Hebrew Language Academy Charter School
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Interesting article about the Hebrew Learning Academy charter school:
Black kids and white kids are sitting together in a building that used to house a private yeshiva.
It’s not exactly what you’d expect to see when you walk into the Hebrew Language Academy (HLA), a public charter school in the largely Jewish neighborhood where Midwood meets Marine Park….
On this spring day, students are learning about seeds, leaves, and photosynthesis in Hebrew—and they’re pretty focused and quiet.
How the different worlds at HLA mash up can be seen most clearly on a field trip, when Mr. O takes some students on a service project to the nearby Young Men’s Hebrew Association. Their senior drop-in center is frequented by elderly Russian Jews who spend their days playing board games.
Here, the kids are just kids, excited for the chance to get out of school and play a game. (All HLA students take weekly chess lessons.) For their part, the alter kockers seem tickled to speak Hebrew or English with kids of any color, and also appear to enjoy learning Spanish and French from some of them.
The NYT covered it last yeas, as did Voz is Neias Voz is Neias ; interestingly, a number of the commenters on VIN were opposed to it.
