Educators to chat up Jewish-Arab schools

Six years ago, Lee Gordon co-founded two schools in Israel where Jewish and Arab students learn together in a bilingual classroom. The idea was revolutionary in a country with two separate curriculums for Jewish and Arab students, and where young Jews and Arabs rarely meet.

The schools, one in Jerusalem and the other in the central Galilee, now have 363 students between them, from pre-K through sixth grade. A third school is set to open in September, near Hadera.

Gordon, who returned to his native Oregon for family reasons, is now representing the network of schools — called Hand in Hand (http://www.handinhand12.org) — in the United States. Although half of the schools' funding comes from the Israeli Ministry of Education, the rest comes from private sources.

While students' families must pay fees for incidentals, they do not pay tuition, and with two teachers in every classroom plus educational consultants designing its curriculum, the bilingual schools are more expensive to run than other Israeli schools.

All three area Jewish federations have given money to Hand in Hand, as have many local individual donors.

In two weeks, Gordon will be visiting the Bay Area along with Dalia Perez, the Jewish co-principal, and Nadia Kinani, the lead Arab teacher, both of the Jerusalem school.

"Despite the fact that I'm a good spokesperson, some people are hungry for anecdotal stories of what goes on in the classroom, and I wanted people to have a chance to hear that," said Gordon.

Gordon, Perez and Kinani will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the home of Bonnie Slavitt-Moore and Jack Moore, 21657 Vintage Lane, Saratoga, (408) 872-1434, and at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Acqua Hotel, 555 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley, hosted by Don and Janet Buder, (415) 388-3154. n

— alexandra j. wall