Tarbut V’Torah school recognized for success

Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) congratulated students at Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School on their academic success during an event at the private Jewish school early Friday.

The Irvine school was given a top rating in academics and “educational outcomes” by niche.com, which ranks schools and colleges across the country. The school also was rated the No. 1 private school in academics in Orange County by the same group, according a Tarbut V’Torah statement. The county recently acknowledged the students’ achievements with a certificate of recognition.

In 2014, Tarbut V’Torah students scored an average of 1,908 on the SAT; the national average that year was 1,497, according to the College Board.

“You are all our future,” Walters told about 400 students and parents during the assembly. “I’ve always told my four children that you can be anything you want, but you have to work hard and you have to study hard.”

Walters also toured the school, which enrolls students from kindergarten through grade 12. Besides stressing academic rigor, the school requires that students take four years of Judaic studies and complete a minimum of 100 hours of community service before graduation.

Outside the assembly, second-grader Tali Brenner said there’s no secret behind her good grades. She “likes listening,” she said.

The 8-year-old is already mapping out her future: “I’d like to be a farmer, because I like planting crops and taking care of animals.”

Brett Wagen, 9, likes spelling and reading, but he said his goal is to play professional hockey. Failing that, the tech-savvy third-grader has a Plan B — to do “something in software.”