Student Services

One of Caskey Torah Academy’s primary goals is to meet the diverse needs of our learners. We have designed enrichment and support programs to meet the needs of the varied populations in our school.

We offer tracked Halacha classes for 7th and 8th-grade girls and tracked Gemara classes for 7th and 8th-grade boys and we have one of the most rigorous Gemara and Halacha programs in the area.

Our students routinely place into the highest levels in the high schools they attend. Our girls also have unique exposure to our extremely popular and intense text-based Halacha class. Every girl will produce a text-based project where they trace the development of a particular halacha or halachic topic from Torah Sheb’ktav to modern halachic responsa.

In math, we ensure that each student can be taught at their appropriate level. Multiple math sections are offered in both the lower and middle schools. For our high-achieving students, the focus has been placed on accelerating their curriculum to allow them to enter high school ‘placing out’ of Algebra I. This accelerated program allows the students to complete the three middle school math courses in two years. Our 8th grade accelerated math students also work on SAT math and participate in a variety of mathematics contests such as the Pennsylvania Math League Challenge and Math Olympiad.

Additionally, CTA invests in a number of support personnel to allow each child to reach their fullest potential:

• Our Director of Student Needs works with the faculty to identify children with learning needs and develop individualized learning plans.
• Our School Counselor works with individual students as well as small groups to promote positive social interactions, develop stronger friendships, and encourage a warm atmosphere.
• Our Reading and Math Specialists, along with our Judaic Studies Support Teacher, assist students who need smaller group work and targeted instruction.
• Our Behavioral Therapists, assists students and teachers in a variety of areas. They facilitate social skill focus on executive functioning with students who need extra support in multiple-step assignments and other complex tasks.
• OROT is the special needs initiative in Philadelphia’s Jewish day schools. Working closely with our administration and faculty, the OROT program at Torah Academy is able to provide academic and behavioral support for numerous children with diverse learning needs. Each OROT teacher forms close relationships with mainstream counterparts to help students in Language Arts, Math, Chumash, and study skills. Please read more about OROT at www.orotkids.org.
•