Why Hebrew immersion at Sela?

[Anonymous]

Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I agree with a lot of your points above. I wish DC would open more Spanish immersion schools. There is clear demand and it’s an I demand language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

I look forward to your proposal to stand up a Greek or Arabic immersion charter school in DC. Hopefully, it will be as good a school as Sela.

[Anonymous]

Has Sela ever thought about teaching Arabic too? That would be pretty valuable and I’m assuming help with their under enrollment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cynical view - I think this is a factor, though even the supporters of immerson programs try to deny it to others, as well as to themselves - if you have a program like this you (1) privilege those who can speak the language on one side in terms of difficulty of participation in the program, if not technically in terms of the DC lottery terms and (2) allow those who get comfortable with the program to create an in-culture; and (3) this is most important and most strenuously denied by the promoters - it allows the program to REJECT those who can't stick with the language program or NOT ALLOW ENTRY after "time frame X" by students outside the program. That means a language-focuse school gradually sheds students who can't hack it, and that tends to allow the program to be more exclusive and academic.

Most importantly, the students that schools (and parents) don't want are the homeless or near-homeless children of the uneducated and shiftless who are commonly behavior and academic problem children. Having a schooling requirement - the language - that requires more than just showing up at several stages: lottery, attendance, testing, year-to-year progress - functions to not allow these true loser students to continue to be in your kids' schools.

LOOK nobody knows how to deal with these kids and they make it hard for families to want to go to the "comprehensive" schools of last resort for their kids' schooling when they know disruptive losers will be their kids' fellow students.

But trying to keep your kids segregated from those kids is definitely part of the attraction of these language schools, the oddest of which probably remains this revived language of 1 country/10 million people that has no obvious use besides moving to Tel Aviv or passing your bar mitzvah.

SO, some people will deny what I'm talking about, but generally there's more truth in the BS I spewed above than they want to admit.

I don't personally have a problem with Sela or a Hebrew immersion in DC, and would send my kid there, but I think this poster is speaking some real truth about not just Sela, but the appeal of both charters and especially language immersion in DC. It's not the only reason these schools are in high demand, but it's absolutely a huge part of it, and people who deny it on it's face are being disingenuous.

But people don't like to admit this because most parents with kids at immersion charters in DC are progressives who pay lip service to equity and will talk up the equity programs at their school. But their children will never set foot in a public school in DC (whether DCPS or charter) with a large population of at risk and/or unhoused kids. And that's not an accident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cynical view - I think this is a factor, though even the supporters of immerson programs try to deny it to others, as well as to themselves - if you have a program like this you (1) privilege those who can speak the language on one side in terms of difficulty of participation in the program, if not technically in terms of the DC lottery terms and (2) allow those who get comfortable with the program to create an in-culture; and (3) this is most important and most strenuously denied by the promoters - it allows the program to REJECT those who can't stick with the language program or NOT ALLOW ENTRY after "time frame X" by students outside the program. That means a language-focuse school gradually sheds students who can't hack it, and that tends to allow the program to be more exclusive and academic.

Most importantly, the students that schools (and parents) don't want are the homeless or near-homeless children of the uneducated and shiftless who are commonly behavior and academic problem children. Having a schooling requirement - the language - that requires more than just showing up at several stages: lottery, attendance, testing, year-to-year progress - functions to not allow these true loser students to continue to be in your kids' schools.

LOOK nobody knows how to deal with these kids and they make it hard for families to want to go to the "comprehensive" schools of last resort for their kids' schooling when they know disruptive losers will be their kids' fellow students.

But trying to keep your kids segregated from those kids is definitely part of the attraction of these language schools, the oddest of which probably remains this revived language of 1 country/10 million people that has no obvious use besides moving to Tel Aviv or passing your bar mitzvah.

SO, some people will deny what I'm talking about, but generally there's more truth in the BS I spewed above than they want to admit.

I don't personally have a problem with Sela or a Hebrew immersion in DC, and would send my kid there, but I think this poster is speaking some real truth about not just Sela, but the appeal of both charters and especially language immersion in DC. It's not the only reason these schools are in high demand, but it's absolutely a huge part of it, and people who deny it on it's face are being disingenuous.

But people don't like to admit this because most parents with kids at immersion charters in DC are progressives who pay lip service to equity and will talk up the equity programs at their school. But their children will never set foot in a public school in DC (whether DCPS or charter) with a large population of at risk and/or unhoused kids. And that's not an accident.

I’m a minority and there are a good percentage of minorities (black and Hispanic) at our Spanish immersion charter.

We wanted language immersion for our high performing kid because he needed more challenge in school. School comes easy for him especially in DC where there is no G & T. He is not gifted but scores very high on standardized testing.

Most parents in DC are liberals and very comfortable with diversity.

The reason why at risk kids don’t do well in language immersion is because they don’t have support. A generalization but true that the majority of them don’t do well academically and are below grade level in ELA. So why would you put them in language immersion when they are struggling with the basics and get 0 or 50% less ELA instruction?? Learning another language is a bonus but not necessary. Learning English is a necessity. If my kid was struggling in ELA, I would pull him out of immersion.

Language immersion schools are a niche. It’s not for everyone and why you have non-immersion schools. Parents looking at the immersion charters are looking not only at the language but also at the academic performing cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

I can express my opinion about Sela just as you can. Yours is not the only view.

As to Hebrew -- first off, the utility of learning a language is not limited to the number of people who speak it, although that is certainly a significant factor. You mentioned Greek earlier, and it is similar to Hebrew in usage (there about one million more Greek speakers). And I think a Greek immersion program, if available, would be a terrific option as well, given the historic and cultural importance of Greece.

The more language options the better. To me, that means not opposing the one Hebrew option, which no one is required to choose, but rather supporting additional options as well, beyond the multiple Spanish, French, and Mandarin programs that currently exist.

There is more about your rage over Hebrew that I'm not going to say here, and you would never acknowledge it anyway. So I've said my piece and am done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

DP but arguing a language’s importance based on more users is silly. English is still the most widely used language for business. Languages can also be learned for fun. It’s generally budget that prevents more than one being offered. 3 choices should be the standard.

It doesn’t have to be typical Spanish/mandarin/ French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

DP but arguing a language’s importance based on more users is silly. English is still the most widely used language for business. Languages can also be learned for fun. It’s generally budget that prevents more than one being offered. 3 choices should be the standard.

It doesn’t have to be typical Spanish/mandarin/ French.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

I have no dog in the Sea fight but do night find PP's points worth addressing. They are welcome to their opinions but they are worth nothing and no one gives a fck what they think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Sela ever thought about teaching Arabic too? That would be pretty valuable and I’m assuming help with their under enrollment

They are not under-enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choice is always good but it does seem like an odd option for DC, especially given that the vast majority of the students at the school are not Jewish.

1) There are only about 6 million Hebrew speakers in Israel/Palestine and just about 9 million worldwide. There are more native Greek speakers worldwide than Hebrew but yet no publicly funded Greek school.

2) There are about 1.2 billion Mandarin speakers in the world, 500 million Spanish speakers, 365 million Arabic speakers, etc. Seems like adding immersion schools in DC with the most common (and thus most useful) languages would make more sense than Hebrew

3) Most people in Israel speak English, so you really don't need Hebrew to get around there.

4) Given that almost all Hebrew speakers are Jewish and/or Israeli (and Palestinians who need it there), how does the school deal with religious and political issues? What materials are they using?

5) What kind of support is the school getting from the Israeli Embassy, Chabad-Lubavitch, etc.?

Oh here we go...so predictable.

If you were truly interested in understanding this, Sela explains that Hebrew is an entrance point to learning other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Amharic. They also say that modern Hebrew is a relatively easy language to learn as it was designed to be taught to large groups of recent immigrants to Israel.

Sela is an excellent school. No one is making your children go there, so calm down. I think the more language options, the better.

You didn't address any of PP's points.

Your arguments are dumb. Hebrew is an "entrance point" to Arabic and Amharic, and it is an "easy" language? That is your justification for a Hebrew immersion school in DC? Give me a break. Besides, Spanish and Mandarin are actually useful endpoint languages spoken by hundreds of millions of people and, at least, Spanish is easy for English speakers.

Who cares that you think Sela is an excellent school? Why are DC taxpayer dollars funding a Hebrew school instead of something that appeals to a much broader group of students and would be a lot more useful?

You sound defensive. Maybe you should "calm down" and address the points made earlier instead of resorting to weak arguments and ad hominem attacks.

Who cares about your (narcissistic/myopic/paternalistic) opinions re: appeal/utility of a national blue-ribbon winning school where you wouldn’t sent your kids? I wouldn’t send my kid to Creative Minds or Mandarin immersion or my IB that has rats and black mold. Would prefer there were no charters schools, and everyone had a safe walkable and equal neighborhood school, but the congressional cat is out of the bag. Rather than frothing at the mouth for reasons unknown, volunteer at your local school or ward education alliance. Sniping from the sides is slactivism.

[Anonymous]

A previous poster who said Sela is a well-run, smaller school perfectly describes the appeal for our family. We're going into year three at Sela and had looked at a variety of schools during the PK3 lottery, both other immersion charters, non-immersion charters, and DCPS (both in-bound and a nearby school). We were primarily looking for an environment that felt like the right fit. Sela was not our first choice but we've now passed on the lottery twice because of the great experience our child has had there. We have found warm and welcoming families, and the school leadership is responsive and organized, with clear goals for Sela. We do not speak Hebrew and are not Jewish.

We appreciate the language immersion, and I find the discussion of which language is more useful a little silly. Who knows how many of the children in the other immersion charters will pursue French, Spanish, or Mandarin long term? Eventually, it will be up to my child which additional language she wants to pursue (if any), and I think learning a second language now will help her in the future.

There is also some cynicism in this thread and a typical DCUM habit of introducing misinformation even though the answers are easily searchable. Of course, the school is secular and non-religious. The school is not under enrolled - it's just not one of the charters that has a long waitlist and my understanding is there is always a few spots open right before the start of the school year.