Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hope it works out for Sela. It will be a great way for kids to get publicly-funded familiarity with Hebrew and to get exposure to Jewish culture and socialization.

I don't know how I feel about tax-payers funding a school where students learn about a certain religion. This applies to any religion. If SELA teaches Hebrew without evangelizing, I am OK with it. The minute they preach anything religious I hope their funding gets pulled. This would the case for a Hindi immersion school that pushes Hinduism or an Arabic immersion school that pushes Islam. Religion should not be a foundation of a publicly funded school. Period

They don't explicitly instruct on the religious points of Judaism, just the culture and important aspects of the Jewish community. Just like teaching every language, context is enormously important.

Anonymous wrote:I really hope it works out for Sela. It will be a great way for kids to get publicly-funded familiarity with Hebrew and to get exposure to Jewish culture and socialization.

I don't know how I feel about tax-payers funding a school where students learn about a certain religion. This applies to any religion. If SELA teaches Hebrew without evangelizing, I am OK with it. The minute they preach anything religious I hope their funding gets pulled. This would the case for a Hindi immersion school that pushes Hinduism or an Arabic immersion school that pushes Islam. Religion should not be a foundation of a publicly funded school. Period

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sela needs to poof be gone. So tired of their bullshit.

Why is SELA struggling so hard? We were thrilled to learn about their opening, and I've had them on my list each year -- but far down due to commute issues.

I'm surprised that there's so little enthusiasm for them, though I confess I'm a relative newcomer to DCUrbanMom, so maybe I missed some epic thread or something.

Still, I'm rooting for them!

1. Low demand for Hebrew compared to Spanish, French, or Mandarin.
2. Inconvenient location--not very close to a metro or to that many families
3. They didn't offer PK3 for the past few years, so families often started school someplace else and didn't want to switch
4. No apparent feeder pattern--not like schools that feed to DCI or Wilson, or offer their own middle/high schools.
5. Turnover among teachers and administrators

with that said, I hope it succeeds. We do not live close to Sela but if we moved to a larger home, it would likely be near there. We would like a kid to learn Hebrew. Although we live in a neighborhood with guaranteed PK for IB residents, we'll definitely be checking Sela out and considering how to rank it.

I hope it succeeds too. The more good options, the better.

I really hope it works out for Sela. It will be a great way for kids to get publicly-funded familiarity with Hebrew and to get exposure to Jewish culture and socialization.

Hebrew is kind of a niche language, but hope it works out. Sounds cool. I kind of wish there was an Arabic charter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sela needs to poof be gone. So tired of their bullshit.

Why is SELA struggling so hard? We were thrilled to learn about their opening, and I've had them on my list each year -- but far down due to commute issues.

I'm surprised that there's so little enthusiasm for them, though I confess I'm a relative newcomer to DCUrbanMom, so maybe I missed some epic thread or something.

Still, I'm rooting for them!

1. Low demand for Hebrew compared to Spanish, French, or Mandarin.
2. Inconvenient location--not very close to a metro or to that many families
3. They didn't offer PK3 for the past few years, so families often started school someplace else and didn't want to switch
4. No apparent feeder pattern--not like schools that feed to DCI or Wilson, or offer their own middle/high schools.
5. Turnover among teachers and administrators

with that said, I hope it succeeds. We do not live close to Sela but if we moved to a larger home, it would likely be near there. We would like a kid to learn Hebrew. Although we live in a neighborhood with guaranteed PK for IB residents, we'll definitely be checking Sela out and considering how to rank it.

Anonymous wrote:Sela needs to poof be gone. So tired of their bullshit.

Why is SELA struggling so hard? We were thrilled to learn about their opening, and I've had them on my list each year -- but far down due to commute issues.

I'm surprised that there's so little enthusiasm for them, though I confess I'm a relative newcomer to DCUrbanMom, so maybe I missed some epic thread or something.

Still, I'm rooting for them!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the plan for the kids to continue Hebrew language after 5th grade?

There is no plan.

So after all that work of learning a language, the children will no place to continue studying it? Let's be honest, Hebrew is not Spanish. You can't just walk down the street and practice.

It's really too bad there aren't any organizations offering Hebrew school after school that middle schoolers could go to.

Oh, wait.

Leaving aside the question of the folks (quite a few apparently) who are not Jewish who send to Sela, and for whom a synagogue Hebrew school is not an option, the fact is that a kid who has been learning Hebrew intensely from PK to 5th is going to be way beyond what the regular Hebrew school kids are learning. My DC went to a private Jewish day school through 5th, and basically his Hebrew stopped there till he visited Israel.

Sela needs to poof be gone. So tired of their bullshit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the plan for the kids to continue Hebrew language after 5th grade?

They had so few 2nd grade kids who wanted to return next year that they cancelled plans to offer 3rd grade next year. Thinking about what will happen after elementary school is way too premature.

This is a very bad omen for the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the plan for the kids to continue Hebrew language after 5th grade?

There is no plan.

So after all that work of learning a language, the children will no place to continue studying it? Let's be honest, Hebrew is not Spanish. You can't just walk down the street and practice.

It's really too bad there aren't any organizations offering Hebrew school after school that middle schoolers could go to.

Oh, wait.

Just to clarify, I did not say they ARE a part of DCI - they don't even have classes thru elementary - but their long term goal is to add classes past elementary and maybe, possibly, in a world were all things come true, merge with the other language charters at DCI. It is good for a school to have goals and a long term trajectory.

They WIll NOT be apart of DCI. Why do they think this?

My oldest has a spot - she will be a first grader - and the youngest is waitlised. I went to the open house and specifically asked about bring in an older child among other questions. The school's director was great and the big take away was:

1). They have had other kids come in at older grades and have not had problems catching them up in the language.

2). They plan to add grades and hopefully end up connecting with DCI

3). They go to great links to extricate the religious components from the school.

I will add that all the teachers are Israeli and funded by the WZO. I find that a little bit in conflict ( the last part, not their nationalty) with the charters mandate of not having it as a 'jewish' school but given that overall the school has done a great job in keeping it focused on language and learning, I would think it is a great choice for parents. Learning another language is great regardless of which and Hebrew does open the door to other languages, e.g. Arabic.

Anonymous wrote:What is the plan for the kids to continue Hebrew language after 5th grade?

They had so few 2nd grade kids who wanted to return next year that they cancelled plans to offer 3rd grade next year. Thinking about what will happen after elementary school is way too premature.