Golda Och Academy operates two schools:
Lower Schools (grades Pre-K-5)
Wilf Lower School Campus
122 Gregory Avenue
West Orange, NJ 07052
(973) 602-3700, (973) 669-8689 (fax)
Upper School (grades 6-12)
Eric F. Ross Campus
1418 Pleasant
(973) 602-3600, (973) 669-0034 (fax)
At Golda Och Academy, a key question is: Who is wise? And the answer is: one who learns from all persons.
This belief is conveyed throughout the grades and all across the curriculum, reflecting the convictions that learning is sacred and that role of teachers is to guide students toward the consolidation and mastery of knowledge
Golda Och Academy, (formerly Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union) which opened in September 1965, was, and still is, the first K-12 Schechter-affiliated school in the United States. It is spread over two campuses with a combined student population of about 850 from more than 75 communities.
The curriculum at all two locations focuses on Hebrew language and Jewish life. For students who enter in grades 2-4 with no previous day school experience, there is Mechina, an intense language-immersion program.
The West Orange site is also home to the middle and high schools. Middle school students are encouraged to become increasingly independent in the context of appropriate structure, guidance, and limits.
At the high school level, students learn to “make the parts cohere,” to carry sacred knowledge across content boundaries. A highlight of the senior class experience is the Neshama program, a semester’s study in Israel.
Golda Och Academy graduates are lifelong learners who know that they are people of the book. They are identifiable by their love of Torah; the practice of Jewish values through prayer, tzedaka, and acts of lovingkindness; and a strong commitment to Israel.