New Hebrew Immersion Charter School Sees Flood of Applications

The Shalom Academy Hebrew-language immersion charter school has filled nearly all of its 160 spots after last week’s application deadline, but the budgetary impact on Teaneck’s school district remains unknown.

According to Shalom Academy’s website, most of the spots were filled through an initial lottery.  Last week’s lottery, the first of seven scheduled through August, also produced a waiting list. The school will open its doors in the fall on Williams Street in Englewood with 40 kindergarteners, 40 first-graders and 20 students in each grade from second to fifth, according to its website and documents submitted to the state.

The new charter school takes students from Teaneck and Englewood school districts, but the amount of students accepted from each district has not been released.

It is also unclear how many students will come from private or public schools.  Critics of the new charter have said it could attract students largely from private schools, adding to per-pupil costs for Englewood and Teaneck school districts.  Shalom Academy has until March 15 to provide a list of students to both districts in order to determine transportation needs, according to an application the charter school submitted to the state.  

Patch obtained Shalom Academy’s charter school application from the state Department of Education through a public records request.  The school’s founder, Raphael Bachrach of Englewood, has not responded to numerous messages seeking comment.  

Shalom Academy seeks to have students proficient in Hebrew and offer a rigorous academic program, according to the application.  . Teaneck’s Interim Schools Superintendent Barbara Pinsak has said the curriculum is too narrow and would not attract a range of students.

The charter school contends that its program seeks a diverse student population and will comply with state education standards.

“We seek a broad base of students from all ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic, family, and social class backgrounds to develop dual language fluency and international mindedness,” the charter school says on its website.

The school will have a dual-language program with content introduced in both Hebrew and English, according to the application.

“Shalom Academy Charter School will deliver a first rate academic program that offers a unique immersion curriculum, which presents most material to the students in two languages,” the school mission statement included in the application said. “This approach will include the study of the historical roots of the alphabet communicative form of the Hebrew language in order to maximize learning of the language.”

Shalom Academy was one of 23 charter schools approved in January and announced by Gov. Chris Christie.  The governor has pledged to increase the amount of charters in the state as part of his education reform agenda.

The next lottery is set for March, however, only four spots remain in fifth grade, the Shalom Academy website shows.