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Torah Academy of Bergen County

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Coordinates: 40°54′17″N 74°00′07″W / 40.904722°N 74.001955°W / 40.904722; -74.001955
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Torah Academy of Bergen County
Address
Map
1600 Queen Anne Road

Teaneck
,
Bergen County
,
New Jersey
07666

United States
Coordinates40°54′17″N 74°00′07″W / 40.904722°N 74.001955°W / 40.904722; -74.001955
Information
TypePrivate, all-male Yeshiva high school
Established1982
NCES School IDAA001514[1]
Head of schoolRabbi Shlomo Stochel
Faculty47.5 FTEs[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment327 (as of 2019–20)[1]
Student to teacher ratio6.9:1[1]
Color(s)  Royal Blue and
  Gold
Team nameStorm
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[2]
NewspaperEye of the Storm
Storm Watch
Kol Torah
Science and Medical Report
AffiliationModern Orthodox Judaism
Websitewww.tabc.org

Torah Academy of Bergen County (commonly referred to as TABC) is a four-year yeshiva high school located in Teaneck, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school utilizes a split-schedule day offering both Jewish studies and college preparatory secular courses. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2005.[2]

TABC is run by Rabbi Shlomo Stochel, Head of School; the Rosh HaYeshiva is Rabbi Joshua Kahn. Rabbi Michael Hoenig is the Mashgiach Ruchani (religious life guidance counselor).[3]

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 of 6.9:1. The school's student body was 100% White.[1]

Academic programs

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Various Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered primarily to juniors and seniors, such as AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Physics, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, and AP United States History.

The building hosts a second school called the SINAI Special Needs Institute.[4] 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.[5]

Extracurricular activities

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TABC has a number of extracurricular activities, some that do well even on the international level. The school's Mock trial 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 in Charlotte, North Carolina without being required to compete during the Jewish Sabbath.[6]

The school has an International Bible Contest (Chidon HaTanach) team which is coached by Rabbi Neil Winkler.[7] In 2017, junior Shlomi Helfgot placed 4th in the world in the international competition which takes place in Jerusalem on Yom HaAtzma'ut.[8]

The school also has a notable Science Olympiad Team,[9] having won the Yeshiva League for the past 6 years, as well as College Bowl,[10] with Junior Varsity having been undefeated since 2014.

Athletics

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TABC has various sports teams, including baseball, softball, basketball, hockey and wrestling and others.[11]

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.[12]

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 nine times (1997–1998, 2002–2003, 2008–2009, 2009–2010, 2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2012–2013, 2013–2014, 2017–2018 and 2022-2023).

TABC's wrestling team had placed 3rd in the Wittenberg Championships from 2007 to 2010.[13] 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.[14] 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.[13] 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.[15]

The school also has both a varsity and junior varsity basketball team coached by former St. John's assistant Coach Oswald Cross.[16]

The Yeshiva University 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.[17] 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 Warriors on a last second shot, but were defeated in the second round by eventual-champion DRS Wildcats 34–31.

Controversies

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Homophobia

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In 2015, TABC student Akiva Hirsch wrote an article in Eye of The Storm speaking out against the "overbearing homophobia in this school."[18] TABC did not issue a response to the article. Hirsch later left the school.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e School data for Torah Academy of Bergen County, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed March 10, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Torah Academy of Bergen County, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed November 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Administrators, Faculty & Staff Directory, Torah Academy of Bergen County. Accessed January 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Palmer, Joanne. "Sinai to open new school". jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  5. ^ "TABC Students Engage in Meaningful Chesed". SINAI Schools. November 5, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Lipman, Steve (April 14, 2005). "TABC Mock Trial Team Already Winner". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  7. ^ "Mazel Tov! RYNJ Winners in National Chidon HaTanach". www.rynj.org. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  8. ^ Schwartz, Bracha (May 4, 2017). "Teaneck Students Place in Top Ten at Chidon HaTanach in Jerusalem". The Jewish Link. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  9. ^ Robinson, Heather. "TABC boys take grand prize in Yeshiva Science Olympiad". jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "TABC sweeps College Bowl competitions at The Jewish Education Project | The Jewish Education Project". www.jewishedproject.org. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Athletic Teams, Torah Academy of Bergen County. Accessed June 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Pincus, Helen Weiss. "Soapbox; Exhibition Games", The New York Times, April 9, 2000. Accessed June 27, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Yeshiva University Henry Wittenberg Wrestling Invitational, Yeshiva University wrestling. Accessed September 8, 2011.
  14. ^ Wittenberg Tournament 2010 Place Winners, Yeshiva University wrestling. Accessed September 8, 2011.
  15. ^ Jerusalem Marathon 2016, March 18, 2016.
  16. ^ Leichman, Joseph. "Coach Oswald ‘Oz’ Cross, Named New Coach of TABC Basketball Teams" Jewish Link of New Jersey, September 24, 2015. Accessed December 21, 2015. "TABC is excited to announce Coach Oswald 'Oz' Cross as the head coach of the Junior Varsity and Varsity Storm basketball teams. Coach Oz has 15 years of coaching experience, winning championships at Our Savior Lutheran High School, serving on Coach Norm Robert's staff at St. John's University and coaching the prestigious New York City AAU Team Scan. Through his coaching, he has worked with players as successful as Brooklyn Nets draft pick Chris McCullough and McDonald's All American, Thomas Bryant."
  17. ^ Teams, Red Sarachek Tournament. Accessed April 19, 2012.
  18. ^ Hirsch, Akiva (March 6, 2015). "Homophobia at TABC". Torah Academy of Bergen County. Internet Archive | Eye of the Storm. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
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