Parents interested in having their children learn Hebrew as part of their schooling attended an open house Sunday for the new Ben Gamla Charter School set to open in August.
BY PARADISE AFSHAR
PAFSHAR@MIAMIHERALD.COM
For the upcoming school year Johany Preston is considering an alternative option to a traditional public school for her three boys.
She is flirting with the idea of sending them to the brand new Ben Gamla Charter School in Miami Beach, which when it opens in August will offer a combination English and Hebrew curriculum, only the third school of its kind in South Florida.
``The location and the Hebrew were the main draws,'' said Preston, 44, of North Miami, who was among two dozens parents on Sunday attending an open house at the school at 1211 Marseille Dr. It will welcome students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Admission to the school is free and open to students residing in the Miami-Dade school district. There is a $100 refundable book deposit.
Preston, who is Jewish, said she feels that the language component is important ``because it's a part of the Jewish culture.''
The Miami Beach campus is the second for the school named after an Israelite high priest -- Yehoshua ben Gamla -- known in the Talmud for his campaign to establish yeshivas throughout Judea.
The school's language curriculum has not been without controversy. When the first Ben Gamla school opened in Hollywood in 2007, the Broward County School Board briefly ordered the charter school suspend its Hebrew classes because the language has too close of a tie to Judaism, raising concerns that the connection could result in a nonsecular school.
Nathan Katz, a religious studies professor at Florida International University, was asked by the school board to review the lesson plans to ensure it was secular and the school was allowed to offer Hebrew classes. Katz said it is within the school's constitutional rights to teach the culture that comes with the language, and that the curriculum doesn't include any religious practice.
``It's like a magnet school where you may have a choice of language like French or German,'' said Katz, who attended Sunday's open house.
Heather Rubin, a first grade teacher, said Ben Gamla students are held to the same Florida public school standards. The majority of the curriculum is taught in English.
``I don't speak Hebrew,'' Rubin said, adding that another teacher comes into the class to teach students the language. ``But I do think it's great to have to learn a second language. It's amazing to see the kids who come here who speak a second language at home, come here and learn a third language.''
But the main goal of the school is to provide a comforting learning environment, she said. Principal Ari Haddad describes the school as a hybrid between public and private schools. Haddad said the new school is being well-received.
``So far everyone has been great. I had one of the neighbors come to me today and say, `You will do great things here,' and I think we will.'' he said.
Currently, there are 930 students enrolled in the Ben Gamla Charter School in Hollywood. The new Miami Beach campus is expected to add 190 new students.
For more information about the Ben Gamla Charter School, call 305-469-9331
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/28/1704044/new-miami-beach-charter-school.html#ixzz188sNdTIo
