The Ramaz School is an American

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Modern Orthodox day school which offers a dual curriculum of general studies taught in English and Judaic studies taught in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. The school is located on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It has an early childhood center (nursery-kindergarten), a lower school (1st-4th grade), a middle school (5th-8th grade), and an upper school (9th-12th grade). The Ramaz Upper School is a college preparatory program designed to develop an appreciation for and understanding of the intellectual disciplines that are part of western civilization. The Judaic studies curriculum provides a program through which the religious and cultural tradition of Judaism is both taught and experienced. It is located on East 78th Street, seven city blocks (0.5 km) away from the other two school buildings located on East 85th Street. Approximately fifty percent of the upper school student body advances from the Middle School. Students commute from

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, Westchester, and Nassau counties in New York; Stamford and

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

; and metropolitan

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Some students attend on a weekly or less frequent basis, coming from more distant communities. Ramaz was founded in 1937 and is affiliated with

Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun (abbreviated as KJ or CKJ) is a Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 126 East 85th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The synagogue was founded in 1872. The syna ...

("KJ"), a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

located on East 85th Street which shares a building with the lower school and is across the street from the middle school. The congregation and its rabbi, Joseph Lookstein, helped to found and finance the school. Architect James Rossant designed the modernist upper school building, completed in 1981. In 2007, the school was featured in the ''Wall Street Journal'' for its exceptional acceptance rates into elite universities.

History

Founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein through the generosity of New York lawyer and philanthropist Max J. Etra, Ramaz takes its name from the initials of Rabbi Moses Zevulun Margolies, the grandfather-in-law of Lookstein. The former principal, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, is the son of Joseph Lookstein and was a member of the first class of six students. Classes were held in many locations over the years, including the vestry rooms of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. After the closing of Finch College, Ramaz bought the college's campus and renovated the buildings. In 2007, Joyce Villarin, a former nurse at the school, treated a child for an injury that he claimed his father caused. Villarin contacted the father who admitted to injuring his son. The Ramaz administration told Villarin not to report the incident to the police. Villarin did report this and was fired in 2008 because the school thought that she was "not a team player." Villarin sued the school in Manhattan Supreme Court in 2009, arguing that the state's Social Services Law obligated her to report the potential abuse. Under the law, school faculty are required to report to state authorities a suspicion that a child is being abused or mistreated. On November 30, 2007, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' listed Ramaz as one of the top schools for graduates entering the top eight universities in the country, with 10 out of a class of 100 (class of 2007) going to these schools. In January 2009, ''

'' reported that Ramaz lost $6 million in the collapse of the

Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

investment scheme. The Ramaz School had proposed a 28-story project to be built in place of the Lower School during 2008–2010. The building would have replaced the current school with a new building split into ten floors used by the school and topped by 18 floors of condominiums. Air rights of the adjoining synagogue would be transferred for use by the adjoining school/condo structure. The project may have had to be scaled back following a review by the city's Board of Standards & Appeals because the height is more than what is permitted at this site. The plans were withdrawn by the school in July 2008. However, due to a fire in the adjacent

building in July 2011, the Lower school began to undergo repairs and refurbishments for water damage. Since the building was not ready to welcome students that September, the Temple Emanu-El of New York and Park Avenue Synagogue volunteered their facilities for students until November 2011. On November 8, 2011, the Lower school reopened its doors.

Co-curricular activities and athletics

The Ramaz School's team name is the Ramaz Rams, and their logo is a Ram's head. Ramaz fields a number of competitive and recreational athletic teams throughout the school year. In the Upper School, there are varsity teams for both boys and girls in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and floor hockey; these teams compete in both the Yeshiva High School Athletic League and local independent school leagues. Ramaz also fields

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, swim,

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, and track teams. Ramaz's academic teams include their Mock Trial team, which competes in the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

's statewide competition and won the New York State competition in 2002 and the New York City competition four times. Ramaz's Model Congress team participates in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Model Congress tournaments, and their Model UN team competes in the annual

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

National Model United Nations event. Additionally, Ramaz's College Bowl team participates in independent tournaments, their Math Team competes in the New York Math League and the Mandelbrot Competition, the

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Club competes in the Yeshiva Chess League, the

Science Olympiad Science Olympiad, sometimes abbreviated as SciOly, is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events pertaining to various fields of science. The subjects include earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. O ...

team competes against 15 other New York and New Jersey schools in a competition administered by the Board of Jewish Education, and their Hidon HaTanakh and Torah Bowl teams compete against local Jewish Day Schools. Ramaz Upper School students have also succeeded in numerous academic competitions in both the arts and sciences, including the 2004–2005

Siemens Westinghouse Competition The Siemens Competition was a science competition for US high school students funded by the Siemens Foundation, which was administered by the College Board from 1999-2013 and by Discovery Education from 2014–2017. The Siemens Foundation released ...

, the 2007 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing, the Intel Science Competition, and the

American Mathematics Competition The American Mathematics Competitions (AMCs) are the first of a series of competitions in secondary school mathematics sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) that determine the United States of America's team for the Internati ...

. Ramaz's creative writing magazine, Parallax, has also consistently been awarded the gold medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The Ramaz Upper School also has special interest clubs, including an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Club,

Coalition for the Homeless Coalition for the Homeless is a not-for-profit advocacy group focused on homelessness in New York. The coalition has engaged in landmark litigation to protect the rights of homeless people, including the right to shelter and the right to vote, ...

, an Israel Advocacy Club, and

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

clubs. Ramaz's business investment club (BIC) has produced some hedge fund managers. The Ramaz

Chamber Choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called "chamber singers"), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting.Riemann, Hugo. Dictionary of Music'. Trans. J.A. Shedlock. A ...

has competed in national choral competitions, performed on ''CBS Sunday Morning News'', and at the White House and is featured on the ''Best of Jewish A Cappella, Volume 3''.

Notable alumni

Aviva Cantor Aviva Cantor (born 1940) is an American journalist, lecturer and author. An advocate of feminism and the democratization of Jewish communal life, Cantor has been actively involved in promoting progressive Jewish causes for over 40 years. She was a ...

(born 1940), journalist, lecturer, and author. *

Adam Ferziger Adam S. Ferziger (; born November 10, 1964, in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn) is an American intellectual and social historian whose research focuses on Jewish religious movements and religious responses to secularization and assimilation in ...

(born 1964), historian * Ari Gold (1974–2021), pop singer and songwriter *

Shai Held Shai Held (born July 2, 1971) is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at the Hadar institute, which he founded in 2006 with Rabbis Elie Kaunfer and Ethan Tucker. Education Held attended Ramaz High School and studied at Yeshivat HaMi ...

(born 1971), rosh yeshiva of Mechon Hadar *

Isaac Herzog Isaac "Bougie" Herzog (; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the president of Israel. He is the first president to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence. Son of former Is ...

(born 1960), 11th

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

, former Israeli Tourism Minister, Chairman of the Labor party, head of the opposition, and son of former Israeli President

Chaim Herzog Chaim Herzog (; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Israeli politician, military officer, lawyer and author who served as the president of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Dublin, the son of Ireland' ...

* Matthew Hiltzik (born 1972), CEO and President of Hiltzik Strategies, a consulting and communications firm * Sam Lassner (born 1992), also known as Prince Fox, DJ, songwriter, and producer *

Nathan Lewin Nathan Lewin (born January 31, 1936) is an American attorney who has argued many cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life and education Lewin was born in Łódź, Poland. His grandfather, the chief rabbi of Rzeszow, w ...

(born 1936), attorney *

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American producer, director, comedian, writer, actress, and artificial intelligence film studio head. Lyonne started her career as a child actress before expanding her career taking o ...

(born 1979), actress in ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

'' and creator of ''

Russian Doll A Russian doll (or Matryoshka) is a type of nested, wooden toy. Russian Doll or Russian Dolls may also refer to: Television series * ''Russian Doll'' (TV series), a 2019 American drama series on Netflix * ''Russian Dolls'' (2011 TV series), a ...

'', writer, director, and producer. *

Leandra Medine Leandra Medine Cohen (born December 20, 1988) is an American author, blogger, and humor writer best known for ''Man Repeller''. Early life and education Medine was born on December 20, 1988 in Manhattan. Her father, Mois Medine, is of Turkish-J ...

(born 1988), author, fashion blogger/designer * Daphne Merkin (born 1954), author and journalist * J. Ezra Merkin (born 1953), former money manager and

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

affiliate *

Peter N. Miller Peter N. Miller (born December 13, 1964) is an American historian who is President of the American Academy in Rome. He was a 1998 MacArthur Fellow. Much of his scholarship has centered on the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Europe ...

(born 1964), historian and academic *

Michael Mukasey Michael Bernard Mukasey (; born July 28, 1941) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 81st Attorney General of the United States from 2007 to 2009 and as a U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N ...

(born 1941), the 81st United States Attorney General *

Shirah Neiman Shirah Neiman (December 19, 1943 – January 4, 2025) was an American prosecutor who served for over four decades in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. She was the first woman in decades to be hired into the office' ...

(1943–2025), federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Deputy U.S. Attorney. * Haviva Ner-David (formerly Haviva Krasner-Davidson), Israeli feminist activist and rabbi *

Achinoam Nini Achinoam Nini (; born ), known professionally as Noa (), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist working internationally. She is accompanied by guitarist Gil Dor and often plays the conga drums a ...

(born 1969; known professionally as Noa), Israeli rock singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist. * Sam Nunberg (born 1981), former political advisor to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

* Joshua Prager (born 1971), author and journalist * Michael Recanati (1957–2015), businessman and philanthropist *

Philippe Reines Philippe I. Reines (; born November 25, 1969) is an American political consultant. He joined the Department of State as a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton when she became United States Secretary of State in January 2009, and was promoted to depu ...

(born 1969), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and spokesman for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton * Danielle Sassoon (born 1986), former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York * Baruch Shemtov (born 1987), fashion designer, entertainment reporter, journalist, and entrepreneur. *

Adam Szubin Adam Jacob Szubin () is an American lawyer and former government official. Szubin served as the Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and the Acting Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. He served as the ac ...

, Acting U.S. Treasury Secretary, Acting U.S.Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and Director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); lawyer at

Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1879 by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell, the firm advised on the creation of Edison General Electric and the formation o ...

. *

Larry Tanz Larry Tanz is an American entertainment industry executive. He has held executive positions with AOL Time Warner, and previously served as president and CEO of LivePlanet, as well as the president and CEO of Vuguru. He is currently the VP of G ...

(born 1970), VP of Global Television at

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Merryl Tisch Merryl H. Tisch is currently the Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees, and the former Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. She is the wife of James S. Tisch, an heir to the Loews Corporation. In November 2015, she stepped down f ...

, New York State Schools Chancellor (through 2015) * Tevi Troy, Deputy Secretary of the

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...

* David Twersky (1950–2010), journalist, Zionist activist, and peace advocate *

Elisha Wiesel Shlomo Elisha Wiesel (born June 6, 1972) is an American businessman, hedge fund manager, social activist, and philanthropist. He worked for Goldman Sachs for 25 years, serving as its chief information officer for three years, until 2019. He cur ...

(born 1972), chief information officer of

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

; hedge fund manager of Niche Plus; son of

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

, Chairman of the

Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Elie may refer to: People * Elie (given name) * Elie (surname) Places *Elie, Fife, a village in Scotland, now part of the town of Elie and Earlsferry *Elie, Manitoba, Canada **Elie, Manitoba tornado See also *Elie Hall, Grenada *Elie House, cou ...

Elizabeth Wurtzel Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel (July 31, 1967 – January 7, 2020) was an American writer, journalist, and lawyer known for the confessional memoir '' Prozac Nation'', which she published at the age of 27. Her work often focused on chronicling her person ...

(1967–2020), author of '' Prozac Nation'', journalist, attorney. Prozac Nation, ''

The Jewish Journal (Boston North) ''The Jewish Journal'' (''The Jewish Journal of Greater Boston'', formerly ''The Jewish Journal Boston North'') is an independent, community-sponsored Jewish newspaper serving the Jewish community of Essex County, Massachusetts north of Bosto ...

'', July 2, 2004.

References

External links

*
Kehilath JeshurunData for Ramaz School

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

*The Ramaz Upper School is located along East 78th Street: . The Lower and Middle School buildings are located further uptown, on East 85th Street: {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1937 Private K–12 schools in Manhattan Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States Upper East Side Orthodox Judaism in New York City Jewish day schools in New York (state) Jews and Judaism in Manhattan 1937 establishments in New York City