in this particular case. He also wrote that: "Missing in much of the reporting was the fact that like much of the mainstream Jewish community, most Jewish schools see teaching about and advocating for Israel a central part of their mission and a key to instilling Jewish identity. If anything, Israel advocacy training has increased as Jewish organizations invest more resources in fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement aimed at Israel." [43]

References

  1. ^ Message from the Headmaster and Principal, The Frisch School. Accessed November 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e School data for The Frisch School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Frisch School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  4. ^ https://frisch.org/about/overview/
  5. ^ Our New Campus Archived September 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 12, 2006
  6. ^ Goldrich, Lois. "Bat Torah headed for Paramus", Jewish Standard, May 2, 2008. Accessed June 23, 2008. "While Bat Torah, which Bak said 'has very high academic aspirations', will rent the whole building, the school hopes ultimately to share the facility with other groups. 'We'll want to remain small', said Bak, indicating that she would not want more than 40 students per grade."
  7. ^ Listed on the "Academics" drop-down menu of [www.frisch.org]
  8. ^ "Special Interests". The Frisch School. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  9. ^ https://frisch.org/outside-the-classroom/
  10. ^ https://www.jewishlinknj.com/schools/33335-over-100-co-curriculars-highlighted-at-yeshivat-frisch-club-fair
  11. ^ http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/the-frozen-chosen/
  12. ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  13. ^ http://jewishlinknj.com/sports/3977-frisch-cougars-win-baseball-championship
  14. ^ https://www.jewishlinkbwc.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=7000:frisch-cougars-defeat-tabc-storm-repeat-as-yeshiva-high-school-varsity-baseball-champs&Itemid=586
  15. ^ http://jewishlinknj.com/component/content/article?id=13640
  16. ^ Abramovitz, Mark. "Frisch Cougars Top TABC Storm in Columbus Invitational Tournament", Jewish Link, May 26, 2016. Accessed October 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Abramowitz, Mark. "Frisch Cougars Are Columbus Champions", Jewish Link, May 25, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2020.
  18. ^ Staff. "Frisch Wins Sarachek in Triple OT", Jewish Link of New Jersey, March 26, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2016. "It took three grueling, extra periods for the 2014–15 Frisch Varsity Cougars (the 3-seed coming into the tournament having been reseeded from the top spot after losing a flukey heartbreaker in the Yeshiva League semifinals) to finally dispatch the top nationally ranked HAFTR Hawks by final score of 75-73.... HAFTR's last-gasp fling fell short and the Red Sea of Frisch fans parted onto the Court to celebrate Frisch's first Sarachek championship."
  19. ^ Torok, Ryan. "Wild finish thrills Milken Wildcats' faithful", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, March 7, 2017. Accessed October 8, 2017. "Meanwhile, Shalhevet, which also qualified to compete in the CIF state playoffs, elected instead to travel to New York to compete in the March 2–6 Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament at Yeshiva University in New York. The Firehawks lost, 49-47, in the championship game to the Frisch School Cougars of Paramus, N. J."
  20. ^ Nussbaum, Jake. "Frisch to Host Wittenberg Tournament", Jewish Link of New Jersey, February 11, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2017.
  21. ^ NJSIAA Ice Hockey State Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  22. ^ Community Service, Frisch School. Accessed October 8, 2017.
  23. ^ Staff. "Friendship Circle of Bergen County Offers December Mini-Camp for Students With Special Needs", Jewish Link of New Jersey, December 15, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2017.
  24. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D9iBbluKzs
  25. ^ https://www.jewishlinknj.com/schools/16762-frisch-enjoys-the-magic-of-shiriyah
  26. ^ https://frisch.org/outside-the-classroom/shiriyah/
  27. ^ Mooney, John. "2 Rhodes Scholars, So Far -- A Tradition Of Excellence In Education Challenge", The Record, February 6, 1997. Accessed November 11, 2015. "A year ago, the scholarship went to Jeremy Dauber, Class of '90, now in his first of two years at Oxford."
  28. ^ Siemaszko, Corky. "Eerie Links Between 2 N.J. Women", New York Daily News, February 26, 1996. Accessed October 8, 2017. "The New Jersey women killed yesterday in a bus bombing in Jerusalem followed in the tragic footsteps of a former classmate Alisa Flatow. Sara Duker was one year ahead of Flatow at the Frisch Yeshiva High School in Paramus, N.J."
  29. ^ Kratz, Elizabeth. "Jewish Center of Teaneck Welcomes Rabbi Daniel Fridman", Jewish Link of New Jersey, September 8, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2017. "Rabbi Fridman was raised in Teaneck and educated at Yavneh Academy, the Frisch School, Yeshivat Har Etzion and Columbia University."
  30. ^ Moss, Linda. "Pieces of Penthouse founder's erotic collection in Englewood up for bid", The Record, November 9, 2013, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 4, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2017. "As a product of the 1980s, Frommer, who attended the Frisch School in Paramus, was well acquainted with Penthouse. As a teenager, he would ride his bike to the local convenience store and try to coax older youths to buy him copies of the magazine."
  31. ^ Park, Pearl J. "He Learns Political Science From Firsthand Experience -- Frisch Senior Is Lobbyist", The Record, October 16, 1991. Accessed February 20, 2008. "Frisch School senior Ryan Karben has strong political convictions -- and an equally strong desire to advocate them."
  32. ^ Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Senior Rabbi Archived June 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. Accessed September 2, 2011. "She is a graduate of the Frisch Yeshiva High School and Barnard College and was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College."
  33. ^ Hyman, Vicki. "Ivanka Trump to convert to Judaism to wed Jared Kushner", The Star-Ledger, November 5, 2008. Accessed September 2, 2011. "Kushner, a graduate of the Frisch School, a coed Jewish high school in Paramus, was raised in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, which frowns -- to put it mildly -- on intermarriages."
  34. ^ Peters, Jeremy W. (June 24, 2011). "Life in the Fishbowl for Jared Kushner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  35. ^ Yellin, Deena. "Arthur Lenk", The Record, May 3, 1998, accessed April 16, 2007. "I grew up in Teaneck and graduated from Frisch Yeshiva High School in Paramus."
  36. ^ Leichman, Abigail. "North Jerseyan named JTS dean", The Record, February 8, 2007. Accessed November 11, 2015.
  37. ^ Staff. "Behind the Jewcan Sam controversy: Controversial Plastic Surgeon Offers Free Surgery To Jewish Singles", South Florida Jewish Home, March 29, 2012. Accessed August 26, 2015. "I went to A.S.H.A.R. in Monsey, Moriah in Englewood, NJ; spent freshman year of high school in Public School (Tappan Zee High School), where incidentally I was teased pretty regularly for my 'big Jewish Schnoz'; then went to the Frisch Yeshiva High School in Paramus, New Jersey."
  38. ^ Rosenblatt, Gary. "Joining 'Gangs' to Work With the Best: Executive producer Rick Schwartz savors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese and others.", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, January 2, 2003. Accessed October 22, 2011. "Schwartz said that while the rest of his family is 'quite Orthodox, I am still finding my way, but I no longer take my Jewish education for granted.' He graduated from the Moriah day school in Englewood and Frisch yeshiva high school in Paramus, N.J., and said he increasingly appreciates the rootedness his traditional Jewish lifestyle gives him."
  39. ^ Dickter, Adam. "Sofer Sex", The Jewish Week, September 19, 2003. Accessed September 2, 2011. "It's not a likely career path for a former student of Achei Temimim, a Lubavitch grade school in Massachusetts, or the Frisch High School in Paramus. Sofer's father, Martin, is an Orthodox rabbi, as anyone who peruses her online biography or recent media interviews will learn."
  40. ^ Bloom, Nate. "Noshes: Worth Checking Out", The Jewish Standard, June 29, 2007. "Spektor... went to middle school yeshiva in New York and, for her first two years in high school, she went to the Frisch School in Paramus."
  41. ^ Engelmayer, Shammai. "A dream come true", The Jewish Standard, October 26, 2007. Accessed November 11, 2015. "One of the most interesting from a sectarian perspective is Yashar Books, located in Brooklyn and the brainchild of Gil Student, who grew up locally and who graduated from the Solomon Schechter Day School and the Frisch high school."
  42. ^ Yudelson, Larry "Was a thank-you note a breach of etiquette?", Jewish Standard, January 25, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2020.
  43. ^ a b c d Silow-Carroll, Andrew "Jared Kushner’s Jewish high school wants students to advocate for Israel. That’s a bad thing?", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 19, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2020.
  44. ^ Maltz, Judy. "Kids at Kushner's Old High School Were Urged to Write Letters Sucking Up to Trump ñ and Parents Are Fuming", Haaretz, January 18, 2018. Accessed January 29, 2018.
  45. ^ Moore, Jack. "Jared Kushner's High School is Making Children Write Lettres of Support to Donald Trump", Newsweek, January 17, 2018. Accessed January 29, 2018.
  46. ^ Levine, Cecilia. "Frisch Principal Reveals More On Controversial 'Letters To Trump' Campaign", Paramus Daily Voice, January 17, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2020.
  47. ^ Sommerfeldt, Chris. "Jared Kushner's old New Jersey high school encouraged students to sign letter praising President Trump", New York Daily News, January 17, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2020.
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