Hebrew Language Academy Charter School
Hebrew Language Academy Charter School is a public K-8 Charter school in Brooklyn, New York. HLA is an intentionally diverse charter school which teaches the Modern Hebrew language and prepares its students to become global citizens. Like all public schools HLA does not provide religious instruction and will neither encourage nor prohibit religious devotion.[1][2] The enrollment is 35% black, 6% Hispanic, 55% white, and 4% other.[3]
History
The school is the latest development in a trend to establish publicly funded Hebrew language and culture charter schools, the first of which was the Ben Gamla Charter School, which opened in Hollywood, Florida in 2007.[4] Whereas Ben Gamla ignited controversy over church-state issues,[5] the Hebrew Language Academy will focus on the modern Hebrew language and Jewish cultures throughout the world similar to other dual-language schools in New York City that organize studies through the prism of particular languages and cultures.[6]
The New York State Board of Regents approved the application for the Hebrew Language Academy Charter School on January 13, 2009.[4][7]
References
- Religious Language and Culture--Minus Religion, by Lynn Grossman, USA Today, January 16, 2009 Archived 2009-01-31 at the Wayback Machine
- N.Y. Hebrew Charter School Will Be Secular, Officials Say, Religion News Service, January 16, 2009 Archived 2009-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
- New York City Department of Education Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine reports.
- N.Y. Okays Public School With Hebrew Focus Philanthropists Lay Plans for National Charter Network, By Anthony Weiss, Jan 15, 2009, Forward Archived 2009-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Hebrew Charter School Spurs Dispute in Florida, by Abby Goodnough, August 24th, 2007, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/24/education/24charter.html?scp=1&sq=hebrew%20charter%20school&st=cse
- HLA FAQs, http://www.hlacharterschool.org/documents/HLA_FAQs.pdf%5B%5D
- January 12, 2009 State Weighs Approval of School Dedicated to Hebrew, By ELISSA GOOTMAN, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/nyregion/12hebrew.html?ref=education Archived 2018-07-22 at the Wayback Machine