SELA! Hebrew immersion charter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GO SELA!!! As much as we love some aspects of YY, we are going to take a chance on Sela. We like the vibe of what they are trying to do, the organization, the energy, the free before and after care, etc. I have already found a Mandarin tutor for my daughter so she can continue her Chinese.

Soooo... are you already at YY and leaving for Sela? Or you are optimistic about your shot at getting in? If you're already at YY and leaving, what grade?

Just wondering... (YY hopeful who is thrilled every time I hear someone say they're leaving YY, which so far has been... no one!)

People do leave actually, it's not that infrequent, particularly in the older grades. I have applied to Sela for first grade, if we get in, we will leave. If we don't get in we will stay at YY and give it another year. YY is great, but it's not for everyone. Also, the commute is not great for me.

Hey YY hopeful, there maybe room this year for rising first graders at YY - this is the jumbo prek class that accepted no one except sibs into K this year and the class size grew from 107 kids in preK to 114 for K. Lets hope pp gets into SELA and I know a kid who left due to parent's employment. YY is not the place to be unless you REALLY want MANDARIN for your child aside from all the hype about how being bilingual is good for the brain on this board. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of language immersion schools in general, but Hebrew doesn't seem like a great choice for a public charter given the low economic value of Hebrew in the global workforce. I am not Jewish, but I would send my kid there if it was my best academic option and the school was strict about no religious content. I would worry about not being Jewish only if more than 50% of the students were Jewish and then only if I felt my kid would feel like an outsider. In DC, I doubt that a high performing charter will get such a religious imbalance because of the strict lottery system. Seats at good schools are just too competitive. If it turns out to be a low performing school, maybe it will become religiously unbalanced, but then I imagine that even Jewish parents will eschew it.

By the way, most Jews in this country go to school where the majority of the school population is Christian-- just some perspective. Do you think Jewish children feel like outsiders?

Pinhead.
That tends to happen with minorities.

Yeah, that's the point. Glad you demonstrated your understanding. Got any more good names in your vast vocabulary?

Loads of them for people who state the obvious, but thought I'd stick with one you'd be likely to understand.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know, why Hebrew? As languages go, it's definitely among the less useful choices out there. It's not as if DC is chock-a-block with immersion schools and they're running out of language options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know, why Hebrew? As languages go, it's definitely among the less useful choices out there. It's not as if DC is chock-a-block with immersion schools and they're running out of language options.

There is a demand from many families for Hebrew immersions for their children. Many families, enough to start a charter school, believe Hebrew is a valuable language for their children to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

Actually, research shows you to be very wrong. Kids who have no say in the language chosen (because these kids are elementary aged = they are not choosing) may do well learning the language. But if you do not make an effort to speak it in your home, it is not part of your family or cultural identity, or you do not have a community of folks who speak that langauge... AND it is not a language that is connected to significantly better job prospects in the future, research shows the majority of kids who learn it will not continue with it at all. There is a world of studies out there about how early kids start, what meks them see the learning through (or not see it through) to fluency, and what makes them continue or not continue speaking/using the language in adulthood.

We are facing this with Chinese. We are committed to learning Mandarin as parents, not because we have any cultural or other interest ourselves in speaking Mandarin, but because we know to truly support our child we need to learn some. But we do so and we build the bridges to her becoming fluent in written/spoken Mandarin understanding full well that even though Mandarin IS actually a very useful language to learn in today's busines world (and obviously there are more than a few other people in the world who speak Mandarin!), it is completely possible she will go through (hopefully HS) learning and speaking Mandarin, have that as a bonus for getting into college, and then not touch it again because she never chose it and who knows what she'll be most interested in. It is possible, and we'd have to step ouf the way and support her pursuing what she wants to pursue.

And that is knowing there are many many ways to use Mandarin fluency that are practical, which applies significantly less to Hebrew.

Doesn't mean a family won't choose Sela/Hebrew for their kid despite the lack of family/community/business connection to Hebrew, but it is pretty much proven that the vast majority of not-otherwise-connected kids will not go on to keep speaking or stay connected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

Very true. But, following that logic, why not Swahili?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

Actually, research shows you to be very wrong. Kids who have no say in the language chosen (because these kids are elementary aged = they are not choosing) may do well learning the language. But if you do not make an effort to speak it in your home, it is not part of your family or cultural identity, or you do not have a community of folks who speak that langauge... AND it is not a language that is connected to significantly better job prospects in the future, research shows the majority of kids who learn it will not continue with it at all. There is a world of studies out there about how early kids start, what meks them see the learning through (or not see it through) to fluency, and what makes them continue or not continue speaking/using the language in adulthood.

We are facing this with Chinese. We are committed to learning Mandarin as parents, not because we have any cultural or other interest ourselves in speaking Mandarin, but because we know to truly support our child we need to learn some. But we do so and we build the bridges to her becoming fluent in written/spoken Mandarin understanding full well that even though Mandarin IS actually a very useful language to learn in today's busines world (and obviously there are more than a few other people in the world who speak Mandarin!), it is completely possible she will go through (hopefully HS) learning and speaking Mandarin, have that as a bonus for getting into college, and then not touch it again because she never chose it and who knows what she'll be most interested in. It is possible, and we'd have to step ouf the way and support her pursuing what she wants to pursue.

And that is knowing there are many many ways to use Mandarin fluency that are practical, which applies significantly less to Hebrew.

Doesn't mean a family won't choose Sela/Hebrew for their kid despite the lack of family/community/business connection to Hebrew, but it is pretty much proven that the vast majority of not-otherwise-connected kids will not go on to keep speaking or stay connected.

Last post was mine - just to be clear, all that I say here is true of ANY language a child learns, not just Hebrew. Really want to be clear about that, although the other angle thtis important is how much less common Hebrew is than the romance languages and other world languages mentioned in other threads (Mandarin, Hindu, Russian), so that is the reason to point out that it's even less likely with Hebrew.

[Anonymous]

Hindu is a religion.
Hindi is a language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

My DD is being immersed in Spanish, which I guess will soon put her in the majority as non-Spanish speakers will soon be the minority in this country. Hebrew or Mandarin speakers? Maybe 1% of the country speak either fluently? I just find hebrew a complete waste of time/resources unless someone is jewish or moving to Israel or something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody would send their kid there unless they are jewish or the other school option is bad academically. hebrew is almost useless unless you are jewish. I've never met a non-jewish child who studied hebrew. Maybe some theologians do, but that would be in their college years I am guessing or even later.

Actually, I am not jewish and if my child was in the correct age bracktr (he is much older) I would definitely consider Sela due to the benefits of immersion. Before we relocated, jewish day schools were on my list of considerations as schooling options for ds. Many Jewish students attended the catholic school I attended so why not the other way around? I think if a school offers a good curricula and a good environment, then why not consider it.

More power to the Jewish day schools (and to the Catholic schools). Religious-affiliated private schools are a great option for believers (and those of other belief) who value the education and faith-based grounding. However, SELA is not supposed to be a Jewish school. It is a publicly fiunded DC charter school that will teach Hebrew. If it teaches the cultural context of the language, it will have to observe very carefully the religiion/state separation. When Washington Latin was founded and initially headed by a Congregational minister who didn't understand the separation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint against the school. (Rev. Ahlstrom was forced out several years ago for various reasons, and under its current leadership WL has had no 'establishment' issues.) I trust that Americans United and similar groups will be vigilant in the case of SELA as well.

Great point. Also, many people seem a bit misinformed about "the benefits of immersion." There are measurable cognitive benefits derived from speaking more than one language, but the key driver is not "immersion" per se, but sustained practice over time. Meaning, immersing our kids in a language they are not likely to use is pretty much a waste of time and attention, compared to devoting same effort to other languages or educational priorities.

My experience has been once you know a language, you use it. You seek it out either in cultural activities or work opportunities. So there's no reason to think that if a kid learns Mandarin or Hebrew or Swedish or whatever that they won't keep up with it later in life. A nice thing about being a parent, is that you never know what your kid will bond with or gravitate to as they grow up.

Actually, research shows you to be very wrong. Kids who have no say in the language chosen (because these kids are elementary aged = they are not choosing) may do well learning the language. But if you do not make an effort to speak it in your home, it is not part of your family or cultural identity, or you do not have a community of folks who speak that langauge... AND it is not a language that is connected to significantly better job prospects in the future, research shows the majority of kids who learn it will not continue with it at all. There is a world of studies out there about how early kids start, what meks them see the learning through (or not see it through) to fluency, and what makes them continue or not continue speaking/using the language in adulthood.

We are facing this with Chinese. We are committed to learning Mandarin as parents, not because we have any cultural or other interest ourselves in speaking Mandarin, but because we know to truly support our child we need to learn some. But we do so and we build the bridges to her becoming fluent in written/spoken Mandarin understanding full well that even though Mandarin IS actually a very useful language to learn in today's busines world (and obviously there are more than a few other people in the world who speak Mandarin!), it is completely possible she will go through (hopefully HS) learning and speaking Mandarin, have that as a bonus for getting into college, and then not touch it again because she never chose it and who knows what she'll be most interested in. It is possible, and we'd have to step ouf the way and support her pursuing what she wants to pursue.

And that is knowing there are many many ways to use Mandarin fluency that are practical, which applies significantly less to Hebrew.

Doesn't mean a family won't choose Sela/Hebrew for their kid despite the lack of family/community/business connection to Hebrew, but it is pretty much proven that the vast majority of not-otherwise-connected kids will not go on to keep speaking or stay connected.

Last post was mine - just to be clear, all that I say here is true of ANY language a child learns, not just Hebrew. Really want to be clear about that, although the other angle thtis important is how much less common Hebrew is than the romance languages and other world languages mentioned in other threads (Mandarin, Hindu, Russian), so that is the reason to point out that it's even less likely with Hebrew.

Maybe there will be opportunities for children to take trips to Israel on educational programs or otherwise. That would be a terrific place to practice Hebrew.

[Anonymous]

Sure, the kids might (will?) lose the language if you don't keep at it. BUT, my understanding is that learning a second language, any language, at an early age changes the brain so that it will always be easier to learn new languages. I would prefer Spanish immersion, because we can support that at home and with relatives, but I will take Mandarin, French, Hebrew, Swahili....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know, why Hebrew? As languages go, it's definitely among the less useful choices out there. It's not as if DC is chock-a-block with immersion schools and they're running out of language options.

There is a demand from many families for Hebrew immersions for their children. Many families, enough to start a charter school, believe Hebrew is a valuable language for their children to learn.

That statement sounds anecdotal, not fact based.