Boys Schools Quietly Change Summer Vacation Days

Crown Heights’s two largest Jewish boys’ schools have been working in conjunction and together have modified their school calendars, making changes to when the summer break begins and ends.

In a letter sent out to Oholei Torah parents they were notified that the school year will end on June 14th, Rosh Chodesh Tammuz and restart on August 21th, the 10th of Elul, limiting the summer break to nine weeks.

The letter notes that boy’s overnight camps have agreed to also modify their schedule in order to accommodate this change.

These changes – the letter notes – have been made with the “backing of the Vaad Ruchni” and that it was done after much consideration.

One parent, in an anonymous letter, decried the sudden change and how it has been shrouded in secrecy and lamented the fact that boy’s schools and girls schools will have drastically different schedules – some will be in school while other will already be in summer camp.

Though this move is sure to appease the supporters of a shorter summer, who have long called the summer months ‘frie tzeit’, and an undue expense. “For some the camp tuition cost alone makes up as much as their tuition bill of the entire year” wrote one in an op-ed.

The letter goes on to note the dates for the following school year as well.

19 Comments

  • Chain reaction

    I am not sure if they took into consideration the chain reaction that they are creating. The camps that have agreed to this change probably take children and counsellors from other Chabad moisdos nationwide. Will all the moisdos change their school schedules to accommodate the change of the now new camp schedules?

  • There is a boss

    In this case change (migration) reaction is great, since it goes to the direction that the Boss wanted (see farbrangen 12 tammuz 5745)

  • Elul is also important!

    Do you parents realize that yeshiva starts 10 Elul? Forget the children – Elul is a time that YOU also need to walk with the King from the field to the palace!
    Oh right, because you live by the secular calendar, your children won’t have time to learn about the King is in the Field.
    You want them to forgo the inspiration of Elul, and smash together RH, YK and Sukkos in the few hectic days of settling back from”vacation” and adjusting to the structure of yeshiva.
    By the way, you do know that the Rebbe hated the concept of vacation, instructing us to say holiday which is similar to Holy day, and to avoid vacation where you vacate yourself from things holy.
    Time to act like chasidim again and not like hellenists whose ideologies were destroyed on Hanukkah.

  • Anonymous

    It’s too little too late the summer vacation need to be short of totally
    This was the Rebbi Direction

  • regents

    This creates a problem with mesivta boys that take regents tests! They cannot finish earlier!

  • Berel

    The summer misgeres is unmitigated disaster. If you are a fortunate family whom Hashem has favored with good arrangements in the country or elsewhere, or if you are favored with spots in healthy camps for your children, then it’s alright, I suppose, but for an increasingly large proportion of us, the summer vacuum is a crises of poorly staffed local camps and hanging out in the streets, where you are happy if your child isn’t worse off after than he or she was before.

    I don’t know if this change constitutes additional school time or not, but the misgeres is in need of major rethinking.

    Parents needing to makeover their resort arrangements just doesn’t rate.

    The less break the better.

  • "limiting the summer break to nine weeks"?????

    You call 9 weeks break limited?????

    A 9 week break is an atrocity.

    It’s a change in the right direction, and should ultimately result in a break only between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul!

  • who guides us?

    is the summer (money making) camps, vacation homes, country life going to guide the chinuch of our talmidim?

    Kol HaKavod to Oholei Torah!

  • ahavasyisroel

    While I am in favor of shorter vacations, it is still very important that yeshivas work WITH the parents and teachers and not just throw things at them without even considering their concerns

    • Berel

      that’s nice in theory. in fact no major change presenting an inconvenience to a large set of the parent body can be done in conjunction with them. Too many divergent interests.

      Just do the needful, and give plenty of advanced notice, like say, I dunno, at around Chanuka time, and expect the standard gnashing of teeth from those who are being inconvenienced.

      The key is to do right thing. Consulting with the parents is neither here nor there, and may actually hinder going forward with the correct changes.

      What matters is that change notifications are provided well in advanced.

      Agree with the above: 9 weeks is an atrocity.

    • ahavasyisroel

      The divergent voices end up being heard anyway as we have seen. But instead of concerns being heard and dealt with by the school in an organized manner, they are just thrown out in the open for everyone on the internet to see and argue over.

  • please

    why do our kids need 9 weeks of vacation? enough playing around. boys need to be in yeshivah.
    there should be 1 month vacation before pesach and one month before rosh hashana.
    too much free time. most of our problems start during the summer. many kids are roaming the streets

  • CAMPS STILL CHARGE THE SAME

    ARE CAMPS GOING TO BE CHEAPER SINCE THERE GOING TO BE SHORTER/OFCOURSE THEY AGREE LESS TIME FOR THEM BUT STILL TAKE ALL OF OUR MONEY

  • crown heights resident

    its time the chassidim took control of the chinuch of our sons. time to take it away from chabad light like this letter from this modern with it mother

  • 8 1/2 wks

    9 weeks ? U mean 8 weeks, the 2 biggest CGI camps Parksville & Montreal are only 8 weeks, where do u come up with 9 ? Unless u count maybe 1/2 a week from when Yeshivah let’s off till camp so it’s officially 8 1/2 weeks, the ppl who stay in the Mountains till labor day might have an issue, now they won’t be able 2 most probably, that’s not set in stone that everyear Yeshivah finishes Rosh Chodesh Tamuz & starts 10th of Elul everyear is different btw which day of Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 1st or 2nd, there is always 2 days

  • Shame on you!

    Shame on the editors of CrownHeights.info for the way you posted this. You are a clear political destruction.

  • Change in Crown Heights

    Kol ha kavod and may more schools follow. If I knew technology better I would petition President Trump to also extend the school year in public schools and have more free summer programs for kids. That being said I completely understand the parents who are struggling to make ends meet. There seems to be a literal war against working class families. I’ve already lost one child to public school because I could not keep up. The Yeshiva he went to and the community could care less and I’m quite certain blames me, the inept, illiterate parent. As someone who went to public school my whole life, we must find a balance. Looking back, I’m greatful that anything religious came from my parents and the school just taught me reading, writing, math and science. How lucky I was. In Crown Heights we have a situation where the school literally tells the children the parents are incompetent with chinuch and leave everything to them or they’ll call CPS, G-d forbid!!!! My heart goes out to the Kutsy family who was obliterated by our community and children sold into the foster care system. Shame on us for allowing and participating in kidnapping. I worked in the school where their daughters go and saw first hand how the teachers bad mouth the parents RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS. When I tried to object I WAS FIRED AND TOLD NOT TO RETURN TO THE BUILDING.
    We desperately need a change in Crown Heights!!!!!!