The JDS seniors are counting down their remaining days of high school, but are they ready to move on to college? Has JDS adequately prepared them for the next level of learning?
With only half a year of school, it is hard for seniors to study as extensively in all subjects as students in other schools may be able to do.

According to Math Department Chair John Watkins-Chow, seniors in college prep and honors sections do not get to Calculus BC, as opposed to those in scholars sections, however, the seniors are in Israel during the AP exams.

“We just have some restrictions because of the way we’re set up,” said Academic Dean Gill Cook, former faculty member at Georgetown University.

When asking JDS graduates if they wished they had AP’s, Ari Kestler (’01), a biology major at University of Michigan felt strongly that JDS should have AP classes. Zak Maltzman (’03), a business major at the University of Maryland, agreed, “It’s so unfair how other students in college come in with AP college credit.”

JDS tries to compensate for the lost time senior year.

“The teachers who have degrees and experience in their areas are allowed to design their own curriculum rather than somebody from a school board designing the curriculum. We have academic freedom [at JDS] and that’s what makes the biggest difference,” said science teacherKimberly Agzigian, former faculty member at the College of New Jersey, Texas A&M and the University of New Jersey.

According to Cook, the school also holds very high expectations for its students and pushes them to succeed.

“Our kids have told us that the expectations at JDS are higher than at college,” said Cook.

The reason for the higher expectations may be credited to the school’s former faculty members.

A number of teachers have taught in institutions of higher learning and therefore recognize what is necessary for their students to know in order to prepare them for college. “I really do know what it takes to be successful in biology areas, so I push my students very hard,” said Agzigian.

“Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am still teaching high school students,” said English teacher Thomas Worden, former faculty member at the University of Colorado and Georgetown University.

Teachers who have come here have been surprised with how students compare to college students. Agzigian was not as eagerly anticipating teaching seventh-graders, but after 45 minutes, she was sold. “Those 12-year-olds asked better questions than my pre-med students did,” she said.

Ginger Thornton, former faculty member at Texas A&M and the University of Virginia and current English teacher, agrees.

“The quality of the students [surprised me] by far. I mean, my ninth-grade class last year wrote better than the kids I taught at A&M,” she said.

To compensate for missing a second semester, students are required to take an English elective, like Creative Writing or Film, but an extra science is optional.

While some feel that science is not the school’s focus, graduates have said that they feel prepared in humanities classes, which makes sense since more than half the teachers in the English Department have taught in colleges.

Also, the additional Judaic studies are essentially Humanities classes, which concentrate on analyzing primary sources as well as writing essays. Because of this, a JDS student could possibly have seven humanities courses and only two math and science classes in a semester.

However, some alumni feel that this emphasis on Humanities is disadvantageous when they begin college.

“I feel like JDS’ top priority is English, but when you get to college you don’t have to write a perfect thesis on The Great Gatsby,” said Rebecca Matlzman (’01) currently a political science major at Northwestern University.

Nevertheless, many agree that academically, JDS poses more challenging problems than college does.

“Most colleges are a lot less work than JDS, especially at the undergraduate level. They don’t ask you to think and apply like we do here, at least not until you get into a lot higher classes,” Agzigian said.

Many graduates feel that college seems almost on par, or at times easier than JDS. “The education and the motivation we were given at JDS makes college seem like a small stepping stone in education,” said Robert Lavenstein (’04), who also attends Northwestern.

Students leave JDS largely prepared academically, but leaving home is another hard transition.

“I think that transition has more to do with students leaving here because this is such a close knit community and in college they don’t immediately have that sense of community.

It takes time for each person to find his or her place in the college community,” said Head of Guidance Marti Herskovitz.

“I think when students get to college they expect it to be really difficult academically, but they don’t expect the real challenge to be personal growth,” said Dr. David Solomon, English Department Chair and co-director of University of Maryland, College Park’s Scholars in the Arts program.

When asked compare stress levels, Lavenstein said, “It’s a different type of stress because in college you’re more independent and you lack social support. The faculty members and the TAs who are grading you could care less.”

Rebecca said that if there is one thing she learned at JDS it is “how to study. I felt more prepared than others in college in how to do work.”

Many alumni have expressed feeling over-prepared for college or that college is even easier than JDS.

“You probably won’t work any harder than you did here [at JDS], but if you work hard, I think this is the time to do it because I think some of the relaxation in college comes from the fact that you’ve set yourself up so well,” Worden said. “I would much rather have a strong push in the beginning.”