Torah Academy of Bergen County (commonly referred to as TABC) is a four-year

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

, in

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. The school utilizes a split-schedule day offering both

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (e ...

and

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

secular courses. The school has been accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atl ...

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2005.Torah Academy of Bergen County

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed November 9, 2017. TABC is run by Rabbi Shlomo Stochel, Head of School; the ''

Rosh HaYeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

'', Rabbi Yosef Adler; Rabbi Steven Finklestein, Associate Principal; and Rabbi Dr. Michael Atlas, Assistant Principal. Rabbi Michael Hoenig is the ''

Mashgiach Ruchani A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position wit ...

'' (religious life guidance counselor). As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 327 students and 47.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 6.9:1. The school's student body was 100% White.School data for Torah Academy of Bergen County

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...

. Accessed March 10, 2022.

Academic programs

Various

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) courses are offered primarily to juniors and seniors, such as

AP Biology Advanced Placement (AP) Biology (also known as AP Bio) is an Advanced Placement biology course and exam offered by the College Board in the United States. For the 2012–2013 school year, the College Board unveiled a new curriculum with a greater ...

AP Calculus Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / Calc BC or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculus AB cover ...

AP English Language and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition (also known as AP English Language, APENG, or AP Lang) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. When AP exams were first implemen ...

AP English Literature and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition (also known as Senior AP English, AP Lit, APENG, or AP English IV) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United State ...

AP Physics In the United States, Advanced Placement (AP) Physics collectively refers to the College Board Advanced Placement Program courses and exams covering various areas of physics. These are intended to be equivalent to university courses that use bes ...

AP Psychology Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology (also known as AP Psych) and its corresponding exam are part of College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course is tailored for students interested in the field of psychology and as an opportunity to ...

AP Statistics Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics (also known as AP Stats) is a college-level high school statistics course offered in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program. This course is equivalent to a one semester, non-ca ...

, and

AP United States History Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History or APUSH () is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. Course The AP U.S. History course is designe ...

. The building hosts a second school called the SINAI Special Needs Institute. The program serves children of below to above average intelligence with different degrees of learning disability and a wide variety of behavioral characteristics, whose needs could not be addressed by traditional Jewish day school programs and curricula. The students have separate administrators and teachers from TABC, though they share some classrooms.

Extracurricular activities

TABC has a number of extracurricular activities, some that do well even on the international level. The school's

Mock trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...

team was the 2005 New Jersey State Champions and received press coverage both in the Tri-State Region as well as overseas for its efforts to gain accommodations to participate in the

National High School Mock Trial Championship The National High School Mock Trial Championship is an American nationwide competition of high school mock trial teams. Hundreds, and even thousands of teams participate in district, regional, and state tournaments to select one champion team to re ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

without being required to compete during the Jewish Sabbath. The school has an International Bible Contest (Chidon HaTanach) team which is coached by Rabbi Neil Winkler. In 2017, junior Shlomi Helfgot placed 4th in the world in the international competition which takes place in Jerusalem on

Yom HaAtzma'ut Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonie ...

. The school also has a notable Science Olympiad Team, having won the Yeshiva League for the past 6 years, as well as College Bowl, with Junior Varsity having been undefeated since 2014.

Athletics

TABC has various sports teams, including baseball, softball, basketball, hockey and wrestling and others. In an effort to build inter-community relationships in Teaneck, former Torah Academy athletic director Bobby Kaplan and then assistant principal Rabbi Tzvi Grumet, arranged for the TABC Storm to play a pair of exhibition basketball games in 2000 against the Knights of the Al-Ghazaly High School, a Muslim high school in the township. The varsity hockey team has won the MYHSAL championship five times (1997–1998, 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2012-2013 and 2015–2016). The JV team has won the MYHSAL championship a record eight times (1997–1998, 2002–2003, 2008–2009, 2009–2010, 2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2012–2013, 2013–2014, and 2017–2018). TABC is known as a hockey powerhouse and both teams have made the championship consistently. TABC's wrestling team had placed 3rd in the Wittenberg Championships from 2007 to 2010. In 2009, TABC had six finalists and two champions. In 2010, TABC had three champions - Navid Ahdoot (112 lbs), Evan Friedlander (171 lbs) and Dovid Greenfield (285 lbs) - as well as several second and third place wrestlers. In 2011 TABC placed second overall with three first-place winners including Shimmy Auman, Evan Friedlander, Dovid Greenfield. In 2013, TABC won Wittenberg with three champions, and eleven total placers. TABC wrestlers Efraim Ellman, Dovid Greenfield, Navid Ahdoot, Ramin Ahdoot and Lior Shachar have been inducted into the Wittenberg Hall of Fame.Yeshiva University Henry Wittenberg Wrestling Invitational

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

wrestling. Accessed September 8, 2011. TABC Wrestling has also continued to place well at Wittenberg even fielding smaller teams. They have wrestled at the Brick Memorial Tournament, The Randolph Wrestling Tournament, The North Bergen Wrestling Tournament, and more. 2016-2017 saw another individual first-place finish from Ben Antosofsky 19' (126 lbs), as well as more high placements. In 2017-2018 Dovid Meiseles took home 1st, with a myriad of 2nd - 5th-place finishes backing him up. The TABC track team was undefeated in 2014–2015, 2015-2016, and 2016–2017. The team is coached by alumnus Shmuel Knoller ('13). Notably, Zachary Greenberg came in 3rd place in his age group in the Jerusalem Marathon in 2016. The school also has both a varsity and junior varsity basketball team coached by former St. John's assistant Coach Oswald Cross. The

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

Red Sarachek basketball tournament plays some of its games in the TABC gym, for which they received an award in 2004. TABC also participated in Sarachek in 2012, entering the tournament as the 13th seed and finishing ranked #12 overall. In 2016, TABC again participated in the tournament, entering as the #9 seed. In the first round, TABC defeated the

Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy The Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy, is a coeducational, yeshiva and college preparatory, Religious Zionism, Zionistic, private, Modern Orthodox Judaism, Modern Orthodox Jewish day school, located in Miami Beach, Florida. The school has b ...

Warriors on a last second shot, but were defeated in the second round by eventual-champion DRS Wildcats 34–31.

Controversies

Homophobia

In 2015, TABC student Akiva Hirsch wrote an article in Eye of The Storm speaking out against the "overbearing homophobia in this school."
Homophobia at TABC. Accessed March 6, 2015 TABC did not issue a response to this article. Hirsch later left the school.

References

External links

Torah Academy of Bergen CountyKol TorahIsrael Report
{{authority control 1982 establishments in New Jersey Boys' schools in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1982 Jewish day schools in New Jersey Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States Modern Orthodox Judaism in New Jersey Private high schools in Bergen County, New Jersey Teaneck, New Jersey Orthodox yeshivas in New Jersey