Dear Beth Rivkah Administration,
As parents of high school students, we are reaching out with a heartfelt request to reconsider the current daily dismissal time of 5:10 PM.
We deeply appreciate the school’s commitment to providing a strong, well-rounded education. However, we believe the current end time is too late for the students and is having unintended consequences—both academically and emotionally.
Here are a few key concerns we’d like to raise:
Limited Time to Study at Home: With such a late dismissal, the girls often get home close to 6:00 PM. By then, they're understandably tired, and it leaves them with very little energy or time to focus on homework, review, or even decompress.
Emotional and Mental Strain: A longer school day doesn’t always lead to better academic results. In fact, it can often have the opposite effect—leading to burnout, reduced concentration, and a feeling of overwhelm.
Winter Daylight and Safety: During the winter months, the girls leave school in the dark. Finishing earlier would allow them to come home with more daylight and a stronger sense of routine and balance.
Carpool Logistics: Ending the high school day at 4:45 PM instead of 5:10 would also ease congestion and coordination for families picking up children from both the high school and elementary divisions (which finishes at 4:40 PM).
A Simple, Thoughtful Adjustment
We respectfully propose that the school day be adjusted to end at 4:45 PM. To make this possible, we suggest the following:
Begin the school day 5 minutes earlier, at 8:30 AM instead of 8:35.
Shorten each of the four 1-hour secular studies periods by just 5 minutes. These small reductions would have minimal impact on the actual teaching time, while helping create a more sustainable day for the students.
This change wouldn’t compromise the curriculum but would bring meaningful benefits—more time for rest, family, study, and personal growth. We are confident this adjustment would be in the best interest of the students’ academic success, emotional wellbeing, and overall quality of life.
Thank you for your time, and for always striving to do what’s best for our daughters.
Warmly,
My daughter is exhausted by the time she gets home. It is way too late to be starting homework and she has no time to just be a kid.