Ninth grade cancelled at Shulamith H.S. next year

By Mayer Fertig

Issue of March 20, 2009 / 24 Adar 5769

Parents who thought their daughters would attend Shulamith High School in September must make other arrangements. Last week the school informed incoming freshmen that there would be no new class.

“We sought to have a ninth grade for September in the same way we have approached it in the past,” said Rabbi Saul Chill, the high school principal, in a statement. “Open houses, interviews, speaking to elementary school principals etc… We accepted over 25 applicants. We were told by the board we need 13-14 to have a ninth grade. When all was said and done, we had only 4 applicants.”

Students had been told to apply to at least two schools, he noted, as they are every year.

The announcement is a blow to parents who hope the Brooklyn-based older sister of Bnot Shulamith can be maintained despite the administration's plan to shut it down. Fewer modern Orthodox families in Brooklyn make Shulamith unsustainable, school officials believe, though some parents blame declining enrollment on a failure to recruit new students. Shulamith School for Girls was the first Orthodox all-girls school in the United States.