DC Hebrew approved!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/teaneck_charter_sparking_fresh_debate


One thing I wonder is, this Hebrew school will follow the regular D.C. vacation schedule, right?

Every charter sets its own schedule, including first day of school, last day of school, days off. For example, YY has a day off for Chinese New Year. I would imagine Washington Hebrew would be off on Yom Kippur, Hannukah, and will have school on Christmas.

Likely, instead, to have off:
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur (two of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar - early fall)
winter break will be the same as everyone else's (over Xmas and New Years - I don't know a single Jewish/Hebrew school in America that has school that week - and Hanukah isn't a holiday that expects time spent away from work/school)
spring break will probably coincide with Passover

While I generally agree with you, when I was growing up the more orthodox day school insisted on starting winter break the day after Christmas to make some point I guess, even though it was pretty inconvenient for parents.

[Anonymous]

Ok well we aren't talking about anOrthodox day school. We are talking about a DC Public School.

[Anonymous]

Lemme break it down for you: Latin is widely used in science and Western law. In case you didn't know, Latin is also a root of many widely spoken languages - including English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok well we aren't talking about anOrthodox day school. We are talking about a DC Public School.

Well I was responding to the claim that there isn't a single Jewish school in America that has school on Christmas.

And of course the issue is that we are dealing with a hebrew immersion charter school, which is likely to appeal overwhelmingly to Jews, that is also a DC public school.

[Anonymous]

Let me also translate for the PP: those "crafty Jews" are slick! Center City Public Charter was formerly part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington - indeed seven charters are former Catholic schools in the District. The Charter School Board expressed confidence in the school's plan to recruit a diverse student population, so we will all have to wait and see how things unfold. Probably the people who are casting aspersions about the school on this forum should have participated more in the selection process, but I guess it always easier to sit in front of your computer screen and bitch.

[Anonymous]

No one is calling anyone crafty. You sound defensive. I just think this school's focus is way too narrow for the majority DC's families and will be attractive to a narrow slice of the city. I will eat my words if it plays out differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question will be what demographic the school attracts. For instance, will any Latinos apply? I'm sure they'll be a smattering of black students. I say black deliberately not AA. They'll be one or two Asian students - likely from a family that is not Asian. Mark my word.

This was slick. Congratulations.

? ? ?

I guess I'm dumber than I thought. I don't get the point PP is trying to make with the distinction between black and AA w/ respect to this school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is calling anyone crafty. You sound defensive. I just think this school's focus is way too narrow for the majority DC's families and will be attractive to a narrow slice of the city. I will eat my words if it plays out differently.

What is your opinion based on? Having read their proposal? Insight into the inner workings on the Charter Board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lemme break it down for you: Latin is widely used in science and Western law. In case you didn't know, Latin is also a root of many widely spoken languages - including English.

I would additionally note that Washington Latin is not an immersion school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question will be what demographic the school attracts. For instance, will any Latinos apply? I'm sure they'll be a smattering of black students. I say black deliberately not AA. They'll be one or two Asian students - likely from a family that is not Asian. Mark my word.

This was slick. Congratulations.

? ? ?

I guess I'm dumber than I thought. I don't get the point PP is trying to make with the distinction between black and AA w/ respect to this school.

I assumed they meant that dumb black Americans will not realize the value of the school, but some Africans might. Perhaps those from nations that don't hate Jews as much as others (perhaps Morocco?).

So the school will be a joke, populated by Jews, Africans, some adopted Chinese babies...yet the Charter Board couldn't figure it out!!! Only the ever knowing PP could see between the lines!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question will be what demographic the school attracts. For instance, will any Latinos apply? I'm sure they'll be a smattering of black students. I say black deliberately not AA. They'll be one or two Asian students - likely from a family that is not Asian. Mark my word.

This was slick. Congratulations.

? ? ?

Allow me to translate for you on behalf of the PP:

They got a Jewish school funded with taxpayer dollars, and pp thinks it's pretty slick they way they did it.

Kind of a cynical view, but my guess is the school will have to be watched closely. I can't think of a single other charter school that abuts a religious faith so closely. Only about 5 million people worldwide speak Hebrew, so it's not exactly a utilitarian language for kids going into a global economy.

I have no doubt, however, that the school will be studiously secular, and there's certainly benefit for any emergence in a second language. But Chinese and Arabic schools aren't necessarily proxies for religion and those languages have more utility.

Please remind me how many people worldwide speak Latin.

Please remind me of any full immersion Latin school in DC (and no, Washington Latin is not a full immersion Latin school ). I frankly do not understand the utiliy for the community of a full immersion school in a language that nobody speaks - when I traveled to Israel, everybody could speak English. So, unless you are Jewish and want to learn Hebrew for your heritage and cultural reasons, I do not see the appeal. I am Italian, my language is spoken by over 60 million people but I would be very surprised to see the DC taxpayer fund a full immersion Italian charter school in DC. I pay for a private school to make sure my DC are proficient in Italian. anyway, we will see how this works out,.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lemme break it down for you: Latin is widely used in science and Western law. In case you didn't know, Latin is also a root of many widely spoken languages - including English.

I would additionally note that Washington Latin is not an immersion school.

That's because latin is not a spoken language. How can you have immersion if there is no spoken context?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is calling anyone crafty. You sound defensive. I just think this school's focus is way too narrow for the majority DC's families and will be attractive to a narrow slice of the city. I will eat my words if it plays out differently.

I recommend that you read the threads populated by parents of young kids in the 90s, 100s and 200s on multiple school waitlists. There's a sizable population that is DESPERATE for a decent school--any school!--for their kids. I predict that Washington Hebrew will attract the same parents all the other schools discussed here will.

[Anonymous]

I am an Italian-American lawyer, and I can tell you that knowledge of Latin is really is not important in the legal field. I would LOVE an Italian immersion school in DC, but I also think that a Hebrew school is great addition to our charter school network. First, it's not true that "nobody speaks Hebrew" and second, research shows that the process of learning a language is very useful, regardless of the language learned. Go Hebrew, Go French, I am all for it!

[Anonymous]

I do love how the critics come back:

But not enough people speak the language.
But Latin is the basis for other languages.
But they will have school on Christmast.
But the black kids won't attend.

Get over it. It is approved. More choice for parents, more options for children -- how can that be a bad thing? Don't like it, don't apply.

Signed,
non-Jew, took Latin for 8 years but not working in law or science nor can I remember more than a few words, DCPS parent