Isaac Sapoznik, Class of 2003, writes in:
There has been nothing excellent about the last couple of disastrous years. Because of Rabbi Lefkowitz I have began on a religious path that no other Rabbi has ever led me on. Rabbi Lefkowitz takes the time to answer any question I have and always wants to sit down to learn with me whenever I am town. Let me remind you I AM GRADUATING COLLEGE IN MAY! This is 4 years since I have had a class with Rabbi Lefkowitz. If he shows dedication to a single student outside of school 4 years after graduation, imagine the impact he is making on kids everyday at the school.
Commitment to excellence is a propaganda comment. I went to Hillel before the so called commitment to excellence and I was just as prepared for college as anyone is after the so called plan. I go to the University of Florida and I have over a 3.5 GPA. This was and is a very hard school to get in and I was very prepared.
This is before that so called commitment with the same exact teachers you are firing.
Look who is gone: Mrs. Gorin, Mrs. Konovitch, Mr. LEIBERSFELD, Mr. Feilich, Ms. Fishbein, all since the commitment to excellence. Please look at the colleges the students from 2003 were accepted to and went to: Harvard, Yale, Tufts, Princeton that is just to name a few. Please tell me the lack of excellence going on?
Firing these teachers just proves how incompetent the decision making process is. I don’t beleive in their commitment. I believe I went to an excellent school that I would have sent my kids to back then. Today? I don’t even know what kind of school it is. All I know is that they are firing the teachers that everyone KNOWS and LOVES. Why is that so excellent? These teachers have obviously made an impact on sooo many of these kids lives. Just look at the amount of posts and support on this website as well as other online sits (a.K.a Facebook. Since your “Commitment” there has been 3 administration changes. How could administrators in charge for no more than 1 year have any clue as to who to fire or who to keep?
Re-think your so called “Commitment to Excellence” because the school that you are changing was excellent before you even got there.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Concerned Citizen // Mar 28, 2007 at 10:03 am
Mrs. GALLUP
2 Isaac Sapoznik // Mar 28, 2007 at 10:24 am
I am sure there are sooo many more teachers that I did not mention, Mrs. Steiner also is leaving unfortunately. Those are just a few to name.
3 Isaac Sapoznik // Mar 28, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Mrs. Cohen our old art teacher
4 Michael Abadi // Mar 28, 2007 at 2:50 pm
To whom this may concern:
Another issue that has not been fought upon, is Rabbi Parsons. Rabbi Parsons will be demoted, from what i hear, he will no longer be “activities director” and will be placed as an assistant to Mrs. Rosenberg. This is a big mistake! Rabbi Parsons is the link between the students and the administration/faculty. He’s been there for a lifetime, and instead of moving up in position, they lower him. Because of Rabbi Parsons and Rabbi Lefkowitz, all the shabbatons and student-made trips were hosted by them. I once felt it would be a great trip to go to Islands of Adventures and guess what… later that month we took about 30 students to the park!!! It was one of the greatest trips of my life, only becasue they made it happen. One must also understand it is tough for such close Rabbis who have teamed up in many events and teachings, to just seperate them. Im sure Rabbi Parson’s going through a tough time seeing his best friend go through this and not him. As for Rabbi Lefkowitz, he has been one of the greatest and most understanding down-to-earth Rabbi’s at Hillel. I still to this day get calls from him checking up on me. These are the personal relationships that make Hillel, HILLEL!
Sincerely,
Michael Abadi
5 Isaac Sapoznik // Mar 28, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I did not hear about Rabbi Parsons. Obviously they can add that do their list of unwarranted mistakes.
6 Student // Mar 29, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Mrs. Konovitch is still here thank god!
7 Concerned Citizen // Apr 1, 2007 at 11:22 am
Don’t fix what ain’t broken!
8 Former teacher // Apr 2, 2007 at 12:18 am
Sinyor states: “We are focused on becoming a model for Jewish education in the United States.” In fact, Mr. Senyor, Hillel’s follies have made it the laughing stock of Jewish education; A virtual “How to” of bringing down an excellent Jewish educational institution. Witness the growth and achievements of other schools that once lagged behind Hillel. In fact, the vision Mr. Russ describes is nothing but a sham, smoke and mirrors. Give the school back to genuine Jewish educators and put it back on track.
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