Hebrew Studies
From the very first day of school all of our children are greeted by
Hebrew teachers who speak to them in Modern Israeli Hebrew.
Very quickly, they start to answer their teachers’ questions using
Hebrew words and, before long, speak in sentences. The goal of our
Hebrew language instruction is for students to speak, read, write, and
understand the Hebrew that is used throughout Israel and by Hebrew
speakers around the world. We train Hebrew teachers in the Proficiency Approach and assess students’ language acquisition progress
throughout the year. In 2009, when we had a single school, we had
only four teachers of Hebrew; now, in 2014, our six schools employ 60.
Finding and training an ever-increasing number of teachers who are
fluent Hebrew speakers is one of our big challenges, and we continue
to build new partnerships in both the U.S. and in Israel to ensure we
have the pipeline of talent that our students deserve.
Israel and Global Studies
One of HCSC’s key goals is for students to learn about the culture and
history of Israel. We have created a curriculum that incorporates the
study of Israel with the study of world geography, culture and history.
As our children learn the continents of the world, they come to know
stories of people who have immigrated to Israel from each continent.
This learning happens at the same time that they trace their own family’s
origins and how they came to live in the United States. When children
learn about holidays and cultural celebrations around the world,
teachers explain how different countries celebrate their culture and
compare these events with similar celebrations in the U.S. and Israel.
Going forward, we are deepening this curriculum for current grade
levels and expanding it to meet the needs of middle school learners.
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2014 president’s report