Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

I know in some other cities close to half (or more?) of Hebrew language charter school kids are non-Jews, mostly african americans and hispanics. Is that not the case at Sela?

This is ABSOLUTELY the case for Sela. It is wonderfully diverse and Jews are, in fact, the minority. Anyone with half a brain would get on board with the idea that learning another language, ANY language, is beneficial to the development and socialization of young children regardless of their religious orientation.

Nobody with half a brain would but the idea that having children learn a language that is spoken only in one small country rather than one that has value in business or government is a wise use of students' time and taxpayer dollars. Sure, there's a cognitive value to teaching a language, but students will not have the opportunity to use this language in conversation outside of Jewish religious settings or Israel.

That non-Jewish kids choose it only goes to show that a decent charter will attract people whose only alternative is a crappy neighborhood school.

That does not mean that they wouldn't be better served using a language that could contribute to their livelihood in any way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

Shalom and Peace to you, Jew-hater.

Nice try. I'm Jewish and I respect both our First Amendment and the legislature's duty to provide an education that will prepare our city's students for work and college. This is not that -- there is no secular justification for a Hebrew immersion school. It does not reflect anyone's judgment that these resources will benefit city students other than those whose parents gamed the system to get free parochial school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

I know in some other cities close to half (or more?) of Hebrew language charter school kids are non-Jews, mostly african americans and hispanics. Is that not the case at Sela?

This is ABSOLUTELY the case for Sela. It is wonderfully diverse and Jews are, in fact, the minority. Anyone with half a brain would get on board with the idea that learning another language, ANY language, is beneficial to the development and socialization of young children regardless of their religious orientation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

I know in some other cities close to half (or more?) of Hebrew language charter school kids are non-Jews, mostly african americans and hispanics. Is that not the case at Sela?

Here you go. http://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/Sela_PCS_2014-2015%20PMF.pdf

Well, I suppose those COULD all be Jewish African Americans who would otherwise go to JPDS. But probably not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

I know in some other cities close to half (or more?) of Hebrew language charter school kids are non-Jews, mostly african americans and hispanics. Is that not the case at Sela?

Here you go. http://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/Sela_PCS_2014-2015%20PMF.pdf

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

I know in some other cities close to half (or more?) of Hebrew language charter school kids are non-Jews, mostly african americans and hispanics. Is that not the case at Sela?

Anonymous wrote:It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

Shalom and Peace to you, Jew-hater.

It's a taxpayer funded alternative for people who would otherwise go to JPDS.

Hebrew is a worthless language outside of religious practice. There's no educationally-valid reason for tax dollars to pay for it. Hope the ACLU or a similar group litigates to shut it down.

NP here with a question. On another Sela thread, someone mentioned that the school was no longer full immersion in the upper grades. Hebrew language was still taught, but not full immersion, or rather, the 50:50 model described on the website.

Can any Sela parents confirm or refute this?

Sela has indeed gotten a lot of grief on DCUM, some of it unfairly so. But having read this section for a good 5 years now, it's also true that Sela has had supporters who have taken even legitimate criticisms or concerns expressed by current or past parents and accused posters of everything from unfair treatment to straight anti-Semitism. For speaking of their concerns or what they think is not working at the school.

It's true, some schools (actually any new schools that some consider a great thing) get beaten up terribly here, and there are definitely those who seem to only be happy if they are throwing mud at someone/something. But on the flipside, no other school has had such vehement and sometimes absurdly hostile supporters react to either actual stories from parents or totally legitimate questions by prospective parents. Questions being asked in many of the other school threads (like about concerns about Principals, questions about past scandals, location questions, playground questions, teacher retention questions) often get framed automatically as trolls and haters and people with prejudices.

That dynamic has hurt the school IMHO almost as much as some of the actual concerns, because so many prospective parents do turn to DCUM for baseline info and that hostility has turned so many off that I've talked to at school expos and on playgrounds.

Yeah, there are a couple of posters who just live to say shit about the school. Don't mind them.

There's a few for every school. When I tried to bring up actual issues we were having at our school, I was accused of being a hater, when it was entirely the opposite. However, that experience has left me with no tolerance for the random snipes from people who don't send their children to these schools. Another lesson DC has taught me: there are a whole lot of desperate women who are actually competitive about which LOTTERY Charter school their children attend. Having experienced the lovely parents from some of the HRCS's firsthand, I have to say it's a reason we turned one of them down for next year.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is entirely healthy that we're now judging the academic merits of 4 year olds. That seems TOTALLY normal. And healthy. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Sela looks like a nice place. We drive by it every day. I think in general DCUM would be better served by more people investing in their charters and enjoying the advantages of them than bashing them. If something's wrong, work to change it. In a small school, that's actually possible.

Yeah, there are a couple of posters who just live to say shit about the school. Don't mind them.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is entirely healthy that we're now judging the academic merits of 4 year olds. That seems TOTALLY normal. And healthy. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Sela looks like a nice place. We drive by it every day. I think in general DCUM would be better served by more people investing in their charters and enjoying the advantages of them than bashing them. If something's wrong, work to change it. In a small school, that's actually possible.

Actually the CLASS tool has nothing to do with the academic merits of children. It is a teacher/instructional practice rating scale and the first score of the three is "Emotional Support".

I think it is entirely healthy that we're now judging the academic merits of 4 year olds. That seems TOTALLY normal. And healthy. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Sela looks like a nice place. We drive by it every day. I think in general DCUM would be better served by more people investing in their charters and enjoying the advantages of them than bashing them. If something's wrong, work to change it. In a small school, that's actually possible.

Sela's pre-k CLASS scores:
5.8 5.3 2.1
District average:
5.8 5.4 2.6
Threshold for quality:
5.0 5.0 3.0