At Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School, the Hebrew language is foundational, connecting students to the heritage of the Jewish people and to Israel.
למה עברית? | Why Hebrew?
Our approach to Hebrew education is designed and aligned to ensure our graduates will be capable in reading, writing, speaking, and oral comprehension in Modern Hebrew, familiar with sacred Hebrew, ready for ongoing academic success, and feel at home in Hebrew, prepared to build Jewish lives of meaning.
Our educational approach couples rigor and joy to advance our educational goals for Hebrew:
- Academic objectives (what a student knows) are driven by a commitment to instructional excellence, thoughtful curricular alignment and integration, and the use of sophisticated assessment tools to monitor student growth and inform instruction, guiding students through a clearly articulated scope and sequence around acquisition of Modern Hebrew proficiency.
- Affective objectives (what a student feels) come to life as we surround students with Hebrew as both a historic and living language via opportunities to sing, pray, and play in Hebrew and to experience self-confidence and community through hearing and expressing Hebrew in public settings.
In our intentionally diverse community, Hebrew helps build unity without demanding uniformity as a key building block of our special Jewish environment for learning and shared community. We believe Hebrew literacy is a prerequisite to participating in a Jewish life and key to our students’ strong Jewish identities, entrée to Jewish texts, and sense of self and purpose.
Want to see our curriculum in action?
Join us for a guided tour of our classrooms during a school day.