Have curriculum, will travel: Two Hartford-area day schools share new teacher
By Cindy Mindell

For the last two years, the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield and Hebrew High School of New England (HHNE) in West Hartford have been building a bridge of sorts.

HHNE students make regular visits to the academy’s middle school to speak about the high school, and host the eighth graders at the high school for a day. Last year, Hebrew Academy middle-schoolers were tested by HHNE math teacher Mildred Unfried, who also gave a math in-service to teachers in all grades.
So it made sense to consider sharing teaching staff as well. With 60 to 90 percent of Hebrew Academy graduates going on to HHNE, principal Mordechai Weiss says the idea came to him as a way to better prepare his middle-school students.
“Once our kids get there, we know they’re stars in terms of Judaic studies and are sought after by teachers,” he says. “We want to make sure they’re also prepared for advanced general studies.”
Because the academic level is so high at HHNE, the Hebrew Academy graduates will be well prepared no matter where they continue their studies, Weiss says.
Starting this year, Michael Lindberg will teach seventh and eighth grade math at Hebrew Academy and advanced math at HHNE. Linda Astur, who took a leave of absence from HHNE, was hired this year at Hebrew Academy to teach language arts and social studies. The two cover three-quarters of Hebrew Academy’s general-studies curriculum.
“We’re creating a bridge between the major general-studies subjects here and in the high school,” Weiss says. “These teachers know the expectations at HHNE, so can teach our students accordingly. We have these two Jewish schools and we want the best for our kids, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to work together.”

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