Why I chose Ohr Moshe:

 

It all started in 7th grade when I moved from my wonderful elementary school to junior high school.  We chose this junior high because my brother loved it and it seemed the next logical step.

 

I loved my junior high school.  It truly was as good as my brother had said. The only problem was that I wasn’t able to quite keep up with the speed the class. There was too much homework for me, and in general I needed a slower-paced, more relaxed type of environment, so I was placed into a “Kita Mekademet” – a special ed. class. 

 

 I had a lot of friends in other classes in the school. The school was great. My special ed.  class… not so much. The Kita Mekademet was for kids who had all kinds of problems. This included behavioral issues in addition to learning disabilities.  Academically, I was doing great in that class. I would come home with really good scores on almost every test. But the kids in the class were picking on me. They were calling me names, hitting me, insulting me, putting me down and just in general being cruel. My parents took me out of the Kita Mikademet when they realized that I was even afraid to go to the bathroom by myself. I was homeschooled for the rest of that year.

 

A friend recommended a school that was just starting and said that he liked it. This friend was the ONE kid in my Kita Mikademet who was friends with me. So, considering he recommended it, we decided to check it out.

 

Ohr Moshe was quite small at first, only two teachers and three kids besides me. Just as I was beginning to think that the school was too small, two more kids showed up to try it out. They lived very far away and made the trip in every day, which made me realize just how good the school must be, so I stayed. And boy was ever it worth it.

 

I couldn’t begin to explain what Ohr Moshe has done for me. After my first year we moved into a more suitable place. Suddenly there were more teachers and more subjects. More people started getting interested in the school and trying it out, and the school grew. The teachers worked like crazy to do what was best for the school and the kids. They reached out to kids like me, who had pretty much nowhere else to go and no one to take them in, and brought them in with wide open arms and a warm and welcoming heart. It was perfect. They helped me get through a lot, telling me that just because someone can’t really make it in a regular school, shouldn’t mean they have to give up. They taught me to believe in who I am, and who I really could be.  They are the sweetest people you can meet. It was like a medicine that worked like magic.

 

If it hadn’t been for Ohr Moshe I don’t know where I would be right now. You truly just don’t find any other place like it. It’s like a sanctuary where you can be sure that you are safe from pressure of both kids and the educational material getting ahead of you. They specialize in giving you, and you personally, exactly what you need. For example: in Ohr Moshe, if you are 14 years old, you might be in the same math class as a 12 year old, and the same geography class as a 16 year old. It’s all according to what level you are in that subject. And they have the best rule ever: absolutely NO bullying.  Yes, I know what you’re thinking: “every school has that rule!”  Yes, but they don’t necessarily act on it the way this school does. We don’t tolerate any bullying. The school has taught us that, whether we like it or not, we are all equals. And when you bully other smaller kids, you are not being tough, you are being immature. This school does everything in its power to prevent bullying. In was built on that standard. And the kids understand that bullying is not the right thing to do.

 

The school has improved so much over the years.  It’s a shame that I have to leave in two years because I’m in 11^th grade now. I would have loved to see Ohr Moshe in ten years from now because if it did so well in three years, then I can’t imagine how successful they will be in later years. Sure, it can be hard at times, but I know that I’m going into the world with hope, confidence and useful knowledge, and so much more, thanks to Ohr Moshe.

So, you’re wondering why I like Ohr Moshe? It’s because, like many other kids, this is the perfect place for me, and it is like a second home. I don’t have to  wonder what I’m  going to do the next day or how the day is going to be, because I know that I’ll be going to this awesome place where the teachers love us, and do the best they can for us. That’s why I chose Ohr Moshe.