Frequently Asked Questions

What grades does the school include, and how many students are enrolled?

Where do your graduates go on to for high school?

Where are you located?

Are you accredited?

Who started the school, and when?

How large are your classes? How many teachers work with each?

What is your curriculum like?

Do you have any after-school or extracurricular programs?

What's the community like? Are the parents friendly?

What is your annual tuition?

If your tuition is set on a sliding scale, how can you afford this enriched educational program?

Q. What grades does the school include, and how many students are enrolled?

A. The Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan is a kindergarten through eighth grade school with an enrollment of 140.

Q. Where do your graduates go on to for high school?

A. We have sent eight classes of graduates to the best high schools in New York. Alumni families routinely tell us about the ways in which Schechter Manhattan laid the critical foundation for the success their children have had in high school and beyond.

Graduates attend a mix of prestigious Jewish high schools, specialized and other elite public high schools, and highly selective independent high schools. To download a complete list of high school acceptances, click here.

Q. Where are you located?

A. Our school is located on the southeast corner of 100^th Street and Columbus Avenue at 805 Columbus Avenue.

Q. Are you accredited?

A. We are accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and are members of the New York Guild of Independent Schools. We are chartered by the Board of Regents of New York State as a non-public school, and we are members of the Schechter Day School Network, which is associated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

 Q. Who started the school, and when?

A. A group of Conservative rabbis, joined by community members concerned about Jewish education for New York City families, began planning the school in 1994. The school opened its doors in 1996 to its first class of 14 kindergartners, under the headship of Dr. Steven C. Lorch.

Q. How large are your classes? How many teachers work with each?

A. The maximum class size is 20 students.

In the elementary school (K-5), each class is taught by two bilingual teachers, who together share responsibility for the child's development as a learner across all subject areas, Jewish and general. Middle School students (6-8) have specialist teachers with expertise in the core areas of math, science, humanities and Jewish Studies.

Subjects such as art, music and physical education are taught by specialists in all grade levels.

Q. What is your curriculum like?

A. Our goal is to help students grow into active, skilled, and powerful learners. In all subjects, from math to t'filah, lessons are planned to help students grow in mastery and confidence. Extensive individualized and group work means that teachers spend less time talking at the front of the classroom, and more time listening to and observing students in their individual progress. In kindergarten, we ask students “What do you want to know?” and build their interests into thematic units of study (to learn more about theme, click here). Older students choose questions to research in individual projects that grow increasingly complex, culminating in Middle School exhibitions in each of the core areas of study.

To access the school’s curriculum guide, which describes our program in detail, subject by subject, grade by grade, click here (for Middle School curriculum, click here).

Q. Do you have any after-school or extracurricular programs?

A. For our K-5 students, the after-school program is offered twice a week. Students have a variety of options to choose from such as soccer, chess, yoga, magic, or mad science. After-school programs are offered during both the fall and spring semesters. Middle school students may join the school's soccer team in the fall or the basketball team in the winter (fifth grade students are invited to join the middle school students or participate in elementary after-school programs). Students in fourth through eighth grade are eligible to participate in the school musical. For more information, click here.

Q. What's the community like? Are the parents friendly?

A. The school seeks to admit families that identify with school’s mission and philosophy. Just as menschlichkeit is a core principle of our approach to learning, it’s also one of our main expectations for our parent body. Our very active Parents' Association is charged with helping Schechter Manhattan attain its full potential as a learning and caring community. Workshops on children's learning and development and opportunities for Jewish learning alternate in the Parents' Association calendar with fundraisers and community-building events and fundraisers. Class cocktail parties, Parents' Association picnics and other events are scheduled throughout the year to help build community amongst parents. An annual Shabbaton retreat in June is attended by more than half of the families in the school. Many Schechter parents find that other parents in the school have become their closest friends.

Q. What is your annual tuition?

A. Because we are committed to making a Schechter Manhattan education accessible to many Jewish families, without regard to their ability to pay, we set our tuition on a sliding scale. For 2012-2013, the maximum tuition is the actual cost of education ($34,900 for K, $35,950 for first, $36,500 for second-third, $36,700 for fourth-eighth; the minimum tuition is a nominal sum.

Q. If your tuition is set on a sliding scale, how can you afford this enriched educational program?

A. The school community - parents, grandparents, trustees, and many other friends of Jewish education - raises about three-quarters of a million dollars each school year to support our dual commitment to excellence and access, through an annual Benefit Dinner, an annual appeal, and other generous gifts. Since 2003, every single family in the school has made some gift in financial support, at a very wide range of levels appropriate to their means.