Ramaz Upper School Viewbook 2011

General Information

Mission Statement • Ramaz by the Numbers

general information ADMISSIONS

Admissions Booklet RAMAZ UPPER SCHOOL

Admissions

The Ramaz Curriculum

Co-Curricular Activities

CO-CURRICULAR

Financial Information

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Curriculum at a Glance • Judaic and General Studies: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors • Judaic and General Studies: Seniors

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

Timeline and Checklist • Parlor Meetings

Student Government • Special Programs • Committees • Competitions and Teams • Fine and Performing Arts • Publications • Special Interests • Sports

Financing a Ramaz Education • Tuition and Fee Schedule • Guidelines for Financial Aid • FACTS

RAMAZ ramBytes Did you know that...

• Ramaz is one of the oldest day schools in North America –

founded in 1937!

• The library contains over

25,000 volumes/

media; OPALS, the library catalog, is searchable online in Hebrew and English

• Ramaz was the first

to develop a YU/Kollel Fellowship, allowing semichah students, Stern College women and our students to learn together

Contents

Our Mission

Ramaz by the Numbers

• Three Ramaz • Our 2011

graduates are studying in 21 different yeshivot, seminaries, and programs in Israel this year.

• In the spring,

graduates have clerked for

U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

• Our science research program prepares students for

national science competitions, including the Intel Program and places students in summer internships at research institutions.

• The Ramaz Choir has

produced 6 CDs to critical acclaim

Seniors create an individualized program including minicourses, chesed opportunities, and internships.

general information

GENERAL INFORMATION

As a co-educational, Modern Orthodox Day School, Ramaz strives to educate students toward the following goals: • A commitment to menschlichkeit, reflecting fineness of character, respect for others, integrity, and the

centrality of chesed in all its manifestations • A commitment to Torah, mitzvot, Ahavat Yisrael, and love and support for the State of Israel • A commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, to intellectual rigor, to scholarship, and a life-long love of learning • Loyalty and gratitude to the United States of America and the democratic traditions and values of our country • A sense of responsibility for the Jewish people and all humankind

statement of principles Love of Torah and Commitment to American Ideals

An informed love and reverence of Torah is critical to the observance of mitzvot relating to God and humanity, commitment to the Jewish people, and responsibility for all humankind and the physical world.

We foster intellectual honesty, a spirit of objectivity, respect for diversity of views, as well as the equality and dignity of all people.

Intellectual Growth and Menschlichkeit

Intellectual growth and self-esteem are cultivated within a warm and nurturing environment that integrates the values of Torah. We encourage critical and creative thinking as we help students to excel academically. We expect Ramaz students to uphold the highest standard of menschlichkeit in their attitudes and behavior, which must reflect morality, decency, modesty, and kindness. We view chesed as a fundamental goal, promoting a sense of obligation to serve the Jewish people and all humanity as they improve our world (tikun olam).

Hebrew as a Living Language

The Hebrew language is more than a tool to access classical Jewish texts; it is central to our identity as Jews in the modern world, and our identification with the people and the State of Israel. Therefore, all Judaic Studies classes are taught in Hebrew. Our students graduate with a strong knowledge and love of the Hebrew language.

Integrated Co-Educational Curriculum

Our comprehensive Judaic and General Studies curricula are designed to encourage intellectual curiosity and accommodate a variety of learning styles. All classes, except for physical education in

the upper grades, are co-educational. We attempt to instill a lifelong passion for scholarship by teaching rigorous analytical skills, appreciation of aesthetics, and commitment to honest dialogue. We encourage open discussions on academic and moral issues, where questions are as important as answers. In keeping with “Study is important because it leads to action” (Talmud Bavli, Megillah, 26a), our students translate their learning into acts of chesed, activism, and leadership.

We believe that Judaic Studies and General Studies are complementary and mutually reinforcing. All classes are given full emphasis and are interspersed throughout the day. Aspects of both curricula are often intermingled, putting our Jewish and global heritages in perspective. Talmudic concepts enrich comprehension of the humanities, while literary insights deepen understanding of the Bible. Jewish history is learned in the context of the history of the greater world. Programs in art, music, and cocurricular activities include both spheres. We prepare students to live productive and committed Jewish lives in contemporary society and to feel a proud loyalty to both America and Israel.

Our goal is to produce educated American Jews who live lives of Kiddush haShem, sanctifying God’s name, in a manner that brings personal satisfaction and endows them with a sense of responsibility to others.

A Ramaz graduate hears the question God asked of Isaiah, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”

(Isaiah 6:8) and answers as Isaiah did, “Here I am; send me.”

general information

our Mission

Enrollment

The Upper School seeks to enroll students who are interested in deepening their commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people. We seek young people of sound character and strong educational promise who will grow from their learning experiences, who can thrive with the demands of a double curriculum, and who will be able to contribute actively to the academic and extended school community. Currently, there are 414 students in the Upper School. Approximately fifty percent of the high school student body advances from our lower and middle schools; the balance comes from other schools throughout the tri-state area.

Upper School Faculty

Ramaz employs faculty members of the highest caliber who have a commitment to educating and inspiring our students. We are fortunate to have a very stable and dynamic staff. There are seventy-nine faculty members of whom seventeen have PhDs, seventeen have rabbinical ordination, and thirty-nine have masters degrees.

Graduates

One hundred percent of our graduates attend fouryear colleges, many after a year of study in Israel.

Of the 83 seniors in the Class of 2011, eight were commended in the National Merit Competition.

Students from the Class of 2011 ranked nationally in the Intel Science Competition and the American Mathematics Competition, as well as in regional writing and national historiography contests.

Course Requirements

All high school students are required to take nine academic majors, along with several minors, through each of the four high school years. There are five general studies disciplines to complement the four in Judaic studies. Graduation requirements at Ramaz are as follows: • English 4 years • History 4 years • Mathematics 3 years • Laboratory Sciences 3 years • Foreign Language 3 years • Talmud 3 years • Tanakh 4 years • Halacha and Philosophy 3 – 4 years • Hebrew Language and Literature 3 years • Physical Education 4 years • Health Education 4 years • Art and Music 2 years of each

(plus a 3rd year in either discipline)

Honors Seminars

For both general and Judaic studies, the senior year offers an elective program that works within our graduation requirements and that allows students to create their own major concentration, as well as pursue advanced study according to interest and proven ability.

For seniors, there are honors seminars in American and European history, English literature, computer science, music theory, studio art, mathematics, science, Talmud, Bible, foreign language, and Hebrew language and literature. Students are given the option to sit for Advanced Placement examinations when appropriate. Honors courses cover curriculum designed by our faculty to adhere to the most rigorous educational standards, challenging our students to develop their academic and creative abilities.

general information

ramaz by the numbers

Year in Israel

A Ramaz education does not end with graduation, but continues with a lifelong commitment to the study of Torah and to Zionism. Graduates from the last two years have elected to spend a year in Israel in the following programs: Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi Yeshivat Hakotel Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush) Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh Yeshivat Lev HaTorah Yeshivat Ma’ale Gilboa Yeshivat Machon Lev Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Yeshivat Oraita Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim Yeshivat Torat Shraga

9 2 6 1 1 3 1 1 9 6 1

Ein Hanatziv Machon Maayan Michlelet Esther Midreshet Amit Midreshet HaRova Midreshet Lindenbaum Midreshet Moriah Tiferet

3 2 1 2 1 8 4 1

Bar Ilan University Beit Yisrael Bronfman Kivunim Ein Prat Hebrew University Machal/Army Nativ Shalem Tafnit Young Judaea Year Course

9 1 1 4 1 1 6 1 2 2 3

Co-Curricular Activities

Ramaz offers a full program of co-curricular activities including mishmar, men’s and women’s athletic teams, Chidon HaTanach, yearbook, newspaper, dramatics society, Torah Bowl, choir, chamber choir, studio art club, and a mock trial team. Last year, sixty-four students completed Masechet Sukkah as part of our Bekiut Program. There are varsity teams for both boys and girls in basketball, softball, hockey, and tennis. These teams compete in both yeshiva and local independent school leagues. We also field teams in soccer and volleyball. Last year, our boys’ basketball team and boys’ volleyball team won their division championships. Our College Bowl Team placed second in the Greater Metropolitan Region.

Parallax, the school literary magazine, won a Gold Medal this past year in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association competition; our yearbook also earned a Silver Medal in the CSPA judging. The Ramaz Chess Team repeated as champions of the Chess League and our Debate Team won first place at the Kushner Debate. We are proud of our community service and internship programs, in which our students are all actively involved.

A number of our graduates from the classes of 2010 and 2011 have chosen to attend the following colleges and universities. The schools listed have an enrollment of at least two of our graduates: Barnard Brandeis Columbia Cooper Union CUNY – Macaulay Honors CUNY – Queens Emory George Washington Harvard Indiana University Johns Hopkins McGill Muhlenberg NYU Northwestern Stanford SUNY Binghamton University of Chicago University of Maryland University of Massachussetts University of Miami University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Rochester University of Wisconsin Washington University Yeshiva University/Stern College Yeshiva University/Yeshiva College

7 5 12 2 2 2 4 6 3 3 7 2 3 23 2 2 8 2 6 2 3 6 15 4 4 6 5 3

SAT I Results

The SAT I results depicted below are for the classes of 2010 and 2011.

Test SAT I Verbal/ Critical Reading SAT I Math SAT I Writing

Mean # of Tests 671 184 682 184 684 184

SAT II Results

The SAT II results on selected examinations are from the class of 2010 and 2011.

Test Biology-E Biology-M Chemistry Math Level 1/C Math Level 2/C Literature French Hebrew Spanish US History World History

Mean # of Tests 699 13 701 55 659 18 637 21 741 24 701 18 706 5 625 6 698 4 702 27 790 3

general information

College Profile

RAMAZ ramBytes Did you know that...

• The Ramaz Percussion

Ensemble has performed at the prestigious Lower East Side Festival of the Arts at the Theater for the New City annually since 2005, often with several alumni returning as special guests.

• In the last six years,18 teams have won League Championships!

admissions Contents

Admissions Timeline and Checklist

Parlor Meetings

• During lunch, Ramaz runs a bikur cholim program at Lenox Hill Hospital.

• This past year

Parallax, our school

literary magazine, won the Gold Medal Award, from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

• Faculty members can upload lecture notes and assignments onto our website, enabling an absent student to keep up with class material.

Ramaz Faculty members have received the prestigious Grinspoon Award

• Many of our faculty are accomplished in the classroom and beyond, publishing works in Judaic studies, academia, poetry, and fiction.

Admissions PROCESS timeline and Checklist We appreciate your interest in Ramaz.

O C T

 Open House

Sunday, October 30, 2011, 9AM-Noon

 Parlor Meetings

A series of parlor meetings will be held in individual communities. These evenings will provide parents with an opportunity to learn more about Ramaz in an informal setting. Members of our administration and current Ramaz parents will be present to meet you and chat about Ramaz. A list of Parlor Meetings can be found on the following page, and on our website.

 Parent Visits

All parents are encouraged to visit Ramaz and receive an individualized tour.

N O V

This visit will provide an opportunity to speak about your child and his or her needs and to articulate your expectations for high school. The tour will enable you to visit classes while they are in session.

 Board of Jewish Education (BJE) Exam Sunday, November 20, 2011

If your child’s middle school has not taken care of these arrangements, please contact the Board of Jewish Education at 646-472-5334 to make the appropriate plans. If your child misses the exam in November, please call the BJE office to schedule a make-up exam in February.

 Interview

Once we have received the application, we will contact you to set up an

D E C

interview for your child. Each child will have two interviews. The interviews will give us an opportunity to meet your child and to enable him/her to learn more about Ramaz. In addition, applicants will be asked to write two brief essays. Students will have the opportunity to tour the school at the time of their interview.

 Application and Fee December 5, 2011

All applications should be submitted through our online application process by December 5, 2011. Please go to www.ramaz.org/admissions to apply online.

ADMISSIONS

This year, we have moved to an online application. We believe you will find this application efficient and easy to complete. Once you register on the application web page, you will be taken through the required steps for completing an application. Below, please make note of important steps in the application process and the application timeline.

Admissions PROCESS timeline and Checklist, cont’d.

J A N

 Transcript/Records Release Form

January 6, 2012.

This form, which allows a student’s middle school to release school records to Ramaz, should be downloaded from our website (www.ramaz.org/admissions), signed, and given to the child’s school. All transcripts and records should be received by Ramaz no later than January 6, 2012.

 Teacher Recommendation Forms January 6, 2012

F E B

A General Studies Recommendation Form and a Judaic Studies Recommendation Form should be downloaded from our website (www.ramaz.org/admissions), signed, and given to the child’s school. Be sure to put your child’s name at the top of the Recommendation Forms.

 Acceptance Letters Sent out

In accordance with the Board of Jewish Education, decision letters will be sent out mid-February, 2012.

 Financial Aid Materials

March 30, 2012.

Please visit our website at www.ramaz.org/financialaid to view and download the required forms. All financial aid applications must include the Ramaz Financial Aid Application and the FACTS application. Financial Aid applications are due by March 30, 2012.

M A R

 Student Half Day Visits

All eighth grade students are invited to spend a half day visiting Ramaz. During this visit, they will have an opportunity to sit in on a selection of Judaic and general studies classes, have lunch with our students, and get a feel for what a “typical” day is like. Please call the Admissions Office at 212 774-8093 to schedule this visit.

Late applications will be reviewed on a space available basis.

Questions?

Please contact the The Ramaz Upper School Admissions Office at 212-774-8093.

60 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075 Phone: 212-774-8093 Fax: 212-774-8099 Email: admissions@ramaz.org www.ramaz.org/admissions

Parlor Meetings The Ramaz Upper School, Fall 2011

N O V

D E C

J A N

Scarsdale

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 7:30 PM

The David Family

28 Elmridge Drive Scarsdale, NY 10583

Queens

Monday, November 7, 2011 7:30 PM

The Fried Family

182-38 80th Road Jamaica Estates, NY 11432

New Jersey

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 7:30 PM

The Ratzker Family

360 Mountain Road Englewood, NJ 0763

Manhattan

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 7:30 PM

The Cappell Family

100 Riverside Drive, Apt. 5A New York, NY 10024

Stamford

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 7:30 PM

Brooklyn

Monday, December 5, 2011 7:30 PM

The Haddad Family

1046 East 8th Street Brooklyn, NY 11230

Five Towns

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 7:30 PM

The Fein Family

30 Muriel Avenue Lawrence, NY 11559

The Felder Family

464 Pepperidge Road Stamford, CT 06905

ramBytes Did you know that...

• Rosh Chodesh chagigot are celebrated with donuts and live music – food for the body and food for the soul...

• There are over 4,500 graduates of The Ramaz School!

course of instruction contents

Freshman Through Junior Years Judaic Studies

Department of Talmud Department of Tanakh Department of Judaism Department of Hebrew Language and Literature

General Studies Department of English

Department of History Department of Math and Computer Science Department of Science Department of Foreign Language Department of Art Department of Music Department of Health Education Department of Physical Education

Senior Year Judaic Studies

Department of Talmud Department of Tanakh Department of Judaism Department of Hebrew Language and Literature

General Studies

Department of English Department of History Department of Math and Computer Science Department of Science Department of Foreign Language Department of Art Department of Music Department of Physical Education

judaic studies

For all courses in Judaic studies, Hebrew is the primary language of instruction and conversation. Students must submit all written work in Hebrew.

I. Department of Talmud The Talmud curriculum is devoted to instilling a love and reverence for God and His Torah, cultivating an appreciation for and commitment to learning Torah, and inspiring the informed observance of its ‫מצות‬. The curriculum strives to produce a learned graduate who is empowered with the desire and means to engage in the independent study and practice of Torah as a lifelong passion and as a source of intellectual and spiritual fulfillment.

The twin academic objectives of the department are acquisition of knowledge and textual literacy.

Throughout the years of the study of Talmud, equal emphasis is placed on exposing students to the principles and concepts of Jewish law and on training them to read from the original texts and their commentaries. While expanding both the knowledge base and textual skills of our students, the curriculum stresses critical thinking and rigorous analysis, essential components of Talmud study.

Talmud classes are organized by level of ability. These levels are identified as regular, accelerated and honors.

More advanced classes meet for more periods a week.

In the freshman and sophomore years, the regular track meets five periods a week, and the accelerated and honors tracks meet nine periods a week. In the junior year the honors track is known as ‫ בית מדרש‬and meets thirteen periods a week. This variety of options allows for individualized instruction based upon the background and motivation of each student.

In order to create a unified community of scholars, the department uses the traditional model of teaching a

single ‫ מסכת‬to the entire school each year. ‫סוגיות‬ within a particular ‫ מסכת‬are chosen for their suitability for achieving the goals of the curriculum and for their compatibility with the various tracks. The department employs differentiated instruction for these tracks by calibrating the curriculum for each level in terms of the ‫ סוגיות‬selected as well as the depth with which these ‫ סוגיות‬are taught. A four-year cycle of ‫ מסכתות‬is in the process of development. This cycle will encompass the knowledge and skill base appropriate for the school community, strike a balance among the different facets of Talmud study, and represent the department’s vision of a well-grounded high school education in Talmud.

For the academic year 5772 (2011-12) all classes will be studying ‫מסכת ברכות‬. The curriculum is primarily devoted to the relationship between man and God as expressed through the liturgical themes of the ‫שמע‬, ‫תפילה‬, ‫ברכת התורה‬, ‫ברכת המזון‬, and the recitation of blessings. The realm of interpersonal relations will also be addressed through the topic of ‫כבוד הבריות‬, human dignity, and the extent to which this value overrides ritual considerations. For each of these units, there will be an emphasis on the historical development of ‫ הלכה‬and on the practical applications and philosophical implications of these fundamental prayers and benedictions. Students in all tracks were asked to study selected chapters of ‫ משניות‬during their summer vacation in order to become acquainted with the themes of the ‫ מסכת‬prior to the start of the new school year.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

First Through Third Year Students

II. Department of Tanakh Freshman Year, Part A – Torah

as reflected in her book ‫ עיונים חדשים בספר שמות‬and stresses the commentators Ramban and Rashi.

The ninth grade Torah curriculum focuses on the themes of sibling rivalry and interpersonal relationships between parents and their children. Equal emphasis is placed on the role of Divine Providence in an individual’s life and in history, and on the literary structures of the biblical narrative. Students are encouraged to identify with the characters in ‫בראשית‬ and to use them as positive role models. The course strives to teach the methods as well as the different commentaries for independent study of Torah, along with sensitivity to the biblical text and its interpretations.

Sophomore Year, Part B – Prophets

Freshman Year, Part B – Prophets

Junior Year, Part A – Torah

Sophomore Year, Part A – Torah

Junior Year, Part B – Prophets

This course begins where most middle school curricula leave off, namely, at the beginning of ‫ ספר מלכים‬with the building and dedication of the ‫בית המקדש‬.

This particular event is examined from the broader perspective of the goals of national life and the respective roles of political and religious leadership in the realization of those goals. The division of the kingdom is examined, as are the changing fortunes of Yehuda and Yisrael. The core of the course is spent on the stories of Eliyahu and Elisha, examining the details and interrelationship of the stories in the context of the larger themes of ‫ספר מלכים‬. At the same time attention is paid to the way in which these stories reflect the goals and limitations of prophecy as a prelude to the ensuing study of ‫נביאים אחרונים‬.

The focus of the tenth grade Torah curriculum is the study of ‫ספר שמות‬. Building upon the textual and analytical objectives of the ninth grade curriculum, the course delves into the stages of the Israelite experience: slavery, redemption, and the birth of a nation; the development and character of Moshe as leader and redeemer of the Israelites; the Ten Plagues and the miracles of emancipation; and the trials in the desert and the people’s struggle with their “newly acquired” freedom. Students are encouraged to seek parallels between the behavior of the Jewish people in the desert and its behavior today. The course relies heavily upon the approach of Nechama Leibowitz

The curriculum this year builds on the foundation of the previous year. Portions of the book of ‫ ’מלכים ב‬are covered with an emphasis on examining large parts of Jewish political history while focusing on pivotal moments and characters. The second half of the course particularly focuses on the period of the kings under whose reign Yishayahu lived as a prophet, and roughly half of that time is spent exploring some of the major themes of that book. The study of ‫ נביאים ראשונים‬thus serves as a necessary and more organic complement to the study of ‫נביאים אחרונים‬.

The theme of this course is the saying from ‫פרקי אבות‬: “Jealousy, lust and glory remove a person from the world.” Each one of these human traits is studied in depth through the following selections from the text: the ‫מתאוננים‬, the ‫מתאוים‬, the ‫ לשון הרע‬of Miriam and Aaron, the ‫ לשון הרע‬of the spies, the rebellion of ‫בלעם‬, ‫מי מריבה‬, ‫ קורח‬and the sin of ‫בעל פעור‬. Students are directed to compare biblical texts (specifically the parallels in ‫שמות‬, ‫ במדבר‬and ‫ )דברים‬in order to understand the reasons for repetition in the Bible.

The course relies heavily on the work of Nechama Leibowitz on ‫במדבר‬, and stresses the study of Midrash and its moral imperatives. Some independent work is required using different commentaries, analyzing as well as comparing methodologies.

Building upon the objectives of the previous two years’ curricula, this course focuses on selections from the book of ‫ירמיהו‬, with particular attention to chapters in the ‫הפטרות‬. While always examining language and style, students learn about the prophet and the historical background of his period, as well as about his role as the prophet of doom. Verses of his personal sufferings and travails as well as his cries of anguish are studied in depth. The theme of truth versus falsehood is developed as seen through the false prophets of this period, the “false” sacrifices of the Jews in the Temple and the “false” behavior between man and man. The relatively obscure suffering and trial

of ‫ ירמיהו‬are contrasted with the trials of Jesus and Socrates, using passages from the Christian scripture and from Plato’s Apology. Comparative study of ‫ תרי עשר‬and ‫ ישעיהו‬and ‫ ירמיהו‬is emphasized.

Readings in ’‫ מלכים ב‬are again required in order to understand the lives and times of the kings during whose reigns ‫ ירמיהו‬prophesied.

Students are encouraged to perfect their skills in reading text and commentaries while broadening their knowledge of ‫תנ”ך‬, and learning to quote famous passages. Papers that stress independent learning skills are assigned.

process. The content of the course revolves around the positive or ‫ זכירה‬aspects of Shabbat observance.

These include such topics as ‫כבוד‬, ‫עונג‬, ‫קידוש‬, ‫הבדלה‬, ‫הדלקת נרות‬, ‫ זמירות‬and the like. On the one hand, we seek to get students to better appreciate or enhance their own Shabbat observances by discussing the ways in which these laws and customs are designed to add meaning to the day. At the same time, we seek to provide students with a greater understanding of the source and development of these laws and customs through careful study and analysis of texts that are presented in a most unusual and innovative way.

III. Department of Judaism The Judaism curriculum attempts to help the student come to terms with his/her Jewish identity.

A combination of traditional and contemporary texts serves as the focal point for class discussions that foster an understanding of, appreciation for, and increased commitment to the role of ‫ הלכה‬and Jewish thought in the life of the Modern Orthodox Jew. With the approach of the ‫ימים טובים‬, the regular curriculum is set aside so that time may be spent reviewing the relevant ‫ הלכות‬as well as exploring the religious and philosophical significance of each holy day.

Freshman Year

The ninth grade curriculum focuses on the ‫ סידור‬and the meaning of ‫תפילה‬. As students develop cognitively and emotionally, their understanding of prayer also changes. The purpose of this course, then, is to help guide that change so that students can come to their own new and more sophisticated intellectual and emotional understanding of the meaning of davening.

Through intensive study of the text of the ‫ סידור‬as well as through discussions about the historical, philosophical and theological issues that permeate it, students will acquire a growing appreciation for this critical part of everyday Jewish life.

Sophomore Year

The tenth grade curriculum seeks to further enhance students’ appreciation of ‫ הלכה‬and the halakhic

This third course in the Judaism sequence deals with issues where Judaism and modernity seem to clash or diverge. A conscious effort is made to present topics that will become crucial to the student’s eventual adjustment to life as a Jew in open society, first in the context of college, and later as an adult participant in communal life. Topics for discussion include dealing with other faiths and others of different faiths, the distinctions among the three strains of Judaism, intermarriage and defining who is a Jew, science and the challenges to faith, why the righteous suffer, theodicy, and the concept of American Jews versus Jewish Americans.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

Junior Year

IV. Department of Hebrew Language and Literature The Hebrew language and literature curriculum increases in complexity from year to year while maintaining common themes and methodologies.

For instance, current events, usually taken from Israeli newspapers or news websites, stimulate lively discussion. To enhance our interaction with the news we have implemented E-Tone, a new internet-Ulpan program that enables students to acquire and build necessary skills to improve their comprehension and speaking abilities. Students also develop the skills to access authentic Hebrew texts, in the form of audio and video materials from Israeli media and culture.

By their sophomore year, students are expected to expand their vocabulary so they become familiar with the language and motivated to read news more often on their own.

In each grade we dedicate one quarter of the year to learning grammar as a main unit. During this period we focus on certain categories of verbs and syntax, following our Hebrew grammar Curriculum.

Grammatical concepts and creative-writing skills are also examined and studied as an integral part of our literary curriculum.

In creative writing we emphasize mastery of grammatical concepts in the service of creative expression. We work on how to write a paragraph, as well as how to develop it into a complete written work.

In advanced stages, we also work with the students on how to implement literary methods in their writing (such as metaphors and rhymes). All students are encouraged to write in journalistic style for the school newspaper ‫תוסס‬, as well as to choose their individual writing style (poem, essay, interview, short story, play, letter, etc.) for the Ramaz yearbook.

Finally, our Hebrew Language curriculum includes a program of Conversational Hebrew Ulpan, for students in Level Five. The students are engaged in conversations daily, and the activities are done in pairs, in groups, or in the class as a whole. Students have the opportunity not only to answer, but also to ask questions about topics relating to their lives, their

community and Israel. It is a text-based program. The book ‫ עברית מבראשית‬Volumes I and II includes short and long texts, conversations and poems as well as drills to practice and review each unit. There is also a variety of pictures and maps of Israel, which lead to interesting discussions tied in with the students’ own experiences. It is a very lively and effective program geared towards students who learn better through the colorful dynamics of the language. The Ulpan method has been used successfully for many years in Israel, and it enables our students to accomplish their Hebrew skills in a more productive and fulfilling way.

Freshman Year

During the period of the High Holidays, we study and discuss excerpts from the prayer ‫זכרונות‬. Students are engaged in philosophical discussions and writing, making the connection between the texts and their own feelings and thoughts about ‫ ראש השנה‬and ‫יום כיפור‬.

After the holidays we focus on the topic of “Identity” (self-identity as well as collective identity). We examine various literary pieces dealing with this theme. Two of the texts we read are ‫ )אהרון מגד( יד ושם‬and ‫)סביון ליברכט( חיותה של האירוסין חגיגת‬.

Both Aharon Meged and Savion Librecht are prominent authors in Modern Hebrew Literature. The stories we read are abridged, but the language is still quite literary and challenging. Through reading and discussing these stories, students confront important issues such as cultural and traditional gaps between generations, as well as the conflict between the “Old World” and the new life in Israel. To enhance and develop this topic even more, we also read the poem ‫ )זלדה( לכל איש יש שם‬and the article ‫)הרב סולובציי’ק( על היחיד‬.

In addition, we read and discuss poetry by our national Israeli poet Chaim Nachman Bialik, paying close attention to his biography, as well as to his place in our history. We also study articles and literary pieces related to ‫ יום השואה‬and ‫יום הזכרון‬.

Sophomore Year

Our first unit deals with the ‫ימים נוראים‬. We read and discuss excerpts from the prayer ‫היוצר ביד כחומר‬.

Students are engaged in philosophical discussions and writing, making the connection between the texts and their own feelings and thoughts about ‫ראש השנה‬ and ‫יום כיפור‬.

In our next unit we focus on the theme of Aliya and Absorption in Israel. We read and discuss excerpts from the novel ‫)אלי עמיר( תרנגול כפרות‬. The book is an abridged edition, but it still maintains a high literary level and challenging language. It examines the life of a youth who immigrates to Israel in the 1950s and it deals with themes such as the cultural and generational gap, difficulties of absorption in Israel at that time, being an outsider in a newly formed society, conflicts between European and Middle Eastern Jews in Israel, and more. In addition to Amir’s novel, we may read some related paragraphs from other relevant texts such as ‫ציון( ילדי הצל‬-‫)תומר בן‬, as well as recent articles discussing the issue of Aliya today. Watching Israeli films enriches our discussions of these topics.

Junior Year

We start the year with the High Holidays unit. Students read and discuss excerpts from the prayer ‫ונתנה תוקף‬.

They are engaged in philosophical discussions and writing, making the connection between the texts and their own feelings and thoughts about ‫ ראש השנה‬and ‫יום כיפור‬.

Remaining relevant to the spirit of the High Holidays, we continue with the theme of ‫שירי עקידה‬. We study poems by a variety of prominent past and current Israeli poets, namely Natan Yonatan, Tuvia Rivner, Amir Gilboa, Chaim Gury and Naomi Shemer, among others. We compare these poems with their biblical source, but we also explore how the above poets use ‫ עקידת יצחק‬as a metaphor for the unconditional commitment of the Jewish people to the Zionist ideal.

Our following unit deals with various historical and literary topics. Through reading excerpts from the books ‫ אביה של הקיץ‬and ‫ תפוס הדומים עץ‬written by Gila Almagor, as well as watching the movies based on these books (in which Gila Almagor acts the role of her own mother), we discuss the themes of Aliya and absorption in Israel after the Holocaust, the cultural gap between Holocaust survivors and Sabras (Israeli-born), and the effect of these differences on

Israeli society in the early 1950s. Students examine the differences between the language of the book and the language of the movies, paying special attention to the form of autobiography.

As we approach ‫ יום השואה‬and ‫הזכרון יום‬, we examine the theme of “The Prayer in Modern Poetry.” This unit includes poems by prominent Israeli poets such as Leah Goldberg, Dan Pagis, Amir Gilboa, Natan Alterman, Zelda, Aba Kovner, Shalom, Naomi Shemer, and Uri Tzvi Grinberg, many of whom relate their poems to the Holocaust and to the wars in Israel. Although we examine connotation and reference to prayers and to biblical sources, we approach these texts as literature.

We discuss literary devices and their significance to the meaning of these poems. Students are encouraged to make their own interpretation, as well as to understand the vocabulary and content of the material.

general studies First Through Third Year Students I. Department of English Freshman Year

This course focuses on the composition process. In small classes, students work through the pre-writing, writing, and post-writing phases of composition.

Pre-writing includes observing, making plans, examining models, limiting topics, and developing thesis statements. All phases from pre-writing to final product emphasize the concept of “drafting.”

Ideas are recorded and organized at least twice while students revise, proofread, and prepare a final draft for evaluation or “publication.” Small group work enhances the effectiveness of this program by allowing time for many teacher-student conferences, by enabling students to solve their own problems, and by giving students an opportunity to learn from their peers in a cooperative setting. Types of writing include description, narration, process, comparison/ contrast, persuasion, literary analysis, and definition.

In addition to composing academic essays, students write informal response papers. This opportunity to write without formal evaluation encourages personal expression.

An intensive review of all parts of speech (Heath Grammar and Composition, Chapters 1-6) is conducted in the first semester. After a uniform, gradewide grammar test is administered, the course moves on to more advanced work in subject/verb agreement, pronoun case, consistency of tense, and mechanics, including a complete unit on quotations and textual citation.

Freshman English covers several novels, poetry, short stories, a classical tragedy, a selection of model essays, and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to the regular curriculum, students will read and write about two supplementary books.

Haddon (summer) Persepolis, Satrapi (summer) Blink, Gladwell The Odyssey, Homer (Mandelbaum translation) Interpreter of Maladies, Lahiri Goodbye, Columbus, Roth A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare Antigone, Sophocles Points of View, Ed. Moffet, James Sound and Sense, Ed. Perrine, Arp The Short Prose Reader, Eds. Muller, Gilbert H and Wiener, Harvey S, McGraw Hill Heath Grammar and Composition: Third Course,

Bergman and Senn Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book C, Fifer,

Flowers The Elements of Style, Strunk and White

Sophomore Year

The tenth grade curriculum is divided into two connected units. Semester One offers a survey of seminal works of British literature, including Beowulf, Hamlet, the poetry of the Elizabethan, Romantic and Victorian Periods, Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Joyce’s Dubliners. Semester Two picks up on major thematic elements from the first semester, but expands the base of literary sources. The books selected are all works that can be paired critically with works from the first part of the year. The books are linked together by the plot shape first seen in Beowulf: Overcoming the Monster. Students will trace this plot through various genres, and using it to investigate the forms storytelling takes through time.

All students use Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book C, a vocabulary workbook that emphasizes using roots, suffixes, and prefixes to find word meaning.

Writing is emphasized in the tenth grade English class.

Students maintain a portfolio of their work, enabling both teachers and students to track the development of writing skills. Informal pieces, produced both at home and in class, are later developed into polished essays. A substantial amount of class time is devoted to discussing the writing process. Grammar and usage are taught formally, and vocabulary is taught according to an approach that makes use of common Greek and Latin roots.

Texts: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time,

Texts: Beowulf, Heaney translation (summer)

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde (summer) Farewell, My Lovely, Chandler Canterbury Tales, Chaucer Dubliners, Joyce A Member of the Wedding, McCullers Hamlet, Shakespeare Oedipus Rex, Sophocles Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut Winter’s Bone, Woodrell Adventures in English Literature, Harcourt Brace Heath Grammar and Composition: Fifth Course Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book D, Fifer, Flowers The Elements of Style, Strunk and White

Daisy Miller, James Into the Wild, Krakauer Death of a Salesman, Miller American Pastoral, Roth The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Spark Heath Grammar and Composition: The Complete Course Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book E, Fifer, Flowers The Elements of Style, Strunk and White

Junior Year

This course provides a chronological study of American literature in conjunction with the junioryear study of American history. While the historical sweep of the American literary heritage is outlined, there is considerable emphasis on in-depth analysis of literature. Students study American essays, short stories, poems, novels, and plays. In addition they read supplementary books that broaden their exposure to American literature in general and complement the major works taught in the course. Clear and effective writing, as well as the development of an individual voice, is emphasized through biweekly portfolio writing assignments and the drafting of full-length essays.

Vocabulary building is integrated into the curriculum, and grammar is studied on a diagnostic basis.

In the second semester, the class will address the theme of “The Outsider,” and will look beyond the confines of American Literature. Students will explore the ways in which the figure of the outsider has been utilized by writers in various forms, including non-fiction, poetry, essays, and novels. The unities and distinctions among the works will furnish an opportunity for a deep consideration of this essential theme.

Texts: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston (summer) The Things They Carried, O’Brien (summer) The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald Neuromancer, Gibson

II. Department of History All history courses have a current-events component and emphasize the skills necessary to read a newspaper.

Freshman and Sophomore Years World/Jewish History This course of study is taught for four semesters, beginning with incoming freshman students. The World/Jewish History course makes students aware of the emergence and development of modern civilization from its ancient roots through the twentieth century.

At the heart of the school’s educational mission, World/Jewish History provides our students with an integrated curriculum geared toward understanding the unique relationship between the Jews and the modern world, with a focus on Modern Orthodoxy.

The course emphasizes the impact of the Western world on the Jewish people, as well as the Jewish role in Western civilization. Non-Western civilizations are also studied, particularly the Muslim world and the Near East. The last half semester of the sequence is devoted to the struggle to achieve Jewish statehood, the emergence of ‫מדינת ישראל‬, and the evolution

of Israel since Independence. Through classroom discussions, lectures, analysis of primary sources, and the assignment of research papers, the course imparts an appreciation of political, economic, social, and intellectual history. Primary sources are selected from various books, and are presented in Hebrew whenever possible. Pioneered at Ramaz, this curriculum has been adopted by the Board of Jewish Education for use in other Jewish day schools.

Texts: A History of Western Society, Volume C, McKay, Hill, Buckler, Houghton Mifflin The Jewish World in the Middle Ages, Bloomberg, Ktav Western Civilization: Sources, Images, &

Interpretations, Sherman, McGraw Hill World History: Patterns of Interaction, Beck, et al., McDougal Little

Junior Year American History The American history course concentrates on the political history of the United States from the colonial period to the present. This focus is designed to uncover the origins of American democratic institutions and ideas, while stressing that these have been challenged by a rapidly evolving domestic economy and social structures, and an increasingly complex global order. The history of the emergence and growth of the American Jewish community will receive special attention throughout the year. These themes are taught through the use of documentary sources, textbook readings, inquiry based on discussions, lectures, films, and individual research assignments.

Texts: America, Past and Present, Divine, Green, et al., Longman

III. Department of Math and Computer Science A. Mathematics The mathematics program is designed to meet the needs of each student. This goal is accomplished through offering a wide variety of courses on each grade level, by keeping classes small enough to allow for individual attention, and by making available opportunities for remediation and enrichment.

Standards are more rigorous than those required by the New York State Regents curriculum. Every student is required to take math for a minimum of three years so that he/she is prepared to do advanced work in mathematics and to succeed on nationwide achievement tests and competitions. Calculators, computers and other elements of educational technology are integrated with traditional topics in all courses.

Beginning in freshman year, at least three levels of courses are offered for each grade: an honors course, an accelerated course, and a grade-level course.

The Honors Program Students selected for this program have exhibited exceptional talent in mathematics, have achieved high scores on standardized exams and have been recommended by their teachers. The courses that they take present the traditional courses in an enriched, rigorous and sophisticated way. Their course of study includes Geometry in ninth grade, Algebra II and Trigonometry in tenth grade and Precalculus in grade eleven. These students are eligible for Honors Calculus, either I or II, during their senior year.

The Accelerated Program There are two different accelerated tracks that are offered beginning in the ninth grade: The first is for students who are one year ahead of the traditional program, but do not qualify for the honors program. These students have completed a year of Algebra I and have shown proficiency in their algebra skills, as well as an understanding of the major concepts presented in an Algebra I course. This

accelerated track offers a course of study that includes Geometry in grade nine, Algebra II and Trigonometry in tenth grade and Precalculus in grade eleven. Students in this program are eligible to take Calculus or Honors Calculus I in their senior year.

The second program is for students who have shown some proficiency in Algebra I, but have not demonstrated enough proficiency to allow them to skip Algebra I completely. These students will study Geometry in ninth grade followed by Algebra I/II in tenth grade. This course consists of an indepth review of Algebra I skills and concepts. These concepts are extended to the topics presented in Algebra II (Intermediate Algebra). In the eleventh grade Trigonometry and Precalculus are studied.

These students are eligible to take Calculus or Honors Calculus I in their senior year.

extends the student’s knowledge to complex numbers and to logarithmic, exponential and trigonometric functions. Graphs of these functions and modeling are introduced. Calculators are used extensively to allow students to focus on concepts rather than computation.

Precalculus This course develops a thorough understanding of functions, their properties and their graphs. Particular attention is paid to natural number, polynomial, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions.

Graphing calculators are used extensively in the explorations of these functions and their applications.

Probability, sequences and series, matrices, statistics and mathematical modeling are other topics dealt with during the year.

Grade-Level Program Students in this program take Elementary Algebra in ninth grade, Geometry in tenth grade and Algebra II and Trigonometry in eleventh grade. Students in this program may take either Selected Topics in Algebra, or Precalculus in their senior year.

Algebra I The traditional course in Elementary Algebra encompasses a study of the real number system, solutions of linear and quadratic equations in one variable and associated verbal problems, solutions of systems of equations in two variables, linear functions, and operations with algebraic expressions. Emphasis is placed on problem solving.

Geometry A unit in symbolic logic introduces the students to the structure of a deductive proof. The course then proceeds with the traditional course in geometry that teaches the nature of a postulational system, how to write a formal proof, and how to solve numerical problems based on applications of theorems.

Trigonometry of the right triangle is introduced.

Algebra II and Trigonometry The traditional course in Intermediate Algebra and Trigonometry begins with a review of Algebra I and

IV. Department of Science The science program is designed to provide each student with the full scope of the basic three science disciplines: biology, chemistry, and physics. The program is committed to meeting the learning needs of the individual student. These goals are accomplished through offering a variety of course tracks on each

grade level and by making different program options available. Beginning in the ninth grade, different levels of courses are offered in each of the three science disciplines: an honors level, an accelerated level, a grade-level course, as well as a basic-level course.

The Honors Program Students selected for this program have exhibited outstanding talent in science, have achieved high scores on standardized tests and have been recommended by their teachers. The courses that they will take are inquiry-based and present the material in an enriched, rigorous and sophisticated way, with great emphasis on laboratory work and data analysis.

The Accelerated Program Students who are strong in science, but do not qualify for or choose to enroll in the honors program are offered a rigorous and enriched course of study that presents the material in a challenging way through classroom instruction and extensive laboratory work.

The Grade-Level Program Students in this program are offered a stimulating course of study that presents the material through hands-on laboratory work and classroom instruction.

The Basic Program Students in this program take a softer version of each of the three science courses. The pace of instruction in these courses allows ample time for reviewing and drilling. Emphasis is placed on basic concepts through classroom instruction and laboratory work.

reproduction in plants and animals; human anatomy and physiology; and ecology.

Sophomore Year Chemistry The objective of this course is to provide the students with an understanding of the nature of matter and the concepts that govern its behavior. The main topics of this course include: matter and energy; endothermic and exothermic reactions; simple atomic theory; bonding; modern atomic theory and the periodic table; the gas laws and kinetic molecular theory; the mole method; solutions, acids and bases; kinetics and equilibrium; redox and electrochemistry; organic chemistry; nuclear chemistry; and industrial chemistry.

Junior Year Physics The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of natural phenomena and to increase their awareness of their surroundings.

Students develop analytical skills for problem solving through the application of mathematical concepts to assigned problems. Main topics include vectors; mechanics; dynamic and static wave motion; light and sound; electricity and magnetism; thermodynamics; and atomic energy and quantum theory.

Freshman Year Biology The course develops logically, first establishing basic concepts and then proceeding through the study of life processes from the simplest to the most complex levels. The following topics are included: the scientific method; the chemical aspects of living systems; cell structure and function; cell division; classical and modern genetics; evolution and classification; structure and physiology of Monera, Protista and Fungi; structure and function of tissues, organs and systems in plants and animals; hormonal regulation and

V. Department of Foreign Languages The Upper School offers students the choice between French and Spanish. The Foreign Language department strives to instill a love of language and culture. To this end, the courses take a conversational

approach, supporting an interactive classroom.

Classes are taught exclusively in the target language.

The department incorporates the most current media in order to motivate students. The department also provides language clinics after school for those students who need to reinforce what they have been taught in the classroom.

These topics are used in activities such as dictation, conversation, dialogues and original compositions.

Reading selections and films further reinforce the language experience. Grammar includes the passé composé with avoir and être, the future tense, reflexive verbs, negatives, personal pronouns, “y” and “en,” the imperfect tense, relative and interrogative pronouns, adverbs, prepositions and numerous idioms.

Sophomore Year

A. French Freshman Year First-Year French The aim of this course is to develop enthusiasm for learning a new language and to cultivate an appreciation of its culture. Students study the present tense of regular and frequently used irregular verbs.

Lessons cover the introduction of personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, the numbers and the calendar.

The aim of the course is to enable students to express themselves both in written and oral form. Students acquire vocabulary, structures, and necessary idiomatic expressions to describe the weather, the human body, the family, occupations, food, clothing, colors, leisure activities and cultural pursuits. The passé composé and future are introduced at the end of the year. Different educational media are used to reinforce the learning process.

Second-Year French This course is a continuation of the first year of French and assumes prior completion of a full year of French.

Listening, speaking, reading and communication skills are incorporated in a graded curriculum, using a variety of educational materials. The topics presented include shopping, food, the home and the restaurant, travel, directions, leisure activities and cultural pursuits.

Second-Year French This course is a continuation of the freshman First Year French curriculum. The goal is the further development of skills, including writing and dialogues based on everyday situations. The aim is to incorporate a broad base of vocabulary into speaking and writing skills. Grammatical and linguistic structures include a variety of irregular verbs, the past tense, the present subjunctive, use of direct and indirect object pronouns and reflexive verbs and adverbs. Writing assignments reflect the grammar structures. Compositions begin to reflect personal attitudes, tastes and goals. Students listen to standardized passages of various lengths and difficulty and answer questions to build up both oral comprehension and writing skills. Prose and poetry selections are introduced as well.

Third-Year French This course is for tenth graders who are in their third year of French studies. In the first part of the year, concentration is on mastery of grammatical usage, including all simple and compound terms of regular verbs, subjunctive and passé simple, verbal structures such as infinitives and participles with prepositions and relative, demonstrative, interrogative pronouns, etc. The grammar is studied in the context of poems, short stories and songs. Emphasis is placed on comprehension at near-native pace, as well as on verbal communication skills. Students initiate discussions and present oral reports. Vocabulary and structures range from concrete to abstract use of the language. Reading selections include poetry, short stories from literary texts, and magazine articles.

Compositions based on current events, personal experiences and reactions to the literature are written on a regular basis to form an individual student portfolio.

Junior Year

B. Spanish

Third-Year French The goal of this course is to enable students to communicate about themselves and their environment and, in addition, to understand and elicit information of a similar nature about the French and their society.

Written assignments become more complex, stylistically as well as intellectually. French culture, history and current events are integral parts of the curriculum studied through texts, magazines and the internet.

Freshman Year

Fourth-Year French This course emphasizes reading comprehension and the perfecting of oral skills, while de-emphasizing formal grammar lessons. Grammar is taught as it arises from the readings and as it is illustrated in texts. Students present individual reports on French civilization and its artistic, literary and musical contributions. Texts that illustrate contributions of particular figures are discussed in these reports.

Presentations with slides, tapes and records are encouraged. Discussions are held on subjects that arise from the readings. The students’ compositions are either résumés of the stories or, once again, discussions of issues raised in the reading. The oral exercises begun in the second year are expanded in length and complexity to perfect skills. An effort is made to expose students to various literary genres. Works or excerpts from Molière, Camus, de Maupassant and Mérimée are studied. Students are introduced to methods of literary criticism and explication of texts, which they can apply to their own efforts at literary criticism, both oral and written.

First-Year Spanish The first year of the Spanish-language curriculum seeks to develop excitement for learning a new language and an appreciation of the culture of that language. Students are taught the fundamentals of the spoken language. Reading and writing skills are also stressed. Grammatical concepts include present tense, introduction of the past tenses, commands and introduction to the subjunctive. Lessons cover the use of personal pronouns, adjectives and idiomatic expressions. Vocabulary deals with everyday situations.

Second-Year Spanish This intermediate course is designed for students who have previously studied the equivalent of a full year of Spanish. It seeks to develop proficiency in all of the language skills and to cultivate further knowledge of Spanish-speaking cultures. There is a concise grammar review followed by a discussion of various points of Spanish grammar, including the compound tenses and the subjunctive. Conversation is stressed, as are reading and composition skills.

Prose and poetry selections are studied as well. The course divides into two levels, one geared to the more advanced student.

Sophomore Year Second-Year Spanish This course is a continuation of the freshman FirstYear Spanish curriculum. Students are expected to master more complex concepts of the spoken and written language and to increase their appreciation of Spanish-speaking cultures. The majority of grammatical forms, including the subjunctive mood, are studied. There are formal exercises of listening to passages of various lengths and answering questions orally and in writing. Prose and poetry selections are introduced. There are three levels of this course.

One is geared toward those who have displayed a facility in the target language and involves a more comprehensive study of the language.

Third-Year Spanish This advanced-level course is for students who have successfully completed freshman Second-Year Spanish. Students complete the study of Spanish grammar. Communicative proficiency is stressed.

More complicated literary texts are introduced, as are current events topics. The course divides into two levels, one geared to the more advanced student.

Junior Year Third-Year Spanish Having completed Spanish grammar in their sophomore year, students are expected to master more advanced concepts of the spoken language.

Third-Year Spanish is an introduction to the study of Spanish and Latin American culture, history and current events using all available sources from texts, magazines and the internet.

There are three levels of Third-Year Spanish. One is a more rigorous course designed for students who have already achieved a level of fluency. Literary selections, as well as contemporary selections, enhance discussions and appreciation of the Hispanic heritage.

Fourth-Year Spanish This is an intensive course for students who have successfully completed Third-Year Spanish. Oral proficiency is stressed. Presentations with slides, tapes and different media are encouraged. Discussions and compositions arise from readings. Oral exercises are expanded in length and complexity to perfect skills.

Students are introduced to various literary genres.

There are two levels of this course. One is geared to the more advanced student.

VI. Department of Art The Art curriculum is based on the philosophy that each individual has creative potential. Art can be learned through an intellectual, as well as a handson approach. The instructional method is sequential and conceptual: it builds from project to project and from year to year. Individual attention is given to each student so that the student might reach his or her full creative potential.

Freshman Year The ninth grade course encourages students to develop the skills necessary to coordinate their eye and hand movement by involving them in contour drawing. In addition, students are introduced to the concept of negative space; they manipulate “pure form� and create collages that give life to this concept while making use of the skills learned. The course refines the students’ understanding of the science of color as well.

Sophomore Year The tenth grade course emphasizes the basic principles of design. The students complete a design project using geometric form that requires them to apply these principles. Among the concepts employed are structure and balance. While learning the principles of design, the students are also taught how these principles manifest themselves in the works of artists, past and present. The project has two components: the initial plan and the application of color. With the introduction of color through the use of paint, students confront the challenge of bringing out the full potential of their original designs.

Junior Year (Elective) The junior year elective course helps students refine their drawing skills while at the same time reinforcing their understanding of form, both concrete and abstract. The students create a complex stilllife drawing in which shading is introduced. Their understanding of concrete form is reinforced through a negative-space collage done directly from the still

life. Students contemplate the question of color and struggle with the true nature of the creative process.

At the end of the year, they complete a landscape painting done from a photograph. Students are assigned a museum report per semester. This course brings together in a more sophisticated manner all the concepts taught in the ninth and tenth grades.

VII. Department of Music

The aim of the ninth and tenth grade music curricula is to develop in each student the ability to understand and value music as a mode of human expression. As they listen to music, students will begin to understand the aesthetic marriage of creative process and formal design. Deep listening is fundamental to all forms of musical expression. It is a critical part of performance and improvisation, composition and arranging, and general participation in or response to music. Through a panoramic selection of Western European and American Concert Music, students develop the ability to listen creatively and critically, with an expanded sense of depth, commitment and value. They are taught to use and read basic musical terms, symbols and notation.

Students in both grades are given CD compilations of pieces from the Western Concert Music tradition of several centuries.

The ninth grade curriculum provides a solid foundation in the concepts of form, style, timbre, texture, tempo, tone-color, dynamics, pitch-range, rhythm and melody.

In Music Listening Journals, students write creatively and critically about the music they hear. In the first year, students participate in rhythmic improvisation sessions during “Percussion Week,” held once a semester. They learn about other musical cultures outside of the Western continuum during biweekly “World Music Days.” Students also learn to identify audibly instruments and instrumental categories in orchestras and chamber groups, and to recognize and discern song forms found in popular music.

Sophomore Year

In the tenth grade year, the aesthetics and history of the Classical Era are studied with an emphasis on the music of the three classical innovators: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Form, content, and types of classical pieces are discussed, focusing on the symphony, the sonata, the chamber sonata and the concerto. Students are required to attend a live concert of classical music independently and to submit a final project based on their listening and viewing experience.

Junior Year (Elective) Students who choose this course enhance their understanding of music history, theory and composition within the historical perspective of Western Art Music. Their ability to analyze music is further developed, from Medieval and Renaissance music in semester one to Baroque and Romantic music in semester two. Students are presented with projects that involve their composition skills as their ears are trained to detect the subtleties of composition, arrangement, and performance.

Students will learn to compose an original fugue.

As part of this assignment, they are also required to perform one fugue written either by them or by one of their classmates at Fugue Night, held in the spring.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

Freshman Year

VIII. Department of Health Education

The objective of the health education program is to provide information and skills that enable students to make responsible decisions concerning their wellbeing.

The program is designed to offer up-to-date facts regarding health issues appropriate to adolescents, incorporated with a commitment to Jewish values.

Examinations and creative projects are used to evaluate the students’ comprehension and internalization of those issues.

Age – and grade-appropriate topics include drug, alcohol, and tobacco education and gender issues and human sexuality. Mental health and emotional stability are emphasized as keys to the development of a positive sense of self. All freshman students are given a course of instruction in Adult CPR and receive full certification.

IX. Department of Physical Education The mission of the physical education program is to enable students to develop the personal habits and routines that will promote physical health and wellbeing throughout their adult lives. Each year begins with an assessment of each student’s athletic skills and fitness milestones. The curriculum is designed to develop athletic skill in various sports, to encourage sportsmanship and, simultaneously, to facilitate individual performance. At the same time, the program enables each student to set individual goals in terms of personal fitness and to develop a program to help each student to realize these goals. Physical education is a requirement throughout the four years of high school.

judaic studies seniors I. Department of TALMUD

II. Department of TANAKH

Honors Beit Midrash

Honors Tanakh—Clarity in the “Myst”

Accelerated Beit Midrash

This course is designed for students who have been enrolled in either the junior ‫ בית מדרש‬class or have achieved success in Talmud in the junior accelerated track. It provides an opportunity for students to refine their skills and mastery of Talmud and ‫ ראשונים‬in an intensive class that meets across two bands. It is certainly a course for students who wish to prepare for a year of yeshiva in Israel.

Accelerated Talmud This class is for students who have been in the accelerated track in previous years. Modeled on the eight-period ‫ בית מדרש‬offering for seniors, it is for students who wish to continue their Talmud learning, but with fewer periods a week than required for the ‫ בית מדרש‬classes. This option enables students to enroll in more electives. One period a week is added to the four-period band in order to provide the number of class meetings suitable for the continuity of learning in the class.

Talmud This course is open to students who have been in the regular track in previous years. It meets four times a week and is tailored to helping students who want to deepen their appreciation for Talmud while improving their skills and expanding their base of knowledge.

This is a class for students who wish to continue studying Talmud and acquire more self-confidence with negotiating a page of ‫גמרא‬.

Why did God create the world? Why did He create mankind? Must I believe that God created the universe in order to be a religious Jew? What was the real sin in the Garden of Eden? These are just some of the difficult questions we will try to answer in this collegeseminar format class. The students, as well as the instructor, will teach and learn together. Students will thereby be trained in the mastery of the Biblical text and of the medieval and modern commentaries. The course is for those who wish to explore the mysteries of Torah.

Back to the Future

Nechama Leibowitz once instructed her students to teach ‫ ספר בראשית‬to twelfth graders because she felt it was important to return to the stories one first learned in elementary school and to learn them anew with the sophistication of an adult. This course will follow that instruction. It will include an overview of all of ‫ספר בראשית‬, which encompasses both philosophical inquiry and a literary style of analysis. Such inquiry and analysis will supplement and complement traditional ‫מפרשים‬. The course will focus on the one or two main themes that are at the core of all of the stories. At the same time, we will study the parts that may have been missed in elementary school or those parts first learned on an elementary level. (The forbidden fruit was not an apple; the people of Babel probably knew they couldn’t reach the heavens with a tower; Potiphar’s husband probably knew she was lying.)

The course will emphasize traditional and modern ‫ פרשנות‬as well as use a range of other sources, from PBS broadcasts to ancient Babylonian myths. This is a class about troubled families, amazing heroes and heroines and the ultimate meaning of life, all in four periods a week.

Megillot

When sitting in shul and listening to the ‫ מגילות‬being read on various ‫חגים‬, do we ever take the time to really think about the stories being discussed, or the people in them? Why would Ruth, a Moabite convert, deserve

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

This class is for students who have already developed a strong commitment to Torah in general and to Talmud in particular, and have already displayed substantial skills and independence in Talmud study.

It is open to students who have demonstrated a high level of motivation in the ‫ בית מדרש‬class in the junior year.

to become the mother of ‫ ?משיח‬Or why would the name of ‫ השם‬be so conspicuously absent from ‫ ?מגילת אסתר‬And why would Rebbe Akiva declare a seemingly romantic love story as "‫ ?"קדש הקדשים‬In this course we will explore these ‫מגילות‬, the characters they discuss, and how and why they are so significant to our lives.

Parashat ha-Shavu’ah

The course will focus on themes in the weekly ‫פרשה‬. The topic matter will vary from a given episode to a puzzling verse to a broader view of the ‫ פרשה‬as a whole. In addition to the insights of other commentaries, including your own, the unifying link from one week to the next will be the commentary of the Ramban, one of the greatest and most sophisticated of the classic interpreters of the Torah. The Ramban’s sensitivity to history, psychology and spirituality makes his work particularly appealing to the modern Jew. Following ‫ קריאת התורה‬in shul will never be the same!

episodes. What lessons are we to extract from these complicated and morally difficult chapters in the ‫?תנ"ך‬

Iyov

The book of ‫ איוב‬deals at great length with certain major philosophical issues that appear more briefly in other books of ‫( תנ"ך‬especially ‫ משלי‬and ‫)תהילים‬. The text is analyzed through a discussion of the following major topics: man’s suffering, “why bad things happen to good people,” man’s relationship to God, the problem of God putting man on trial, and the role of Satan.

Prophetic Stories

This course will be an overview of many of the major personalities, stories and events that appear in ‫ספר מלכים‬, which spans the years of the Jewish monarchy in Israel (1050 through 550 BCE). Students have the opportunity to explore more esoteric narratives: the fascinating lives of Eliyahu Hanavi and his student, Elisha; the religious crisis brought about by King Achav and his evil Queen Izevel; the story of the murderous Queen Ataliah; the reign of King Yoash, the prince who was snatched during infancy and raised in secret; and the sovereignty of King Chizkiyahu, the king who should have been ‫משיח‬. Warring kingdoms, political intrigue, strange illnesses, social unrest and how these events affected our relationship with God will be just some of the themes covered as we explore a more obscure and unfamiliar era in our nation’s history.

Stories Your Teachers Skipped in Elementary School.

Delve into the stories elementary school teachers skip. In this course we will study the stories of Dina and Schem, Yosef and the wife of Potiphar (‫ )בראשית‬and ‫)שופטים( פילגש בגבעה‬, all the while asking why the Torah recounts these risqué

III. Department of JUDAISM History through Halakha: Learning Jewish History from Rabbinic and Halakhic Texts

For centuries religious Jews did not write history books; they wrote chronicles, ‫קנות‬, biblical commentary and responsa. One way of learning about how Jews lived is by studying these rabbinic writings. A Jew who was exiled from Spain in 1492 and fled to Syria has a very different story to tell from a German Jew living during the Crusades or a Polish rabbi watching the Kovno ghetto be liquidated during the Holocaust. These differences have ramifications not only in ‫הלכה‬, but also in the survivors’ general approaches to life and religion. This course will be an exploration of aspects of Jewish life as seen through the prism of history. We will focus on how Jews throughout history dealt with rational thought and ‫קבלה‬, the scientific revolution, forced conversions and martyrdom.

The Jewish Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, following the Enlightenment in the secular world, seemed to promise an end to antiSemitic persecution and our acceptance as equals by the non-Jewish world around us. Unfortunately, it all too often led to the wholesale abandonment of Judaism by its followers without any lessening of antiSemitism.

Judaism survived because of three powerful and dynamic movements: ‫ חסידות‬,‫תורה עם דרך ארץ‬ and ‫ מוסר‬and their incredibly charismatic leaders. If you are a committed Jew today, 200 years later, it is primarily because of the “new” Judaism developed by them, which continues to adapt to our world today. Our studies will put us right in the fray. We will examine the battles, ideologies, and personalities, and what they say to us, the senior class of 2012.

IV. Department of HEBREW Modern Israel (Honors)

This course will conduct an in-depth analysis of various genres of Hebrew literature such as poems, short stories and films, as they reveal key aspects of Israeli culture since 1948. We will also use culture as a lens through which to examine the evolution of Israeli society, its values, norms and conflicts. The class provides the optimum environment in which to listen to and reflect on the many voices of Israel’s pluralistic and complex society.

Israeli Film

In this course we will view contemporary Israeli films such as Late Summer Blues, One of Us, Walk on Water, Noodle, The Band Visit, and the television series ‫במרחק נגיעה‬. Through viewing and analyzing these films, which represent various genres and perspectives, students will gain a better insight into Israeli cultural life. Discussing the films’ form and substance also enables students to improve their Hebrew language skills. As a final project option, students will be allowed to film, direct, produce and act in their own short film in Hebrew.

Commercials, Bumper Stickers and Ads

This course is designed for students who want to

improve their familiarity with and ability to function in modern Israeli culture. Students will work on speaking with greater fluency. They will view and discuss modern Israeli society as seen through such popular media as print advertisements, bumper stickers and current Israeli television commercials.

Israeli Media and Current Affairs

This course will cover political, cultural and daily life in Israel. Students will examine these aspects through a new internet-Ulpan program called E-Tone, which provides us with articles about current events in Israel, written in the level of Hebrew appropriate for non-Hebrew speakers. Students will enrich their vocabulary as well as increase their awareness of the complex and challenging life in Israel.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

The Orthodox Response to the Enlightenment

general studies seniors

The Matrix of Self: Searching for Meaning (Honors Senior Seminar)

The Western literary tradition documents the individual’s search for love and meaning through the shifting contexts of personal and social experience.

In spiritual terms, this is the search for redemption; in psychological terms it is the quest for fulfillment.

Within our relationships–determined by community, gender and even, internally, within the “matrix” of self–we struggle to grasp moments of exhilaration and connection, or, at times, reconciliation and resignation. In this course, students will explore the individual’s search for meaning in the network of his/ her relationships with the “Other.”

Books: Othello, Shakespeare The Maids, Ionesco Waiting for Godot, Beckett The Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky Sons and Lovers, Lawrence The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne The Beast in the Jungle, James Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, Joyce Selected poetry from Spenser, Donne, Herrick, Milton, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Browning, Yeats, Whitman, Pound and Eliot.

Dark and Full of Blood: Literary and Film Noir Hopeless corruption, brutal violence, dangerous seduction, blackened souls—these are some of the elements that constitute a particular breed of crime fiction known as noir (which means “black” in French). Popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, noir is fascinated by the dark side of human nature, and in this course we explore those dark avenues that were particularly pertinent to American culture during that period of time: class strife, financial ruin, racial divide, powerful and dangerous women (the femme fatale), psychosexual perversion, and beleaguered

masculinities. We split our focus between literature and film. While most of our texts come from the first half of the twentieth century, more modern manifestations of the genre are also taken into account.

Books/Movies: The End of Everything, Megan Abbott Double Indemnity The Postman Always Rings Twice, James Cain Chinatown The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler Kiss Me Deadly The Driftless Area, Tom Drury Sunset Boulevard They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Horace McCoy In a Lonely Place Tomato Red, Daniel Woodrell The Sweet Smell of Success

Passing in Literature: Escape from the Self

This course will use novels, short stories, plays and films to explore how individuals from marginalized or disenfranchised groups seek acceptance and empowerment by rejecting aspects of themselves and assimilating into majority culture. We will examine this process through the agencies of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. What motivates some people to relinquish parts of themselves and their histories?

How does society respond to the “outing” of those who pass? Are these categories valid means of selfidentification? Is passing a progressive or retrogressive act?

Works studied may include: The Human Stain, Philip Roth Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides Yentl, Isaac Bashevis Singer The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare What the Butler Saw, Joe Orton Pinky, Elia Kazan, Director Boys Don’t Cry, Kimberly Peirce, Director

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

I. Department of ENGLISH

Shakespeare

“All the world’s a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players./ They have their exits and their entrances.” Complex and exciting personalities people the world of Shakespeare’s plays, particularly his tragedies. In this course we will examine several of the Bard’s most well known tragic works in terms of dramaturgy, character, theme, and language.

Shakespeare’s poetry will not be neglected: each play will be introduced by a complementary sonnet.

Course requirements will include the acting of several scenes and the writing of several comparative essays.

One essay will involve internet research.

For Class Discussion/Supplementary: Richard III Romeo and Juliet Othello Antony and Cleopatra King Lear Sonnets

Short Fiction

This course will focus on the often overlooked and under-appreciated art of short fiction. Students of literature tend to venerate the novel form above that of the short story, assuming length and substance to be akin to one another. But it is the very physical limitations of short-fiction that can produce its depth of insight. Like a painter working on a tiny canvas, the short-story writer must be precise in order to create his effects. Every word resonates with meaning in a finely honed story. In order to appreciate this craft, we will study authors from various cultures and time periods. Dividing our investigation into three categories—the individual short story, the collection of linked short-fiction, and the novella—will allow the class a simple framework from which we will uncover the qualities that a make a short work succeed.

Books: A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan Nemesis, Philip Roth Licks of Love, John Updike Twilight of the Superheroes, Deborah Eisenberg Welcome to the Monkey House, Kurt Vonnegut Ant Farm, Simon Rich Oblivion, David Foster Wallace We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

Writing Workshop

Too often essays written for school are viewed as hoops through which a student must, like a trained dog, jump. Writing Workshop aims to restore purpose to writing by introducing relevant topics and real readers. Because the class is a workshop and involves peer review, students will know exactly for whom they write: their classmates. We will also use creative writing to shape authorial voice and style.

With targeted lessons addressing trouble spots in structure, logic, and language, this class will insure that students know how to write an accomplished essay before graduation.

Books: Brevity & Echo: An Anthology of Short Short Stories, Eds. Beckel, Abigail and Rooney, Kathleen The Elements of Style, Strunk & White

II. Department of HISTORY Honors Senior Seminar: The Age of Reagan: 1968-present

The course will examine the collapse of the American liberal movement and the rise of a new American conservatism, with a focus on the role of Ronald Reagan.

Among the major topics covered will be the disintegration of the New Deal welfare model, the final decades of the Cold War, the declining economic power of the United States, and the search for a new American foreign policy.

Students will be graded on preparation, discussion, tests, and a year long research paper assignment.

Honors Senior Seminar: European History

The course explores European civilization from the end of the Crusades to the fall of Napoleon, a span of time in which a small backwater of the Eurasian landmass transformed itself to the point where it could achieve global dominance. The survey course will examine the cultural, intellectual, economic, political and social history of Eastern and Western Europe. Students enrolled in this course will have the option to enroll in a third-quarter course that covers the time period from 1815 to the present.

Bad Apple: The Five Points and New York’s Nineteenth-Century Demimonde

This class will look at the evolution of lower New York as a center of noteworthy and notorious working-class culture in the nineteenth century. Through this prism, we will explore a variety of issues including Abolition, Temperance, the Civil War, and Tammany Hall, as well as the evolution of the Five Points and Bowery as a unique cultural center that saw the development of such American mainstays as tap dancing, the Minstrel Show, and vaudeville. Although the class concludes after the first semester, when weather permits, students will have the option to register for a walking tour of the Bowery and surrounding neighborhoods that focuses on topics covered in the course.

Introduction to Philosophy: Utopia

The dream of creating a society untroubled by war, poverty, violence or disease has inspired humans for millennia. The dream of creating a perfect society has also led to the horrors of mass extermination and mass imprisonment in the gulags of the Soviet Union and camps of Nazi Germany. Through the lens of utopian and dystopian literature, students will examine some of the most important developments in the history of philosophy, from ancient times to the nineteenth century, from Plato to Nietzsche. Students will investigate assumptions about human nature, the role of nurture versus nature, and the conflict between individual ambition and social responsibility.

United States Government and Politics

How does our political system work (or not)? This course will cover the origins and evolution of the major institutions and documents of the American political system: checks and balances, federal-state relations, how congress is organized, how laws are made, political parties, interest groups, and the media. The course will also survey the development of the American Constitution, primarily by examining major legal decisions issued by the Supreme Court. Students will develop an appreciation for different theories of constitutional interpretation and for the ways in which social values, political power and court decisions interact. Although the course is not an honors course, students may choose to take the United States Government Advanced Placement exam in May 2012.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

Summer reading: Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean About Shows We Can’t Stop Watching, Ed. David, Anna

War and Society

This course examines the crucial role of martial matters in the creation of Western civilization. Starting with the military factors that undermined Feudalism, this course will trace the evolution of war through to the end of the nineteenth century, when the nation states and institutions war had helped create came to dominate the world. Among the topics to be studied are strategy, tactics, finance, philosophy, management, technology and high culture. A trip to the Arms and Armor collection of the Metropolitan Museum and extensive examination of film footage are some hallmarks of this course.

Exploring Identity: Psychological Perspectives

The course will focus on exploring psychological and philosophical perspectives on human nature and motivation. The models that Freud, Frankl, Nietzsche and Rav Soloveitchik have developed to understand truth, motivation, personality, relationships, conflict and growth vary widely, and have dramatic ethical and psychological implications. For example, the unconscious can be viewed as a reservoir of sexuality, as a treasure of spiritual and existential longing, or as a primal combination of potentially creative forces. The course will aim to strike a balance between analyzing nineteenth and twentiethcentury texts, and thinking through the psychological, philosophical and Jewish implications of those texts.

The primary assignments will include essays, a paper/ presentation, and tests.

III. Department of Math and Computer Science Honors Senior Seminar: Calculus I

This mathematics course is equivalent to the first course in calculus offered in college. The course is intended for students who have a thorough knowledge of college-preparatory mathematics, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry and properties of functions as studied in a pre-calculus course. Topics include: properties of elementary functions, including algebraic, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic; limits; and differential and integral calculus. The emphasis in this course is on problem solving.

Honors Senior Seminar: Calculus II

This college-level course is equivalent to the first year of college calculus. All topics covered in Honors Calculus I are required here. Additional topics covered include sequences and series, parametric equations, polar functions and differential equations. This course is considerably more rigorous and theoretical than the Honors Calculus I course.

Honors Senior Seminar: Statistics

In colleges and universities, the number of students who take a statistics course is almost as large as the number of students who take a calculus course. At least one statistics course is required for majors in engineering, psychology, sociology, health science and business, to name a few.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students will be exposed to four broad conceptual themes: -Exploring Data: Observing patterns and departures from patterns -Planning a Study: Deciding what and how to measure -Anticipating Patterns in Advance -Statistical Inference

Calculus

This course is designed for students who have completed Precalculus and who want to continue mathematics without taking an Honors course. The

course will take up the essentials of differential and integral calculus but will emphasize techniques and applications rather than theory.

survey of monera, protists and fungi, plants, animals, and ecology. Extensive laboratory work is an integral part of the course.

Precalculus

Texts: Biology, 5th edition, Curtis and Barnes Biology, 6th edition, Campbell and Reece Study Guide to Biology, 5th edition, Fox and Monroe Biology Laboratory Manual, The College Board

Honors Senior Seminar: Computer Science

This course emphasizes programming methodology and procedural abstraction. It also includes the study of algorithms, data structures and data abstractions.

A primary objective of this course is to teach students how to write logically structured, well documented, efficient computer programs. Java is the programming language that is used and taught in this course. No prior programming experience is necessary.

Discrete Mathematics

Honors Senior Seminar: Chemistry

Discrete math differs from other branches of math, such as calculus, in that it does not study continuous structures like lines, curves, or real numbers. Instead, discrete math focuses on structures that have distinct, separated values like graphs, statements of logic and integers. Discrete math forms a basis for much of what is needed to create and program digital devices that operate in discrete steps and store discrete information (e.g., computers). Some of the topics to be covered in the course include sets, functions, combinatorics, probability, and graphs.

This course is equivalent to an introductory college chemistry course. Through classroom lessons and labs, it covers the following topics: atoms, molecules, stoichiometry, gas laws, atomic structures, bonding, solids and liquids, acids and bases, equilibria, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, qualitative analysis, characteristics of families, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry.

IV. Department of SCIENCE

Honors Senior Seminar: Environmental Science

Honors Senior Seminar: Biology

This course is equivalent to an introductory college biology course. The course covers the following topics: biochemistry, cells, energy transformations, molecular genetics, heredity, evolution, principles of taxonomy,

Texts: Chemistry, 4th edition, Zumdahl Solutions Guide for Chemistry, Brooks

This course is an introductory-level college course designed to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the inter-relationships within the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

This course develops a thorough understanding of functions, their properties and their graphs. Particular attention is paid to polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, and trigonometric functions. Probability, matrices, and transformational geometry are other topics dealt with during the year. In addition, limits and the derivative with its applications are explored. It is strongly recommended that students in Algebra II and Trigonometry elect this course.

both natural and man-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. The course covers the following topics: scientific analysis, interdependence of earth’s systems, humanpopulation dynamics, renewable and nonrenewable resources, environmental quality, global changes and their consequences, environment and society, and choices for the future.

Text: Environment, 4th edition, Raven, Berg and Johnson

Forensic Science

This course explores the science of crime-scene investigation. The textbook provides an extensive overview of the complexities of the crime scene, physical evidence and the crime laboratory. In addition, case studies and hands-on lab activities will be used to demonstrate such topics as fingerprints, DNAtyping, cause and time of death, victim identification, shoe and tire tracks, blood analysis, ballistics, and fiber and glass analysis.

Text: Forensic Science, Deslich and Funkhouser

Honors Senior Seminar: Physics

This course is a college-level, calculus-based course designed to provide a foundation in physics for those students who plan to major in the physical sciences or engineering. Through class discussion and laboratory work, the course covers, in great depth, all aspects of mechanics and stresses problem solving.

Text: Physics, 3rd edition, Tipler

V. Department of FOREIGN LANGUAGES Honors Senior Seminar: French

This course is designed for advanced students who have completed at least three years of French. Course material draws on a variety of sources including both literary and cultural readers, newspaper articles, songs, and film clips. Readings, discussions, lab work, and compositions develop a high level of proficiency in both verbal and written communication skills.

Texts: Panaché Littéraire, Baker, M. Controverses, Oukada, L. Une Fois Pour Toutes, Sturges, H.

Honors Senior Seminar: Spanish

Astronomy

This course is designed to introduce the students to the cosmos by exposing them to known facts, evolving ideas and frontier discoveries in astronomy today. The course covers the following topics: Earth and the solar system, stars, stellar evolution, the Milky Way and other galaxies and cosmology.

Text: Astronomy Today, Chaisson

This is a college-level course aimed at achieving a high level of proficiency in the spoken language and developing excellence in written skills. Students will listen to radio programs and read both literary texts and newspapers to enhance their fluency. Students who have completed at least three years of Spanish are eligible for acceptance to the course.

Texts: Triángulo, Diaz Spanish: A Guide for the Language Course, Diaz Una Vez Más, Couch Lecturas Avanzadas, Giulianelli

Fourth-Year French

This course is designed for students who have demonstrated a high degree of interest and ability in French studies and who elect to have a better understanding of French culture and civilization.

Students will develop their skills in speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

Fourth-Year Spanish

Students can take the AP exam in May if they choose.

Those students who want to take the AP exam must attend a department-approved summer program for high-school students over the summer between the junior and senior years. If the students have completed sufficient work of the quantity and quality required by March, they can submit a portfolio for the AP. Those students submitting the portfolio must take AP prep in April, as this is required for assembling the portfolio.

THE RAMAZ CURRICULUM

This course is designed for students who have mastered the material in the three-year course of study of Spanish and who elect to study the language on an advanced level. In this advanced conversation class, students are expected to lecture and lead class discussions on selected topics. Near-native fluency in speaking, reading, and writing is stressed.

Latin

This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of the language. It will begin with the basic linguistic structures and move on to examine such masterpieces of Latin literature as Virgil’s Aeneid and Caesar’s Gallic Wars. The course will emphasize the students’ knowledge of the ancient world and its relation to their own.

VI. Department of ART Honors Studio Art

Honors Studio Art is offered to students with special talent, or interest, who have demonstrated a commitment to art in the eleventh grade. This is a college-level course that explores drawing, painting and multimedia. Projects assigned present problems that the students must solve. Instruction takes the form of on-going critiques and dialogs that emphasize process. Work is both realistic and abstract. In addition to class time students are required to spend extra time in the art studio each week. This class runs through the end of March. Students will keep a sketchbook and /or artist’s book throughout the year, in which they develop their ideas as well as do drawings.

Art History: The Evolution of Modern Art

Art History is a college-level course offering an historical analysis of the development of art from the nineteenth through the twentieth centuries. It explores the impact of the evolving political, economic, scientific and social atmosphere on the cultural landscape.

The schools of art studied include: Neo-Classicism (The Academy), Romanticism, Naturalism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Futurism, Surrealism and Post-WWII Abstraction. The texts used

are: The Story of Art, E.H. Gombrich; The Triumph of American Painting, Irving Sandler; and Modern French Painting, Sam Hunter. The course is supplemented by bi-monthly visits to galleries and/or museums, along with critical papers on the material viewed. At the beginning of the semester each student is assigned an artist from the Abstract Expressionist Movement.

Students will produce a research paper on that artist’s development and impact on the history of art.

VII. Department of MUSIC Honors Senior Seminar: Music Theory

This course integrates the study of melody, harmony, texture, rhythm and form while focusing on the following major skill areas: analysis of notated examples, development of aural (listening) skills, sightsinging and keyboard harmony, and part-writing and harmonization. Each student will develop skills and concepts related to the system of major-minor tonality.

The course includes a brief introduction to twentiethcentury techniques and terminology.

Rock and Roll Music and Culture: A Seminar

This class is a musical, historical, social, and aesthetic exploration through the ages of rock and roll in the United States and the United Kingdom. Decades of rock music will be explored, styles will be discussed, and artists and bands will be considered. The course will examine the cultural impact and historical context of the various strands of rock and roll as they evolved over time, from the mod and rocker youth movements of the 1960s, to the punk scenes in New York and London of the 1970s, and the suburban American hard-rock culture of the 1980s. We will also survey the alternative rock dynamics of the 1990s and the multi-generational pop soup of the past decade. The music’s influence on youth culture and the transformative possibilities of rock movements will be studied through critical-listening sessions, examinations of rock and roll literature, journalism, and scholarship, and discussion of cultural context.

The course of study will include readings, a final examination, and a final project involving visual, oral and written components.

VIII. Department of PHYSICAL EDUCATION Gym is a requirement for all seniors. This requirement can be met by attending regularly scheduled gym classes or by participating on a varsity team. This year, senior classes (both boys and girls) have been offered the option of a yoga class, zumba and a free weights program to fulfill their gym requirement.

ramBytes Did you know that...

• As part of the

annual Senior Experience, our seniors spent 10 days in Poland

• Recent school chesed

activities have included sandwich making for a local food pantry, knitting scarves for a homeless shelter and creating quilts for Soaring Words.

co-curricular contents

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Executive Council • Class Presidents • SFAC

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Freshman Shabbaton • Sophomore Shabbaton • Junior Retreat • Senior Trip • Schoolwide Shabbaton • Chagigot • Cultural Evenings • Senior Experience to Poland and Israel

COMMITTEES

AIPAC-Israel Advocacy • Chesed • Coalition for the Homeless • Human Rights Club/STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition • Israel Affairs Committee • Tzedakah

COMPETITIONS & TEAMS

Chess Club • Chidon HaTanakh • College Bowl • Debate Team • The George Jacobs Mock Trial Program • Math Team • Model Congress • Model UN • Torah Bowl

FINE & PERFORMING ARTS

Art Club • Art through Experience • Band • Chamber Choir • Choir • Creative Tones • Dance • Drumaz • Graphic Arts Club • Guitar Ensemble • Lighting Club • Music Production Course • Percussion Ensemble • Photography Club • Stage Crew • Theatre • Video Club • WRMZ Radio

PUBLICATIONS

78 Magazine • Breakthrough • El Ramillete • Likrat Shabbat • Our Israel/Israel Affairs Club • Parallax • Ramblings • raMEDz • RamPage • Sports Report • Tarte aux Pommes • Toses • Xevex • Yearbook

SPECIAL INTERESTS

Asian Club • Business Investment Club • Cooking Club • Driver Education • Environmental Club • Graphic Storytelling Club • Hiking Club • Historical Simulations Club • Kosher City Harvest • Media Watch • Midnight Run • Mishmar • Mythology Club • Physics Club • Programming Club • SADD • Sewing Club

SPORTS

Basketball • Crew • Hockey • Intramurals • Soccer • Softball • Tennis • Track • Volleyball

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

SPECIAL PROGRAMS 2011-2012

The General Organization (G.O.) is the representative organization of the student body. It is responsible for a host of school wide activities and programs.

Co-curricular activities and events are an integral part of the educational environment at Ramaz. We have created a program that includes a wide range of informal educational programming to meet the varied interests of our student body and to promote the educational goals and philosophy of the school.

The G.O. is comprised of the following elected officials for 2011-2012: PRESIDENT SR. VICE PRESIDENT JR. VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY TREASURER

Rafael Schulman Reuben Adolf Nina Rohr Alicia Chetrit David Cohen

Class Presidents

Class Presidents are responsible for after school social recreational programs and class meetings, as well as for representing their class in G.O. deliberations and at SFAC. Elections will be held in the beginning of the year.

Student Faculty Administration Committee (SFAC)

SFAC meets regularly to discuss items of relevance to the student body. The members include student officers, faculty representatives and members of the Administration. Meetings are chaired in rotation by representatives of one of the three groups. Past discussions have been on subjects such as service credits, the honor system, dress code, schooltime scheduling, school calendar and building maintenance.

Although SFAC is an advisory body, it does influence administration policy through the vigor and frankness of its deliberations.

Many of these activities take place outside the school building and entail additional costs. In all cases, the school supports these programs by underwriting part of the cost of these events with the help of the Parent Council. For the larger scale activities, beyond the scope of the student activities fee, parents are asked to help defray the cost of these vital programs. The school makes every effort to enable all students to participate in these important, inspirational programs.

Freshman Shabbaton

Freshman Shabbaton is designed to introduce incoming students to their new classmates and to faculty in an informal comfortable setting.

Sophomore Shabbaton

Sophomore Shabbaton is designed to help students develop relationships both with their peers and faculty in the beautiful setting that Shabbat creates. The special environment impacts sophomores in significant ways.

Junior Retreat

Junior Retreat is a four day program planned by juniors and their advisers. It provides an opportunity for the juniors to plan and implement their own educational and social programs.

Senior Trip

A trip is run for the graduating class to a location outside of New York City.

Schoolwide Shabbaton

The Schoolwide Shabbaton is designed to help students strengthen their relationships with not only their peers and faculty members but with students in other grades in the school over the course of a springtime Shabbat.

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

Executive Council

Chagigot

The Ramaz G.O., in conjunction with the Parents Council, sponsors a Chanukah and Purim chagigah to celebrate the chagim in a festive, spiritual context.

actively participate in real lobbying sessions with members of the House of Representatives. You can make a difference.

Cultural and Theater Nights and Class Evenings

Throughout the year, varied cultural and social evenings are sponsored by the Ramaz G.O. and specific academic departments as well as the Parents Council.

Senior Experience to Poland and Israel

This two week adventure is a voluntary journey to understand the richness of life before the war, the Holocaust and the rebirth of the State of Israel. It is a summative experience of a Ramaz education.

COMMITTEES The Governing Organization (G.O.) of the Ramaz student body sponsors a number of committees whose responsibilities include programs and projects which touch the entire school community. Each committee is headed by one or more students, usually those who have been involved in the committee’s work for some time. All students may join a committee and may suggest ideas for projects which they themselves can then play a major role in implementing. While enrollment as a member usually takes place at the beginning of the year, one may join a committee at any time. Committee membership represents an opportunity to initiate or help with projects that affect the largest number of people in the school community.

AIPAC-Israel Advocacy Club

Every year Israel receives $2.75 billion in foreign aid from the United States. When the U.N. is ready to condemn Israel, it is the United States which blocks the vote. This is the result of one of the strongest and most powerful lobbies in Washington D.C. The Israel Advocacy Club provides a chance to discover how you can advocate for Israel on the national political scene. Students will learn the skills of lobbying with experts from organizations like AIPAC, confront all the most current issues in U.S./Israel relations, and

Chesed Committee

On a number of occasions throughout the year, the committee plans and implements chesed projects that are designed to involve the entire school community in a particular cause. Committee members must research the project and design ways to inform, motivate and involve as many people as possible. This process often involves liaising with outside agencies or individuals, enlisting the help of maintenance and kitchen staffs, ordering supplies, bookkeeping, and developing marketing skills. The committee presents a wonderful opportunity to bring together an entire community to achieve what a single individual cannot do alone.

Coalition for the Homeless

Every Thursday, after school, students who give their time to “Coalition For the Homeless” (CFH) pack 100 lunch bags in our school’s lunchroom. The bags are

Human Rights/STAND* The student social justice and anti-genocide Human Rights Club (which also encompasses STAND) is a coalition to raise awareness on Human Rights violations, both domestically and globally. We work to educate each other and our community on issues, as well as raise money, supplies and understanding for those in need of social justice. Some of our focus this year will be on the following issues and working with the following organizations: • Raising awareness and support for the plight of the people of Darfur, through continuing with the efforts of the STAND group • Global Malaria – raising money through basketball fundraisers for nets that can prevent Malaria in and around the continent of Africa, through The Nothing but Nets campaign • Fighting global HIV through work with Hoops for Hope, an organization that teaches life-skills and HIV through basketball in impoverished and highrisk communities globally • Working with several organizations in New Orleans to provide service and understanding of violations that may be occurring in our country *STAND, Students Taking Action Now for Darfur, is a student movement present on over 400 college, university, and high school campuses across the United States. Each STAND chapter was formed independently by students at their respective institution. The mission of each STAND chapter, and the National STAND Coalition, is to educate others on Darfur, raise relief funds, and advocate for political action.

Israel Affairs Committee/Our Israel

Given how important Israel is in the mission of the school, it is critical that the community constantly

be made aware of our connection to Medinat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. The committee comes together to both educate and raise consciousness in the school community about politics, current events, the religious significance of the State, and any other issues which might affect Israel. This is the committee that, among other things, spearheaded Ramaz’s efforts on behalf of the MIAs, got students involved in political action, and led the way in creating Israel Month which takes over the school in the month of Iyar.

Tzedakah Committee

The committee seeks to sensitize the Ramaz community to the value and practical day-to-day need to give and collect tzedakah. Each week, an organization or cause is chosen by the committee whose members then go around to classes to inform them about the organization and collect monies from the faculty and students on its behalf. Members also sell challah or holiday baked goods and flowers from Israel to raise extra funds for the weekly cause. The committee also organizes long-term projects to raise larger funds.

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

filled with sandwiches, fruit and snacks that are picked up on Friday mornings by a member of the Coalition.

The Coalition is quite a phenomenal place that never closes its doors; it is open 24/7, should anyone be hungry. CFH depends on donations like ours. Thanks to the efforts of the Tzedakah committee we are able to fund this special chesed program.

COMPETITIONS & TEAMS Chess Club

“The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake,” said Savielly Tartakover. At chess we joke around and say funny comments like this.

However, the chess team IS NOT all fun and games! “I give 98 percent of my mental energy to Chess. Others give only 2 percent,” said the great Bobby Fischer.

The Ramaz Rams Chess Team gives it more than the great Bobby Fischer! We give one hundred percent.

The Chess Club is one of Ramaz’s finest co-curricular activities. Everyone is invited to attend and play chess during these meetings. The team competes in the interscholastic tournaments of the Yeshiva Chess League.

Chidon HaTanakh

Debate Team

Members of the Debate Team, chosen after a tryout procedure held in September, learn many skills and have the opportunity to use these skills in both intraand inter-school debates. Each member learns the format of a formal debate (i.e., 1st affirmative, 2nd negative, etc.), the terminology thereof (i.e. resolved, status quo, etc.), and he/she also learns how a true debater prepares for a debate: research. During meetings, members discuss the issues of upcoming debates, helping to devise a winning strategy. Trophies and awards are part of every debate tournament.

Chidon HaTanakh, the National Bible Contest, is a great club for those who love Tanakh and want to learn. The contest consists of two stages, regional and national, occurring in February and May respectively.

To pass the regional stage, one needs a score of 85 out of 100 on a written multiple-choice exam. The regional exam is not too difficult. The national exam requires more precise knowledge of the same material.

First and second place national exam winners go on to compete in the International Bible Contest held in Jerusalem on the following Yom Ha`atzmaut. Ramaz has had close to a dozen winners in recent years. The atmosphere at the meetings is relaxed; nevertheless, a great deal is learned.

College Bowl

The Ramaz College Bowl team is one of our school’s most successful co-curricular clubs. Small in size, almost by definition, the club emphasizes a wide expertise and a mastery of random trivia. The team generally prepares for competitions by working on reaction discipline and exploring team members’ strengths and weaknesses to determine primary levels of responsibility in given fields. Questions are provided by an impartial private service. While the team has no formal “meetings” outside of their annual competition schedule, it has always prided itself on being a closeknit group that has developed an uncanny ability to discuss topics which invariably appear in the meets.

Recently a single conversation made reference to Punic, runic, and The Magic Flute, all of which were the subject of later queries.

The George Jacobs Mock Trial Program

The George Jacobs Mock Trial Program team consists of six lawyers, six witnesses, and several alternates.

Each year the team participates in a statewide competition sponsored by the New York State Bar Association. Every participating school is given a set of stipulated facts and witness statements concerning a hypothetical case. Opposing schools represent different sides of the case before a “judge” in an actual courthouse. Lawyers must develop effective questions and learn the proper procedure for questioning witnesses. Witnesses must be able to act their parts well. Tryouts begin in late October. In addition to being New York State champions in 2002, the Ramaz George Jacobs Mock Trial Program Team has won the

NYC Championship four times and has been a finalist or a semi-finalist an additional six times.

Math Team

The Ramaz Math Team competes in the New York Math League (NYML).

Six matches are held after school. All students in grades 9-12 are welcome. The top five scores in each match are used to form a team score. After the match students receive solution sheets so that they can study further. Two special lectures will be scheduled late in the spring semester on special topics in mathematics.

Model Congress

Torah Bowl

2001-2002 was Ramaz’s debut year at Torah Bowl, which offers our students a unique and exciting opportunity to broaden their knowledge of Tanakh.

Team members study selected sections of Chumash and N’viim, along with Rashi’s commentary, and then compete against the twenty or so yeshivot that currently take part in a competition patterned closely after the College Bowl League. Students who express an interest in joining this co-curricular club will be invited to take a screening test early in the year, and we will then form a boys’ team and a girls’ team to represent Ramaz at the three regular season meets and—go teams!—at the division and league championship meets, as well.

Model U.N.

The Ramaz Model U.N. Team participates annually in the Yeshiva University Model U.N. together with many other schools from the U.S. and Canada. The team focuses on merging skills in research, public speaking, and persuasion within a large forum. Typically, each student represents the views of a single country on a specific Committee such as the Security Council or World Health. In any given year, the Ramaz team will represent as many as three countries. Points are awarded to individuals, national delegations, and entire school delegations. Ramaz students particularly relish the highly intellectual and competitive nature of the Model U.N., as well as the opportunity to meet students from yeshivot across the country. Tryouts for the team are held in May.

FINE & PERFORMING ARTS Art Club (Project-Oriented)

This club will allow students to pursue long-term projects to be assigned by the instructor. Projects will be intensive and the instructor will expect a firm commitment from all participants.

The purpose of this club is two-fold: to provide an opportunity to develop a comprehensive portfolio and to serve as a prerequisite for students preparing for the senior honors studio art class. Furthermore, the club fosters an environment conducive to independent development of artistic goals. We plan to complete a minimum of six projects over the course of the academic year. Attendance is mandatory for the duration of each individual project.

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

What makes our democracy a government “by the people and for the people?” – Congress. Often overshadowed by the President, Congress creates law, controls the national check book, authorizes the President to make war, and provides a place where every citizen can go and advocate for their interests. It is the cornerstone of the world’s first modern republic, a place where the minority can always maintain a voice in government. If you’re thinking of how you might one day change your world, Congress is a great place to start. The team will travel to the University of Pennsylvania to compete against high schools (from March 29-April 1) from across the country.

Art Through Experience

Students will explore artistic possibilities by focusing on problems, issues and themes that can be addressed through multi-media experiments. Each week, the class will focus on a different medium, period of art history, and conceptual framework. The classroom environment will be informal, and students are encouraged to have fun, experiment, and take risks.

for their talent, spirit, and professionalism. They sing in Hebrew, English, Ladino, and even Yiddish, in styles ranging from modern Israeli pop to old time Broadway.

The climax of the year is their performance at the Ramaz Dinner. However, the singing continues even after this spectacular extravaganza.

Band

The Band is made up of students who have studied and who continue to study instruments privately.

Auditions are held in the fall. The group plays at The Ramaz Dinner Dance, Chagigot and on the float in the Salute to Israel Parade.

Chamber Choir

Veteran singers in grades 10-12 have the option of auditioning for the Ramaz Chamber Choir. This group of advanced singers performs with the Choir, as well as throughout the school year (and even beyond!) at various community and cultural events. They sing accompanied, as well as a cappella, and learn to sight sing. In the past, the Chamber Choir has performed for Mayor Guiliani at Gracie Mansion, traveled to Boston for the New England Jewish Choral Festival, performed in honor of the dedication of the new sifrei Torah at Ramaz and at Kehilath Jeshurun, and entertained the sick and elderly at local hospitals and nursing homes.

Rehearsals take place immediately after the full choir rehearses on select Sundays. Hence, trying out for Chamber Choir means that one must find transportation home other than late vans. Members realize that being part of Ramaz’s elite singing group is a major commitment. Competition for the few open slots is fierce, but well worth the effort. While it requires a tremendous amount of zeal and devotion, it is extremely rewarding and a lot of fun. Auditions take place each Spring for the upcoming year.

Choir

The Ramaz Choir is the largest co-curricular activity that meets on a regular basis, consisting of over 100 students from Grades 9-12. They are the premier performing group in school and are widely acclaimed

Creative Tones

For those students who love music and creativity, this lunchtime club will introduce the group to alternative music and techniques. The Creative Lunch Tones will explore different instruments, using them to look into acoustic and electronic sounds. Be prepared for exciting original musical offerings. By audition only.

Dance

The Ramaz Dance Ensemble learns various dance techniques including Modern, Jazz, Ballet, Israeli Folk Dance, Hip Hop, and others. Students also have opportunities to create their own dances. The ensemble performs at the annual Ramaz Dinner, at other school functions and around the city. Auditions are held at the beginning of the school year.

Drumaz

Every April/May, a troupe of hand-drummers from each grade assembles to learn a series of drum rhythms to be performed at the Salute to Israel Day Parade.

A unique and dynamic sound in the parade, the Drumaz group lead each grade’s marchers in the Upper School contingency. Rehearsals take place during school hours, (with only a minimal number of classes missed). A festive and energetic time for all!

The Drumaz groups are open to all students (on a firstcome basis).

see shows and take backstage tours at Lincoln Center and Broadway theatres.

Music Production Course

Using today’s most advanced music production software, this after school course will teach the fundamentals of working with ProTools software.

Students will produce audio content from spoken word to fully produced music. The pre-requisite is an interest in audio, computers, and music technology.

Percussion Ensemble

Graphic Art involves the making of art work that commemorates the holidays and festivals that occur throughout each year. Much of the work is created in groups while it is overseen by the teacher.

Guitar Ensemble

If you play acoustic, electric or bass guitar, you should consider trying out for the new and exciting club, “Guitar Ensemble.” While the challenges of “Ensemble” are demanding, they are equally enjoyable and promise to expand your playing and musical abilities.

We will be strumming student and instructor driven compositions as well as guitar-specific repertoires.

Lighting Club

Join the Lighting Club to learn the art and craft of lighting design for the theatre. We will learn the elements of design including color mixing, sculpting form, and movement, as well as the technical elements of electricity, computer control and drafting. We will also work on the design and running of the Ramaz plays and musicals. Join classmates for field trips to

Photography Club

In the history of art, photography, as a medium, is comparatively young. In the attempt to define the role of photography in the world of images, it is interesting to explore the attraction we have to the camera.

This club allows individuals a chance to uncover the reasons for this fascination. The club is open to all students who are interested in learning the art of black and white photography. Students work on individual projects and may ultimately create a comprehensive portfolio.

Stage Crew

Stage Crew gives students experience creating scenery, organizing costumes and working backstage for the school’s theatrical productions. We paint, draw and build props and scenery. This work requires energy and enthusiasm, but all levels of creativity and ability are welcome (any previous experience is always appreciated). It has been said that Stage Crew is a great stress reliever at the end of a hard day.

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

Graphic Arts

The Ramaz Percussion Ensemble is a creative performing group focusing on rhythmic music played on a variety of instruments, some struck, some shaken, stirred and tapped, with hands, feet, sticks, mallets and mouths. From the drumset to the woodblock, students develop and compose original pieces to be performed in various contexts.

Ensemble members are expected to attend weekly sessions, along with some additional rehearsals, when necessary. With space extremely limited, auditions are held in the spring for the following year. Sophomores, juniors and seniors are admitted.

consider all the options from a short film to a music video. This will be an introductory course in video art making with a focus on the basics of camera, sound and editing.

WRMZ Internet Radio

WRMZ is the Internet Radio station. Students will participate in all aspects of the station, including content development, audio and computer technology and, of course, sports broadcasting. The students will produce live shows of their own creation.

PUBLICATIONS 78 Magazine

Theatre

Ramaz Theatre consists of a musical, a drama, and senior show. Catapulting the cast into a fantastical world, Ramaz Theatre allows its participants to explore various characters and settings. It is a unique experience mingling the upperclassmen and underclassmen together, melding the group into more than just a cast. While the productions are magnificent, the shows entail a certain amount of devotion, rehearsing approximately three times a week. The commitment, however, only lasts for about six weeks, still allowing students to pursue other interests.

Video Club

The Video Projects Club will be a creative exploration of every role in the pre – and post – production of a video. The final product will test your abilities in casting, set design, costumes, cinematography, sound, lighting, writing, editing, etc.— depending on the project you choose. The possibilities in videomaking are endless. Students are encouraged to

Welcome to 78 magazine where we get the inside scoop all the way from Madison to Park. In 78, we provide for you a new, fun and enjoyable read. We discuss the latest trends and topics at the Ramaz High School ranging from the newest in-style item to tips on how to survive the four longest years of your life. This magazine presents practical and entertaining advice useful to you, the Ramaz Ram. We give a unique spin on all things flying at Ramaz. 78, it’s not just a street... it’s our lives. We hope you help out with this fresh new magazine every week after school on Tuesdays. We promise it will be worth it!

Breakthrough

Breakthrough is the Ramaz science and technology publication. Students contribute articles on science related issues that reflect their particular interests, opinions, and hobbies. Four to six issues are published each year. Students are invited to contribute articles on current events in science, new developments in applied technology, as well as ethical issues that they may raise.

El Ramillete

The Spanish student newspaper gives students the opportunity to express themselves in Spanish. It includes articles of Jewish and school import, as well as student poetry, comic strips, and puzzles. Students have the liberty to write on a variety of subjects that interest them. This publication comes out at least twice a year.

an annual literary magazine, in addition to a creative writing section in the yearbook.

Likrat Shabbat is a weekly publication that includes divrei Torah as well as Israel-related items of interest.

Students and faculty write for the issues both in Hebrew and English. With access to the internet and world wide web, the staff of Likrat Shabbat is able to offer its readers interesting Jewish tidbits from around the world. If you are interested in publishing divrei Torah or keeping people informed about Jewish topics, there is a place for you in Likrat Shabbat. Enjoy reading our weekly issue on the Ramaz website.

Israel Affairs Committee/Our Israel

Our Israel is the publication connected to the Israel Affairs Committee. Given how important Israel is in the mission of the school, it is critical that the community constantly be made aware of our connection to Medinat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. The committee comes together to both educate and raise consciousness in the school community about politics, current events, the religious significance of the State, and any other issues which might affect Israel. This is the committee that, among other things, spearheaded Ramaz’s efforts on behalf of the MIAs, got students involved in political action, and led the way in creating Israel Month which takes over the school in the month of Iyar. Our Israel reports on what the committee is planning and what they have done.

Parallax

Parallax is the Ramaz writing club and literary magazine. At meetings we hold creative writing workshops, during which we write, read, and gently critique student poetry and prose. Parallax publishes

Ramblings

While our school offers a wide array of clubs and publications, Ramblings feel that the opportunity for students to write about current events issues of the outside world is sorely lacking. Thus, Ramblings is Ramaz’s current events newspaper. Ramblings serves as a creative outlet for Ramaz students who are interested in current events, as well as an informative and educational newspaper to the larger Ramaz community.

raMEDz

At the end of 2008, a medical journal – the first in Ramaz’s history – was established entitled raMEDz. This journal features articles spotlighting advances in medical research, as well as some lighter contributions including a Q & A and some brain-teasers.

RamPage

RamPage, the school newspaper, provides an opportunity for fun and experience in research and writing. The paper includes articles on school news, opinion pieces, and news on Israel. Members are encouraged to develop article ideas, discuss current events, and improve writing techniques; everyone gets a chance to write an article. Students can also help out with the design of the paper. Five to seven issues are published each year. RamPage is for anyone interested in journalism, research, design, or current events.

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

Likrat Shabbat

Our magazine has won the gold medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for the past five years. In addition, for the past two years, we have won the Silver Crown Award, an honor earned by only nine high school literary magazines in the country.

Parallax also helps to run the annual Celebration of the Arts night. Members often read their work aloud for this evening. Writers address the club once or twice a year, and members of the club attend public poetry readings. For anyone who loves to write, but never has the time or discipline, Parallax provides a writing home and just the little push you may need.

Sports Report

The Sports Report is the Ramaz magazine related to all things sports. Professional or college, high school or Olympic, playoffs or fantasy, anything is fair game.

Articles include serious analytical breakdowns of students’ favorite teams and players, as well as spoofs and goofs about Ramaz students. Any article related to any sport, Ramaz or otherwise, is invited.

Yearbook

Working on the yearbook is an exciting and fulfilling experience. The yearbook employs creative and objective writing, as well as graphic arts. Editors select the yearbook theme and cover design. The entire staff is involved in the brainstorming for article ideas and the layout style. The yearbook seeks to create a memory of the entire school year which will be informative and fun.

Tarte aux Pommes

Tarte Aux Pommes is a journal written in French, by and for students. Student editors invite articles on a variety of subjects including film or book reviews and current events related to the French speaking world. Creative pieces such as poems and short stories and accounts of personal experiences involving language or travel are equally welcome. In addition to writing, the magazine encourages the artistically inclined to contribute illustrative artwork and design magazine format.

Toses

Toses is the Hebrew language newspaper of the Ramaz community. Filled with in-depth reports about controversial school issues, Israeli politics and culture, this is a publication that goes to the heart of our Zionist connection. If you love Israel, want to improve your Hebrew, or just want experience working on a smaller newspaper, this is a great opportunity.

Xevex

Xevex, the Ramaz Math Magazine, is a unique opportunity to explore concepts regarding math which a student at Ramaz would not normally learn or be exposed to in school. Students have an opportunity to write about mathematical concepts and submit them to a biannual issue which includes a puzzle section, as well as a section devoted to conceptual articles.

SPECIAL INTERESTS Asian Club

The goal of the Asian Club is to promote, inform and teach students about Asian culture and diversity, and to help bridge cultural misconceptions. We will teach languages: some Cantonese and Mandarin, and, perhaps, some Japanese. We will explore Asian traditions and histories, by visiting different neighborhoods and watching movies.

Business Investment Club

Have you ever thought about what makes Google so good? Google was not the first search engine, and it’s not the only one either. But only Google has become so successful that its name is synonymous with what it does. Do you think you could have spotted two PhD students at Stamford in 1996 and said these guys will start a company that one day will process one billion search requests using one million servers, totaling twenty petabytes of information – each day? People did. And without them, Google probably never would have happened. Markets can produce great things.

But for every success like Google there are several failures, and we’ve seen how failures can cause serious damage. Learn how to spot the successes and failures before they happen and you can change the world. If you want to get started, join the Business Investment Club.

Cooking Club

The ability to cook is very important—some might even say it’s more important than math. Or science. (But that’s only a myth.) The Ramaz Cooking Cub will not only cook for fun but will also associate from time to time with the chesed and Tzedakah Committees (which means chesed hours for sophomores). Having the club on Thursday nights will allow us to prepare food we can share with our family on Shabbat. Since every culture

has its own food, we plan to investigate other cultures by making their key dishes.

and Napoleonics, are standard extra features when the calendar permits. Students merely have to show up to join.

Driver Education

Kosher City Harvest

Environmental Club

The Environmental Club is open to all students who care about the environment and are interested in learning about current environmental issues and the means available for actively solving global, as well as local environmental problems.

Graphic Storytelling Club

Comic books, graphic novels, and animated films have become widely recognized both as major media and as legitimate art forms. The purpose of the Graphic Storytelling Club is to explore the various media of graphic art–ranging from superhero comics through cutting edge works, like Waltzing with Bashir–and examining them as art and as a means of storytelling, using that knowledge to produce a graphic journal.

Hiking Club

The Ramaz Hiking Club provides a welcome opportunity to get away from it all. On several days over the course of the year it allows us to get out of the city and into the fresh air of the country for some healthy exercise and genuine photo opportunities. For those overcome by constraints of a school week there is no better way to relax.

Historical Simulations Club

The Historical Simulations Club seeks to better acquaint Ramaz students with a host of different historical problems and approaches. Run very much on a “drop-in” basis, the club periodically learns new games selected by its leadership, based upon a criteria of relevance, playability and interest. In the past, the club has focused on board games such as Civilization, Axis and Allies, Shogun, Barbarians, Kingdoms and Empires, Diplomacy and Go. War games featuring hundreds of toy soldiers upon a terrained battlefield, replicating actions of the Ancient World, Renaissance, American Civil War

Students gather in the meat kitchen every Wednesday evening to package leftover foods gathered from the three Ramaz divisions. These packages are then picked up by Kosher City Harvest for distribution.

Media Watch

Anti-Semitism is not something that should go unnoticed. Thousands of articles, books, and essays are published every year branding the Jews as the perpetrators of today’s injustices in the world. In short, the world is not on our side. It is up to us to defend ourselves against these false allegations. The Media Watch Club will make it its job to raise awareness of this unnoticed injustice and teach how to counter these arguments. We must be prepared for what is out there in the real world.

Midnight Run

New York City gets cold in the winter which makes it perfect weather to go running. One Motzei Shabbat a month during the winter (November through February), go for a midnight run with Ms. Benel. Your body will heat up from the physical exercise while your heart stays warm by handing out food (sandwiches), warm scarves, and gloves to the homeless.

Mishmar

Pizza, cookies, and Rabbi Weinstock. It just doesn’t get better than that! Mishmar can satisfy both your physical and spiritual cravings as you delve into interesting topics of Jewish law and philosophy in an atmosphere of camaraderie and fun. No matter what your level of learning, there is a place for you on Thursdays at Mishmar.

Mythology Club

The world of classical Greek mythology is one of literary and moral enrichment. This world of fantasy depicts gods and heroes with feet of clay, driven by forces of jealousy, passion, ambition and false pride.

They exhibit all the human frailties and yet they have heroic proportions. These stories have lasted centuries and continue to spark the imagination.

The Mythology Club proposes reading assigned stories from texts (such as Edith Hamilton’s Mythology

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

Driver Education is offered twice a year, and is open to all students who have turned sixteen years of age

by September 15 (for the fall term) or by February 2 (for the spring term). The course includes 24 one hour lecture classes held on a weekly basis, as well as a minimum of 6 hours of in-car training.

Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes) to prepare for group discussions and related movie screenings. In the spring, members have the opportunity to compete in the Interational Medusa exam.

deal with the issues of underage drinking, drug use, impaired driving and other destructive decisions. We will be holding several school wide campaigns and creating awareness through a variety of means. If you are looking to have fun while helping kids make good decisions, the SADD club is the place for you!

Sewing Club

Students in this co-ed club meet and learn the basic techniques of sewing both by hand and machine.

Throughout the year, participants will experiment with patterns and different designs to create anything they like. However, the basic focus of the club will be that of chesed. Students sew dolls, pillows, quilts, and the like for children in hospitals, the elderly at nursing homes, as well as children personally affected by terrorism in Israel.

Physics Club

Exciting developments are happening all the time in physics, and there is often not enough time to discuss them in physics class. This club offers the opportunity to examine such contemporary developments, as well as other topics in physics that may not be covered in class. From quantum mechanics to string theory, from condensed matter to plasmas, we will use newspaper and magazine articles, as well as original research articles to study some of these topics. Students may, in addition, propose other areas of interest to them.

Programming Club

Programming Club is a place for people who would like to learn about programming computers – that is, creating pieces of software that make computers do things. Whether you know nothing about programming but would like to make your calculator do the quadratic formula, want to create your own interactive website, or are interested in making cell phone apps for worldwide distribution, come to programming club and begin the exploration.

SADD

The mission of the SADD , Students Against Destructive Decisions Club, is to provide students with the best prevention and intervention tools possible to

SPORTS Ramaz fields a number of teams throughout the school year. In most cases, our teams are members of the Yeshivah Athletic League which represents many of the yeshivah day schools throughout the New York area. In addition, we play exhibition games against other schools both in the yeshivah day school and independent school communities. Below you can find a list of most of the activities sponsored by the Ramaz athletic program.

Fall Semester

Tryouts for the following teams take place at the beginning of the school year: Girls’ Junior Varsity Basketball Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball Girls’ Varsity Basketball Boys’ Varsity Basketball Girls’ Junior Varsity Volleyball Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Boys’ Varsity Hockey Boys’ JV Hockey Table Tennis Track

Spring Semester

Tryouts for the following teams take place some time in March.

Crew Boys’ Baseball Girls’ Softball Boys’ Softball Girls’ Tennis Boys’ Tennis Boys’ Soccer Girls’ Soccer Girls’ Hockey

Intramurals

CO-CURRICULAR co-curricular

Announcements and sign-up for intramural sports normally take place in March. Intramurals are offered in Boys’ Basketball and Hockey.

RAMAZ ramBytes Did you know that...

• Our state of the art language lab and media

center enhances classroom instruction in foreign languages and Hebrew. The center comes alive at night for clubs working on print publications and video and music productions.

• Our partnership with

the Weizmann Institute in Israel enables our faculty to enhance their professional skills and develop curricula.

Students are afforded summer internships and research opportunities.

financial information contents

Financing a Ramaz Education

Tuition and Fees

Guidelines for Financial Aid

• Our Chamber Choir has

• Students have also created a website that posts old tests and notes to aid classmates in their studies.

performed at the White House, Lincoln Center, the International Arts Expo, and the North American Jewish Choral Festival.

• For over 40 years, Ramaz

• Thanks to the initiative

of one student, over 2000 pounds of leftover food from our schools was collected last year and distributed to hundreds of kosher families through City Harvest.

has been a leader in social activism among metropolitan yeshivot. Ramaz students daven outside the Iranian mission every week in protest of Iran’s position on Israel.

Financing a ramaz education an investment in ramaz lasts a lifetime To assist you in making a Ramaz education possible, we provide a number of payment plan options. Regardless of which option you choose, every contract must be returned with a $2,000 deposit, plus a $3,000 registration fee.

The interests of Ramaz as a religious and educational institution are served best by a student body drawn from all parts of the Jewish community and from all walks of life. To this end, we attempt to make available to all interested families the opportunity for the study of Torah.

For many parents, tuition is higher than can be met reasonably. For that reason, we urge parents who feel that the tuition is beyond their means to apply for financial assistance. In these challenging times, Ramaz deeply believes that financial aid is an essential expression of our values and critical for our families whose circumstances require such assistance.

Please be assured that all financial aid information is kept in the strictest of confidence. The Financial Aid Committee, which handles the determination process, is comprised solely of Ramaz employees who are senior professionals in the school.

The enclosed schedule of tuition and fees at Ramaz covers only a portion of the cost of educating each student, thus every child is subsidized, regardless of need.

Multiple Child Discount

We are pleased to offer a tuition discount to families who have more than two children enrolled at Ramaz.

Payment Plan Options

Single Payment Plan Payable July 1, 2011. FACTS (Tuition Management Program) payment is automatically withdrawn from your bank account in one payment. (www.FACTSMgt.com) Two Payment Plan Due July 2011 and December 2011, payable on the 1st or 15th of the month. FACTS (Tuition Management

Program) payments are automatically withdrawn from your bank account in two payments. (www.FACTSMgt. com) Ten Payment Plan Starting in July, payable on the 1st or 15th of the month.

FACTS (Tuition Management Program) payments are automatically withdrawn from your bank account in ten monthly payments. (www.FACTSMgt.com) Credit Card Payment FACTS (Tuition Management Program) payments are automatically charged to your Mastercard or American Express account. A 3% service fee will be added to your account. (www.FACTSMgt.com) Starting in July, payable using one of the above payment plans.

Financial Assistance

For Financial Aid instructions and forms please go to www.ramaz.org/Financial Aid. Families must re-apply for financial aid each year.

Questions?

The Ramaz Business Office

Phone: 212-774-8000, ext.6187 Email: businessoffice@ramaz.org

The Ramaz Financial Aid Office Phone: 212-774-8035 Fax: 212-774-8068 Email: financialaid@ramaz.org

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Policy Statement on Tuition and Financial Aid

tuition and fees

Middle School and Upper School

Grades 5/6 Grades 7/8

2011-2012 Tuition $22,275 $22,325 2011-2012 Foundation Pledge Equivalent 3,000 3,000 Registration 3,000 3,000 Student Activities 1,300 1,300 Breakfast & Lunch 1,000 1,000 Security 250 250 1,000 1,000 Educational Materials Second Set of Books 300 300 Senior Fee

Grade 9 Grades 10 /11 Grade 12 $22,400

$22,850

3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 1,300 1,300 1,000 1,000 250 250 1,000 1,000 300 300

Total $32,125 $32,175 $32,250

$32,700

$22,900 3,000 3,000 1,300 1,000 250 1,000 300 750

$33,500

Early childhood center and lower school

Nursery

Pre-K

Kindergarten

Grades 1-4

2011-2012 Tuition $18,150 $18,500 $19,200 $20,525 2011-2012 Foundation 2,000 2,300 3,000 3,000 Pledge Equivalent

Registration 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 Student Activities 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,150 Lunch & Snack 900 1,000 1,000 1,000 Security 250 250 250 250

Educational Materials 500 500 750 1,000

Total $25,800 $26,550 $28,200 $29,925

Bus Transportation

The School assists parents by arranging for private transportation of children before and after school. There is private bus service to several communities, and in most instances, service is door to door. In order to accommodate Upper School students, late buses are available to most neighborhoods. Fees for private transportation are contracted separately through the School. The NYC Board of Education does not provide bus service for Upper School students. Students may be eligible for subsidized public transportation, as determined by the New York City Bureau of Pupil Transportation.

Ramaz Annual Campaign and Dinner

Proceeds from the Annual Campaign and Dinner are directed to the Scholarship, Curriculum Development and Special Education Funds. Parents are encouraged to give and/or raise contributions to one of these funds.

2012-2013 We hope that this information will be helpful to you by outlining the various steps required to apply for financial aid. In order to assist us in reviewing applications and to make applying for financial aid as equitable as possible, we use the FACTS Grant and Aid Application in conjunction with the RAMAZ Application for Financial Aid. Each family must complete both applications: a) FACTS Application; and b) Ramaz School Application.

1. Please complete the FACTS Application online at www.factstuitionaid.com. A non-refundable $25 fee is required.

You will be instructed on how to pay via the internet.

2. The Ramaz School Application for Financial Aid should be downloaded at www.ramaz.org/financialaid.

Completed applications should be mailed directly to Ramaz at 114 E 85th Street, NY, NY, 10028 Attn: Financial Aid. • Please type the forms or print neatly.

• Take care not to leave any blank spaces. “Zero” must be entered if no other entry is appropriate.

• The forms should be signed and dated where indicated.

3. The FACTS and Ramaz Financial Aid applications should be submitted by March 30, 2012. We understand that your 2011 tax return may not be completed by the application date. If this is the case, please send copies of your 2010 tax return along with your 2011 W-2 forms.

4. It is important that both applications be submitted; one without the other is not sufficient.

5. Please understand that final decisions on applications cannot be made until all of the required documentation is received.

6. If you have any questions regarding the FACTS application, you may call the FACTS Customer Care Representative at 866-315-9262, Monday through Thursday from 10:00AM until 7:00PM (Central Standard Time), Friday 10:00AM until 5:00PM (Central Standard Time).

7. Should you have any questions concerning the Ramaz Financial Aid Application or the financial aid process, please feel free to contact Benjamin Brown at Ramaz at 212-774-8035.

An application cannot be reviewed until all previous financial obligations have been met.

If there is anything that we can do to assist you in this process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Ramaz School Financial Aid Office 114 East 85th Street New York, NY 10028 Tel: 212-774-8035 Fax: 212-774-8068 E-mail: financialaid@ramaz.org

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

guidelines for financial aid

The Ramaz Upper School Admissions Office 60 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075 Phone: 212-774-8093 Fax: 212-774-8099 admissions@ramaz.org ramaz.org/admissions