Times: A Hebrew Charter School Grows in Brooklyn

Not a tree, a Hebrew charter school. Not the first in the US, that's Ben Gamla in Florida. Not a certainty, more politics per square foot in Brooklyn than anywhere in the world. From the article:

Charter schools are publicly funded but independently operated...

Organizers are taking pains to assure state officials that the school, called the Hebrew Language Academy Charter School, would not cross the church-state divide. They have hired Dan Gerstein, a communications consultant, to smooth the way politically and to handle public relations. They are also in negotiations with a candidate for principal who is not Jewish but who has experience in dual-language education.

The application states that students will receive daily, hourlong Hebrew lessons, and that Hebrew will be woven into some art, music and gym classes — with children learning the Israeli folk dance Mayim in gym, for example. In addition, the social studies curriculum will include lessons on “Hebrew culture and history in the context of both American and world history,” according to the application....more