Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy’s upper school has recently earned Gold status in the College Board’s 2023 AP School Honor Roll. This award is based on both the percentage of seniors who take advanced placement tests and their performance on those exams.
“BCHA Upper School is a school of leaders, not followers,” said David Giver, upper school principal at BCHA. “Our strength is in knowing who we are and what we are capable of and helping our students to clear the paths ahead of them and in doing so, helping them to discover the people they will become.”
Other recent awards include Lockheed Martin Codequest—10th in the United States, Rockefeller Program—top 30 out of 6,000 applicants, MathCon Finals (held in Chicago)—Honorable Mention (they placed between 4 and 10 in the country for their grade) out of 1,500 participants, and Mathematical Contest in Modeling (Consortium of Mathematics and its Application)—Honorable Mention. Nine American schools/universities qualified and BCHA was the only high school to qualify.
BCHA’s growth is also seen in its athletic programs. The school is a member of the Fairchester Athletic Association, a group of regional college preparatory schools that compete as individual members. Besides BCHA, the FAA members include King School, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country Day, St. Luke’s and Cardinal King schools.
BCHA offers team sports for both boys and girls for all three seasons for high schoolers. Volleyball, flag football, basketball, and tennis are currently offered; golf and wrestling are works in progress. Middle school competes in cross country, volleyball, tennis and basketball.
When it comes to the lower school, Nicole Makovsky, director of Early Childhood at BCHA, has plenty of reasons to smile. With all the stellar programming going on last year and continuing this school year, enrollment has surged. To accommodate the influx of students entering both pre-k and kindergarten, BCHA had to add an entirely new classroom and several teachers.
“Our amazing faculty create classroom environments to include all children and their different needs,” said Mrs. Makovsky. “Our teachers are always looking for the best way to teach and incorporate different ideas into the classroom. You can feel the warmth when you walk into the classrooms. The teachers are always engaging the kids with love and enthusiasm.”
Summing up the reason for all of these successes, Rabbi Tzvi Bernstein, head of school, said, “The feeling within our building each and every school day is exciting, uplifting and inspirational. The sounds of children and young adults learning happily, sharing their ideas, expressing their interests, growing in their Torah and general studies in order to ensure a bright future filled with opportunities to achieve their personal goals permeates every classroom, office and shared space. It is really quite extraordinary.”
Please join BCHA to see the school for yourself. The upper dchool Open House is scheduled for Sunday, October 22 at 10 a.m. The lower school Open House is scheduled for Sunday, October 29 at 10 a.m. If you would like to visit BCHA at another time, contact Bonnie Marcus, director of Admissions, at [email protected].
