Carmel Academy (formerly the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy) was a Jewish private school in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, serving grades Kindergarten through 8. Also including transitional Kindergarten The school originally was located in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most popu ...

. In 2020, Carmel Academy announced their plans to close at the end of the school year.

History

The school opened in a rented space in

in 1998.Hagey, Keach.
JEWISH SCHOOL GAINS ITS OWN PLACE
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''. September 18, 2006. 6A. Retrieved on January 10, 2012.
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. The school was established by parents who were unable to send their children to the

Solomon Schechter School of Westchester The Leffell School (formerly Solomon Schechter School of Westchester) is a K–12 private, co-educational, Jewish day school in New York, United States. It was established in 1966 by Max Gelb and operates on two campuses; a Lower School (K–5) ...

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, as that school was oversubscribed. The parents wanted the teaching of the

torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

to go by themes instead of being taught chronologically, and it wanted the school to mix its instruction of world history with

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

.Berger, Joseph.
CONNECTICUT JOURNAL; A Kinder, Gentler, More Kosher Greenwich
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''. June 18, 2006. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. The school had 24 students when it opened. The school has been located in Greenwich since 2001. Originally, the school occupied areas withi
Temple Sholom
the largest synagogue in Greenwich. The school's physical education program consisted of weekly visits to the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

and basketball, played with a basketball hoop in the parking lot of the temple. In 2005 it had 108 students. In 2006 it had 130 students. In the 2000s, The Japanese School of New York had vacant buildings due to their decreased student population. In 2006, the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy purchased The Japanese School of New York's 15 Ridgeway campus from the Japanese Education Alliance for $20 million, and classes began there in September 2006. The Japanese School still uses the campus for classes. The Hebrew school leased several buildings on the campus to the Japanese school for up to eight years. In 2006, Carmel school administrators decided to place a maximum enrolment of 325 students, with a maximum of two classes with 18 students each per grade, so that the school's students receive individual attention from teachers. As of 2009, the school has about 230 students.Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy offers Hebrew language program
" '' Greenwich Time''. August 31, 2009. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. In 2020, Carmel Academy announced that they would close down at the end of the school year. A letter from Carmel referred students to the Leffell School, stating that there would be integration of Carmel programs there, although Lefell stated that Carmel was simply closing and that it was not merging into Lefell.

Campus

The campus, the former Rosemary Hall school for girls, has of space and 15 buildings. The classes of the Hebrew school and the Japanese school were held in separate buildings, while both schools shared the fieldstone gymnasium. The school was the only Jewish educational institution in the world to house a Christian chapel, St. Bede's Chapel. The company Carrere and Hastings had designed the chapel, which was completed in 1909.Backcountry Jazz.
World renowned Fairfield County jazz musician to lead fall benefit concert in Greenwich
" '' Connecticut Plus''. November 9, 2010. Retrieved on January 9, 2012.

Curriculum

The school has Judaic studies, language arts, mathematics, and science. The curriculum includes the history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew language, and information about Israel. The Hebrew language program teaches the language as a modern language, and students use literature, newspapers, poems, and songs to learn the language. The school uses the Providing Alternative Learning Strategies (PALS) program to teach students with language-based learning disabilities.

Extra-curricular activities

Extra-curricular activities include a student newspaper, Chidon HaTanach Bible Contest, E2K, student government, and the Math Olympiad.

References

External links

Carmel Academy
{{Jewish schools in the United States Schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut Private elementary schools in Connecticut Private middle schools in Connecticut Private K–8 schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1998 1998 establishments in New York (state) Greenwich, Connecticut Port Chester, New York Schools in Westchester County, New York Private elementary schools in New York (state) Private middle schools in New York (state)