New recommendation policy causes May 1 frenzy

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In previous years, students were asked to have their requests for recommendations made by the end of their junior year, but it was flexible. The hope with this new policy is that it will provide more leeway, thus making it “easier across the board for everyone involved,” expects Ms. Dressler.

Despite being established with good intentions, the policy seems to have backfired on some teachers, specifically those teaching humanities subjects as they are often the most requested teachers. Mr. Hofstetter, who had already agreed by midday on May 2 to write 25 recommendations, expressed that “it was very overwhelming to get so many requests in one day” and that he “felt terrible turning people away on Day 2.” Similarly, Ms. Bloom divulged that she was “inundated with emails on May 1” from students asking to meet with her. Mr. Engel said he had received about 10 requests in the first few days of May.

Regardless, Ms. Bloom acknowledged that the school must try out new initiatives to see what works and what doesn’t, and she admires all the work College Guidance has done, saying “hats off to them.” She admitted that she doesn’t know if there is a better way to go about this process; she gets so many requests each year that she’ll still have to turn away kids regardless of whether they ask all at once or sporadically.

Despite the initial frenzy, 117 juniors—almost two-thirds of the grade— still had not secured a single teacher recommendation by May 10, according to College Guidance records.

Ms. Dressler believes that it is too soon to say what the future of this policy will be. However, she elucidated that “we always have the best interests of the students at heart,” and agrees that, if need be, the policy will be adjusted accordingly.

Despite its name, Phoenix Live is not directly affiliated with the school newspaper. With permission and encouragement from the Phoenix leadership, Azrak used the name because “we try to adhere to the same quality standard,” and the podcast has the same goal as the newspaper: to tell the story of what’s happening in and around the Yeshivah, from the students’ perspective.

Phoenix Live can currently be found on Spotify under “YOFHS Podcasts!” and it is expected to be released on Apple Podcasts in the near future. New episodes are released every other Friday.