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CH Principals Learn from Waronkers Teaching Model

by Yonit Tanenbaum

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Two-dozen educational leaders of Crown Heights gathered this passed Thursday evening in a collaborative seminar with Shimon Waronker. The trailblazer shared his revolutionary model of an education system, the first of which he plans to implement in Crown Heights come fall 2010.

The New American Academy Public School (PS) 770 will operate with the following methods:
– 60:4 Student:Teacher Ratio
– Career Ladder
– Teachers Loop
– Tri-Lingual Model
– 360-Degree Assessments
– Non-Selective Criteria for Students
– Reggio Emilia and Harkness Method of Instruction
– Inclusion
– Schedule

This coming fall of 2010, the New American Academy will welcome 120 kindergarten and first grade students to its facility on East New York and Rochester Streets. With each successive year, the teachers will graduate to the following grade along with their classes, in order to foster trust and close relationships between pupils and instructors. According to the tri-lingual model, the schedule will rotate on a three-day pattern with students learning English, Spanish, and French.

The New American Academy is modeled after one of the earliest Yeshivah structures. It is based on the Clotfelter, STAR, and Hanushek studies, and is the antithesis of early public school structures. Rather than employing prior techniques of isolation of the student, isolation of the teacher, and isolation of the school, the new prototype mimics the Yeshiva-style study comprised of many students with multiple teachers in one large room. The school will feature 60 students in one classroom with one master teacher and three assistant teachers.

Most unique about the new system is “its transparency,” remarked Waronker. In addition to the ongoing practice of teachers evaluating students, the students will also be evaluating their teachers. Teachers will team-up to prepare their lessons together, so that they are all on the same page and can all contribute to the lessons, in the form of a think-tank. “Everyone has strengths, so we should utilize those strengths,” Waronker observed. “We can all be learning from each other.”

Waronker began his career as an educator teaching elementary school. He was selected as a participant in the first cohort of the New York City Leadership Academy and then became principal of MS 22 in the Bronx, NY. MS 22 was on the list of the twelve most violent schools in the city and was also on the New York State list of failing schools (“School Under Registration and Review” — SURR). Under Waronker’s methodology of distributed leadership the school was removed from the most violent and SURR lists. The work achieved at this school has been featured on the front page of the New York Times, the Today Show, CNN, and numerous interviews worldwide.

Currently a doctoral student in the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University and an intern to New York City Chancellor Joel Klein, Waronker is a Chassidic Jew who says he desires to use his expertise to help improve Jewish education.

Excited to be opening a school in the Chassidic neighborhood of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, the headmaster stated, “It is all Divine Providence.” In line with the directives of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of righteous memory, Waronker said the goal of this new design is to produce leaders rather than followers.

“I am impressed with both his knowledge in the field of education and his humility – he constantly accredits the Rebbe in his accomplishments,” commented Mrs. Hindy Gurwitz, director of Beth Rivkah Seminary’s Teacher Training Program.

The administrators – from almost ten different educational institutions in the area – discussed their respective and collective challenges, as administrative figures, in assuring the success of their students. Waronker offered encouragement and practical solutions. He said: “You are not alone.”

Training for the New American Academy educators will commence in July. Waronker encouraged administrators and educators of Chabad-Lubavitch schools to take part in the training session, as well.

While his educational model seemed daunting to some administrators, Waronker remarked, “What do we have to lose?”

“This will take a lot of effort on our part, because this requires real change”; mused Rabbi Eyal Bension, principal of Darchai Menachem. “I believe it can be done.” Bension is one of ten administrators participating in the Principal Leadership Program that was launched by Menachem Education Foundation in 2009.

“There are parallels in what we have seen tonight with the New York City Leadership Academy training in the Principal Leadership Program”; noted Bension, “mainly transparency – Transparency between parents, students, teachers, and principals.

Menchem Education Foundation Executive Director Zalman Shneur shared his thoughts on the evening’s event: “This is part of our commitment to create a learning community within our schools for teachers and principals to collaborate in order to better education for our children.”

“Through collaborative learning, all of us become part of the educational process,” Bension said.

Commenting on how she feels touched that Waronker shared his knowledge and offered himself as a resource to the Chabad-Lubavitch community, Gurwitz added: “He planted some seeds that will hopefully bloom in a very big way, so that our children will benefit from new and better methods of education.”

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25 Comments

  • A simple Jew

    I think a Mechitza for a event like that is a little over the top, but then again – what do i know?

  • my $ is on Darchei Menachem to start

    VB, why isn’t he opening such a school for OUR children?

    Because we won’t pay.
    Because we don’t really want change.
    Because we are stuck in the 18th century, educationally-speaking.

    At least the Principals there are open-minded enough to listen. Whether they’ll implement any ideas remains to be seen.

    I am SO glad my kids lived through this archaic system some people call education & that we, as parents, survived.

  • say my name

    this is great, i just hope the hanhala with their big egos will be able to accept it and not brush it off.
    keep up the good work.

  • Mr. W. for PUBLIC; Our Avos for YESHIVAS

    B“H

    While there are things needing improvement in the Crown Heights yeshivos, I do not really know for sure that what’s being extolled here is truly a ”Yeshivah“ model, despite saying so within the article.

    The details of THIS (Waronker’s model) do not ring true with all of the chassidishe stories that depict the cheders of old Europe and Russia.

    Why don’t the leaders of the Crown Heights cheders and yeshivahs get together and TRULY learn the writings of the Frierdike Rebbe (Principles of Education and Guidance), and the Gemara’s teachings on chinuch (for starters)? There are other more appropriate writings, too, such as the famous work by Rabbi Kloynimus Kalminen.

    As charismatic and renowned as Mr. Waronker is — and for good reason, IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM — I question our Yeshivah system turning to him for advice on how to fix OUR system. He worked wonders while he was at that school in the Bronx. But its issues and problems are VERY different than the problems our system faces now.

    In the public schools, ”Education Development“ Days (for the teachers) center around whatever is the latest popular concept of the University programs in training teachers for the public schools. In the public schools, it’s dog-and-pony-show after dog-and-pony show (l’havdil), with more and more money being thrown into these trendy concepts. And the Public Schools just keep getting worse and worse!

    (Another reminder: Mr. Waronker’s new program hasn’t even been tested and tried yet!!! Isn’t it a little early to be asking him his advice???)

    I plead with our cheder and yeshivah leaders to have some sanity here. Looking to leaders in the velt for how to repair our system is a slippery slope!!!! Do we look to the velt for how to dress, or for what foods to eat, or for what values to have? Don’t be SO ”open-minded“ to these outside concepts, that our brains fall out!

    Perhaps it is a possibility that failings and lackings in our cheder/yeshivah system reflect the need for us to review what our OWN system is supposed to truly be, not a need for us to ask Yidden who work in the velt what they propose to add to (or take away from, c”v!) OUR system.

    I, for one, respect and applaud Mr. Waronker for his work in the Public School System. But I really think we need to follow OUR OWN fathers’ wisdom in running OUR schools.

  • Mr. w.

    whoever wrote this long megilla of a comment Mr. w. you sound like “der kluginker” aka the yetzer hara, who showers compliments in order to make your critisizm more acceptable. you sound like your just plain old jealous of the mans talent and success.

  • To Mr. w wrote from Megilla writer

    Dear “Mr. w. wrote” —

    The compliments you dismiss (without addressing them!) are sincere. I write from a perspective of praise of Mr. Waronker’s work IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, where he turned around a failing middle school (whose problems are/were far different from those in our community) in the Bronx.

    If you cannot separate that out from the concept of my criticizing the idea of application of his educational model to THE YESHIVAH SYSTEM, well, I’m sorry to hear that.

    But my praise is sincere, as is my concern about the possible folly of applying PUBLIC SCHOOL models to OUR schools.

    That’s it, pure and simple. And I have vast experience with the public school system AND offspring in OUR schools.

    So please, apply some of your open mindedness that you have for the article (on Mr. Waronker) above, to the point I’m trying to make. You may disagree of course, but please don’t look for sinister “yetzer hara” stuff in what is simply an honest point.

    How about discussing my points, point by point, instead of throwing it away as “der kluginker”’s work?

    How about some intelligent discussion, instead of cowardly name-calling?

    Thank you.

    The writer of the “long megilla of a comment” above.

  • Yeshiva Parent

    Transperancy is the big issue in his system.
    Tranperancy not an idea welcome by most of the individuals running yeshivas.

  • Young opinion

    The body language displayed in these photos is fascinating.

    Mr. bug bucks darchei menachem:
    Isn’t the model that Woronker is presenting based on the 18th century modal of students learning in peer groups? A return to trust in a students abilities is most definitely a necessary move.

  • Short Megilah

    Nice event but 60% of a childs values are formed at home so children need to see a father learning Torah and feel that his parents truly respect Torah.

    No system can replace that

  • loius hyder

    just a real question
    at such a class do you need a mechitza?
    i thought mechitzah are for only for simchos !

  • David

    It won’t be long before kids from crown heights,that get kicked out, or frop out,of the yeshivas systam, will be going to this public school.

  • $ on Darchei

    I agree with the body language statement; I thought the same thing!

    I am a big believer in peer group education (most notably, Nancy Atwell’s methods of teaching spring to mind & her methods are easily adaptable to a Yeshiva classroom) but let’s be honest here. I am talking about the emphasis placed on the brightest students. Your average student just plods along & gets very little out of the school experience other than a lot of hard work & no recognition (not GO, not awards – nothing) & the very poor students are pushed into a corner & forgotten, if not humiliated & abused.

    Take a look at some of our schools. When my sons were in ULY Ocean Parkway in first grade they were the most sparse, sterile, harsh environments for a young boy. Not a picture, book, toy, not even a smile most of the time. To be fair, this was 20+ years ago & things may well have changed. But the misery for “not mitzuyan students” is the same today in the current system. I remember hearing tales from my father about his Yeshiva days & how his younger sister was treated by her teachers & I never dared tell him things hadn’t changed much. Still klops over the ears (my father had permanent hearing loss thanks to one Rebbe) & rulers over the knuckles (true, my boys weren’t angels either). And of course, learning by rote. No imagination, no love for the students, no dedication.

    And my girls? When my daughter was rushed into hospital in 8th grade the day of a final & faced a serious major operation, all the Asst. Principal at the time said was that she’d have to make up the test. Not a single syllable of compassion or concern. Just show up & pass the darned test.

    Those are the sort of examples I mean when I talk of 18th C attitudes. The “whole child” philosophy? Bah! Humbug! (Charles Dickens)

  • Change is needed

    If every body wants change, which if I read the comments correctly it seems like they do!
    Than we all need to get up and demand change! If the principals and the administrators of our schools see that parents are demanding change they will have no choice but to make some changes.

  • Advocate for inclusion

    Before our mosdos jump to make such drastic changes that are still in the hypothesis stage and not yet evidenced, we need to begin by doing more for those students that are not the gifted and talented and are at risk for failure.

    We have come to realize that not everyone can be expected to automatically go through the system and succeed. Some students need extra help and support. Our yeshivos have accepted this reality but are still in the beginning stages of doing something about it. The motto, “We tell the parent to get a tutor for their child” is only a tip of the iceberg. We are still at the stage that tutors and therapists are tolerated but not welcomed.

    The following is a couple of practical suggestions that could be implemented by administration:
    1. Understand that all the therapies are needed as the ‘multidisciplinary’ method is far more effective. Thus, allow and encourage all the therapies in school by collaberating between the teachers and therapists to enable scheduling.
    2. If a student needs help, enforce the therapy or tutoring on the students. Do not make the students feel that it is optional and between them and the therapist or tutor to go and get help.
    3. Constantly go back and forth between the struggling student and the tutor/therapist to ensure that the student is taking advantage of the help.
    4. The principal or assistant principal should be holding the student accountable for performance (at least how much the student is capable) through regular check up of test marks and private tests in the principal’s office
    5. The principal / assistant principal should take personal interest in the struggling student. If they do not have the time, someone should be hired by the school specifically for this job.

    B”H we live in a malchus Shel Chesed where the govt provides so many services for our children free of charge. Lket’s take advantage of it.

  • mendel

    mechitza, what woman are second class citizens, scary people. cmon…i think the mechitza is an insult.

  • to Mendel

    Dear Mendel,

    The mechitzah is NOT for the sake of the women.

    It’s for the sake of men, whose nature it is to be distracted by women! So it’s really the men who are a bit “second class” in nature!

    Chassidic philosophy is very clear on this.

    If you are so “insulted,” talk to Hashem (or at least to your mashpiah or favorite Chabad rabbi) about it. Then you probably won’t be so scared (“scary people”) of how Hashem made men and women different from each other.

    It’s a beautiful world, my friend.

  • to the writer of Mr. W. for PUBLIC....

    wake up America. Why suddenly now should educators “go back to learning the Horo’os of the Gemarah and the Frierdike Rebbe on Education”? Shouldn’t have educators be doing this for the past 50 years??? and unfortunately, they haven’t — I know many stories fisrt hand that prove that point. so the question is WHY HAVEN’T THE EDUCATORS BEEN FOLLOWING THE REBBE’S HORO’OS UNTIL NOW??? I am sure, that if the Mechanchim would have followed the Frierdike Rebbe’s Horo’os KIDIVAI all those years ago, my children would not be off the derech today.

    A long-term frustrated parent with the failing yeshivos.

  • To to the writer of Mr. W. from writer

    To “to the writer of Mr. W.for PUBLIC” from THE WRITER of “Mr. W. for PUBLIC….”:

    What a relief to hear that someone else besides me isn’t drinking the Harvard Kool-Aid!

    Of course, ALL ALONG our cheders and yeshivos should have been reviewing and following the hora’os of our rebbeim, and the gemara, etc., etc., etc.

    And YOU would be a great one for them to ask what the failures were for your kids, since you experienced it all personally!

    But no, they have to ask some hotsy-totsy UNIVERSITY people! Like THEY really know emes (l’havdil)!

    Anyway, keep up the good fight, so that all of the educational system stops “following [their] hearts and their eyes, by which they go astray” (Shema Prayer).

    Thanks again! (And don’t give up hope for your kids — they’re not finished products yet! Even you and I are not finished products yet!)

    Kol tuv to you,
    The original writer of “Mr. W for PUBLIC; Our Avos for YESHIVAS”

  • To all the know it alls

    Do any of you geniuses know what he said at the meeting? Why assume his educational approaches are not based in Torah and Chassidus? There is no fight to fight. So get off of your soapboxes. Mr. Waronker happens to be a Chosid, and often quotes from Klolei Hachinuch V’hadracha, and other Chassidishe sources. He has elegantly managed to weave complex educational theory with his Torah values.

  • Shmelegant educational theory

    Dear “To all the know it alls”:

    Oh what a tangled web we “elegantly manage to WEAVE. . . .”

    Elegance is not the goal; chinuch is.

    “Complex educational theory”????

    As long as you and so many others in chinuch are enamored of “complex educational theory,” you will continue to buy presentations that merely INCLUDE a SPRINKLING (“often quotes”) from Torah.

    AT BEST, this is watered-down Torah! Why settle for that, when it’s our Yiddishe neshomahlach we’re talking about here????

    As someone with MUCHO experience in the Public Education sector — current experience, ongoing, as in currently being an “educator” in the system here in NYC — “complex educational theory” is actually a parade of whatever is in vogue in the ivory towers of the hallowed halls of university departments that train teachers. It is a bunch of theoretical chazzerei (yes, also treif!), which is all about spending taxpayer money to be able to SAY the City Hall politicians “did something” about the problems in NYC Public education.

    The results are an ever worsening public education system, after trying “elegant educational theory” after “elegant educational theory” — at great expense, but to no avail!!!

    Please STOP THE MADNESS and be proud to be a YID, who has TORAH and our Rebbeim to guide us in chinuch!!!!

    “Elegant educational theory,” shmellegant educational theory!!!