Meet Emily Fernandez — Our Chief Schools Officer!

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We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Emily Fernandez will be joining our team in July as Hebrew Public’s new Chief Schools Officer!

Emily is an inspirational and strategic leader entering her fifteenth year as an educator. She is currently finishing the school year as Founder and Principal at Brownsville Ascend Middle School (part of the Brooklyn-based Ascend school network, on whose Board I have the privilege of serving).

Emily is an expert in instructional coaching, school leadership, student and staff culture, and evaluation. Students at her school have shown significant academic growth. She has a deep knowledge of how to ensure that growth while also creating warm and supportive school environments for children, staff, and parents. In addition to her work at Ascend, Emily has held roles at KIPP NYC and Teach For America in Miami-Dade, Florida.

Emily is driven by a deep belief in the ability of young people to excel when presented with rigorous challenges and unwavering support.

Upon accepting the position, Emily said, “There are many things that drew me to Hebrew Public. I’ve seen the network’s passion and motivation for children of all backgrounds to flourish while receiving an exceptional education in a diverse community. Teaching the Modern Hebrew language is a great way to expose young people to the world, a new language, and achieve high levels of academic achievement through instruction in two languages. In touring the schools, I’ve seen wonderful, positive, and kind children that have the character not just to excel for themselves, but to make a difference locally and globally. It is a unique movement, in unique schools, and I am so excited to be joining Hebrew Public at this pivotal time!”

Please join us in welcoming Emily to the Hebrew Public team!

Jon Rosenberg
President and CEO

P.S. Emily lives in Brooklyn and spends most of her free time reading to, playing with, or chasing after her two young children. She also loves exploring new restaurants and parks with friends.

Meet Hadar Dohn — Our Head of School!

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We are thrilled to announce that after a thorough search, Hadar Dohn has been named the new Head of School for Hebrew Language Academy.

Hadar Dohn has been a leading educator for over three decades. As a lifelong learner, Hadar strives for continuous professional development for herself and all those around her. She is committed to and experienced in, meeting the needs of diverse learners. Hadar knows how to mentor, coach, and support teachers, and always has students’ best interests at heart. She has been described by former colleagues as collaborative, an effective communicator, empowering, and radiating camaraderie.

Most recently, Hadar was the Principal of Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago, which is a K-8 school. Before Schectner, Hadar served as the Head of School at the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor for four years. Prior to that, she was at Temple Israel in Hollywood Day School in California for nineteen years. During that time, Hadar served in a variety of roles, including a Hebrew Teacher and Head of the Hebrew Department, and finally, as Principal. Hadar was also an elementary school art teacher earlier in her career.

Hadar has a Bachelor degree in Art from California State University, and a Bachelor of Literature and a Masters in Education from the American Jewish University. In addition, she is a Fellow and Graduate of the Day School Leadership Training Institute and Harvard University Principals Center.

During her spare time, Hadar enjoys reading and taking walks with her three dogs. She also loves cooking, but not baking, since it requires measuring. Hadar and her husband Mark, also an educator, are the proud parents of three children.

Hadar will start full-time this summer and will be making periodic visits to the school in the interim, so be sure to say hello and introduce yourself!

We are delighted to welcome Hadar Dohn to our community!

Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School Awarded Startup Grant

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For immediate release
May 1, 2019

Philadelphia – Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) awarded Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School a $600,000 startup grant for the 2019-20 school year, with the potential to grow to $1.5 million over four years.

Hebrew Public is leading a national movement of exceptional, diverse public charter schools that teach Modern Hebrew to children of all backgrounds and prepare them to be successful global citizens. This grant supports the startup of Hebrew Public’s first school in Philadelphia that will be a citywide, open-enrollment public charter school.

PSP’s multi-year investment will enable Philadelphia Hebrew Public to launch with only grades K-1 in 2019-20 and grow to serve K-8 by 2026-27. After nearly three years of planning, the new school will open serving 156 students in September. Grounded in extensive outreach and demographic research, the school will be located at the junction of diverse neighborhoods in East Falls and Allegheny West and draw a diverse student body from across the city. Even in its first year, Philadelphia Hebrew Public has seen significant interest and is already engaging registered families in regular social events to build this unique school community.

“We are deeply grateful for PSP’s help in making it possible to bring Hebrew Public’s diverse by design school model to Philadelphia,” said Jonathan Rosenberg, President, and CEO of Hebrew Public. “Thanks to this investment, we’ll be able to launch thoughtfully and deliberately growing from a K-1 to a K-8 by 2026,” Rosenberg reflected.

Investing in Today’s Technology for Tomorrow’s Future

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In the 2018-2019 school year, our New York City campuses have received technology equipment worth over $600,000. The competitive grants received from local government officials will help prepare students for the future in today’s digital economy.

The support from Brooklyn Borough President — Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President — Gale Brewer, and Council Member — Alan Maisel allows staff from Hebrew Language Academy Charter School (HLA), Hebrew Language Academy and Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School to upgrade technology and infrastructure, make learning more fun, and ensure that students reach their academic potential.

“Our students are looking forward to improving their computer skills, such as computer coding and 3D printing,” says Sasha Kogan, Community Relations and Alumni Coordinator at HLA. “It’s really great to see the enthusiasm on their faces as they learn new digital skills. The kids have been using the laptops to access eLearning platforms, such as Compass, ThinkCerca, and keyboarding Without Tears — each program provides a personalized learning path for our students.”

Research has found that when schools provide students with laptops for use in the classroom and at home, learning improved in a number of subjects, including science, math, and English. “Students received more feedback on their writing, edited and revised their papers more often, drew on a wider range of resources to write, and published or shared their work with others more often,” the study concludes.

“These funds have allowed us to provide technology that we could not afford before. We are truly grateful to our local officials for the generous support of Hebrew Public students in Brooklyn and in Harlem,” says Valerie Khaytina, Chief External Officer of Hebrew Public, the grants will help support the network’s commitment of providing students with a high-quality education and equip them with 21st-century skills.”

 

We are grateful for the support we’ve received from Eric Adams, Gale Brewer, and Alan Maisel for investing in our schools and believing in our mission.

Two Schools and An Upcoming Trip to Israel

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Imagine a group of awkward teenagers forced to interact with peers they never met. Do you remember being this age?  One school has students wearing their school uniform, while the other school wore sweatshirts and jeans. One school from Brooklyn, NY and the other from East Brunswick, NJ. Both from different worlds but have two things in common – both are from one school network, Hebrew Public and are traveling to Israel. 

One of the most exciting ways that our students learn about Israel and the Hebrew language is by taking our 8th graders on a trip to Israel— what better way to learn and experience one’s culture, than to visit the country!  

Last year, we took our first cohort of 8th graders on a once in a lifetime trip to Israel. They ate Israeli food, practiced their Hebrew, visited the Dead Sea, rode on camels and completely immersed themselves in Israeli’s deep and rich culture. This year, Jessica Lieberman, our Director of Israel Studies decided to spice things up and do things a little differently. The two schools taking the trip – Brooklyn’s Hebrew Language Academy Charter School and Hatikvah International Academy in East Brunswick, New Jersey – had the opportunity to meet one another prior to their trip! We incorporated lessons from last year and added a pre-trip orientation focused on global citizenship, Israeli culture and what to expect when traveling to another country.

We invited  Sarah  Stone to facilitate,  trip chaperones from each school and our keynote speaker for the day was Jamie Williams. Ms. Stone is an American-Israeli educator/facilitator dedicated to bringing youth together to develop empathy and advocacy skills to enact change in their society.  Jamie Williams, a member of the NYS Assembly joined us to speak to our students about diversity in Brooklyn and their upcoming trip.

 

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Ms. Stone had the students participate in icebreaker exercises by asking them to stand next to someone that they didn’t know, share their name and a characteristic about themselves. She asked questions to prepare them for their trip; which languages and religions they will learn in Israel, what can they expect to learn from other cultures and a challenge they may face on the trip. The best response was being without Wi-Fi or the video game, Fortnite – what an ironic answer coming from a 13-year-old!

 

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These exercises and questions required the students to step out of their comfort zone and connect with students from a different school and background, which is essentially what they will be asked to do while in Israel.  As we observed the students during these exercises, you can see that they began to feel more at ease when they realized that students they never met before had the same responses to how they feel about the trip and what they wanted to learn or experience.   

Thank you,  Jessica, Sarah, and Jamie for your encouragement and support, and for ensuring that our students are prepared to embark on this journey that we are sure they will never forget.  

 

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Stay tuned for blog posts and photos of our students making their way through Israel’s most prominent cities!

 

By Elisabeth Castera

Our Teacher is an Author!

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We are thrilled to announce that one of our amazing teachers is also an author! Tara Drouin from Hebrew Language Academy Charter School shared her wonderful book named “One Heart” with us. Tara has been teaching for ten years and has been a musician for twenty. Growing up in a family that played musical instruments and sang, music was embedded in her life at a young age. Tara was inspired to write the song “One Heart” that incorporates her experiences with diversity from being a teacher, a mom and musician.

Tara strongly believes that there needs to be more unity and kindness in the world – that is how “One Heart” originated. The song speaks about how we all may have our differences, whether it is a different eye color, skin color or hair color but inside, we all have one heart. Tara believes that this message needs to be shared with children at a young age.

Aside from writing such an inspiring song, Drouin has written a book that incorporates the lyrics to the song with lovely illustrations by Nancy Noskewicz  – an art teacher that Tara used to work with. A free download of the song comes with the book. Tara’s students love singing the song in her classroom and plans on giving a copy of the book to her class. She expresses to them that our differences are what makes us all unique but inside we’re all the same, we are all human beings with one heart and we all need to be unified. Tara says, “If you have friends, family and you’re healthy, you really have it all.”

 

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At her spare time, Tara enjoys yoga, going to the beach, making jewelry and going to the movies with her husband and daughter.

Congratulations Tara and Nancy on creating your first book and thank you so much for being a great example to our students! Tara’s book is now available on Amazon, and can be purchased here.

Events:

If you’d like to see Tara perform live, she will be performing children’s songs with her friend Katie at Jones Beach Band Shell and the event is free!

See details below!

July 24th, July 31st & August 11th: Jones Beach Band Shell @8pm. (Field 4)

By Elisabeth Castera