Ramaz School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Ramaz School
native_name = ישיבת רמז

established = 1937
type = Private coeducational primary, middle, and secondary
city = Manhattan
state = New York
country = USA
accreditation = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New York State Association of Independent Schools
founder = Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein
principal = Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
students = approx. 1,100
grades = PreK-12
mascot = The Ramaz Ram
colors = Blue and Gold
newspaper = The RamPage
yearbook = "Ramifications"
website = [http://www.ramaz.org/ ramaz.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. [ [http://ramaz.org/public/mission_s.cfm Ramaz Mission and Legacy] ] 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.

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. [ [http://www.ramaz.org/public/mission.cfm Ramaz School Legacy] , Ramaz School. Accessed August 8, 2007.] The current principal, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, is the son of Joseph Lookstein and was a member of the first class of six students.cite book
last=Gurock
first=Jeffrey S.
title=Ramaz: School, Community, Scholarship, & Orthodoxy
publisher=Ktav
year=1989
id= ISBN 0-88125-323-5]

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 [Goldberger, Paul. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E3DC1238F937A35755C0A967948260 "A Bridge Known as Ramaz School."] , "The New York Times", June 4, 1981. Accessed July 16, 2008.]

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, and the Headmaster of the Middle School is Rabbi Jeffrey Kobrin, Ramaz '87 (formerly the assistant dean at the Upper School). 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. [ [http://ramaz.org/public/contact.cfm Ramaz Contact Information] ] 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.

The Ramaz School has proposed a 28-story project to be built in place of the Lower School during 2008-2010. The building would replace 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 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. [Beyer, Gregory. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/nyregion/thecity/11rama.html "Condos Above Classrooms Strike Some as an Odd Mix"] , "The New York Times", November 11, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2008.]

ports

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. They 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, BIC (Business Investment Club), and National Fed Challenge teams, 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 [ [http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition/2004_winners.htm Siemens Foundation 2004-2005 Winners] ] and the 2007 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing. [ [http://www.ncte.org/about/awards/student/128192.htm NCTE Achievemen Awards in Writing 2007-New York] ]

Publications

Ramaz's publications include:
*"Breakthrough" - a science and technology publication
*"El Ramillete" - the Spanish student newspaper
*"Ramaz Voice" - the school Politics and Current Events newsletter
*"Likrat Shabbat" - a weekly publication devoted to Shabbat
*"Our Israel" - a publication devoted to Israel
*"Parallax" - the school's award winning literary magazine
*"RamPage" - the school newspaper
*"78" - the school magazine
*"Tarte aux Pommes" - the French student newspaper
*"Toses" - the Hebrew student newspaper
*"Ramifications" - the school yearbook
*"The Sports Report" - a sports publication
*"RamStreet Journal" - a business publication of Ramaz.
*"Rambytes" - the school's emailed newsletter

Notable alumni

*Isaac Herzog, Israeli Tourism Minister and son of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog. [ [http://www.jewishtoronto.net/content_display.html?ArticleID=200649 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.'"]
*Natasha Lyonne, actress in the American Pie movies.Fact|date=December 2007
*Achinoam Nini, Israeli rock singer.Fact|date=December 2007
*Daphne Merkin, author and journalist. [ [http://www.yivoinstitute.org/index.php?tid=130&aid=332 Biographies for "SELF-CONCEPTIONS: WOMEN, CREATIVITY AND JEWISH IDENTITY"] , YIVO, accessed January 2, 2007.]
*Michael Mukasey, the current United States Attorney General. [Heller, Jamie. [http://blogs.wsj.com/law/ "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."]
*Joshua Prager, author and journalist. [Cohen, Irwin. [http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=20624&mode=a&sectionid=15&contentname=Baseball_Is_Dull_Only_To_Those_With_Dull_Minds&recnum=9&subid=20729 "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."]
*Adam J. Szubin, the current director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. [ [http://www.ustreas.gov/organization/bios/szubin-e.html U.S. Treasury - Biography of Adam J. Szubin - Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)] , accessed December 5, 2007] Fact|date=December 2007
*Laurence and Preston Robert Tisch, the namesakes of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.Fact|date=December 2007
*Tevi Troy, the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. [ [http://www.hhs.gov/agencies/bios/deputysecretary.html Biography of Tevi D. Troy] , accessed December 5, 2007] [ [http://osce.usmission.gov/bios/Tevi_Troy.pdf The United States Mission to the OSCE: Office of Public Affairs - Tevi Troy] , accessed December 25, 2006]
*Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of "Prozac Nation". [ [http://www.jewishjournal.org/archives/archiveJuly2_04.htm ‘Prozac Nation’ Author Speaks at Chabad Fundraiser] , "The Jewish Journal (Boston North)", July 2, 2004.]

External links

* [http://www.ramaz.org/ Ramaz]
* [http://www.ckj.org/nn_splash.html Kehilath Jeshurun]
* [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=A0107837&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=A0107837 Data for Ramaz School] , National Center for Education Statistics

References