First Dual Language Charter School in Hoboken Opens

After almost two years of preparations, two lotteries and renovations at the Boys and Girls Club, it was finally time on Friday morning to celebrate the newest addition to Hoboken's educational landscape: the dual language charter school HoLa.

Around 8:30 a.m., the founders of the school alongside Mayor Dawn Zimmer (whose two sons attend Elysian Charter School), Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr. and other state and local officials, as well as parents and students, the school was officially opened. 

"This is a very emotional day for us," said one of the founders, Jennifer Hindman Sargent. 

With the opening of the dual language school—a first in Hoboken—there are now three charter schools in the city. Charter schools are public schools, governed by a board of directors. Tuition is free and students are accepted based on a random lottery. 

HoLa will serve 132 students from Kindergarten through second grade, starting on Sept. 7. After that a grade will be added per year until 5th grade is reached. But, even though there hasn't been a full day of school yet, Hindman Sargent already hinted at expanding beyond that, "if there's enough demand," she said.

"A K through eight grade school would be ideal," Hindman Sargent added.

The students in Kindergarten and first grade will be taught 90 percent in Spanish and 10 percent in English. For the second graders the school is using a 50-50 formula, with alternating weeks in Spanish and English. The curriculum is cumulative, explained Hindman Sargent.

"I think it's wonderful," said Ramos, whose daughter will be attending the school starting this fall. "It's a unique learning experience."

Ramos is a teacher in a traditional public school in Paterson and said he is in favor of charter schools. "Educational options for a parent are a good thing," he said. 

Of HoLa's students, ten percent will be attending from outside of Hoboken, said the school's director Maria Acosta.

Roughly 20,000 students currently attend charter schools in the state of New Jersey, said Chairman of the New Jersey Charter School Association Carlos Lejnieks. He said also that there are currently also about 20,000 students on wait lists throughout the state, to get into the charter schools.

"Some traditional public schools just don't do right by our kids at all," Lejnieks said. 

HoLa will be housed in the Hoboken Boys and Girls Club at 123 Jefferson St., which was renovated to function as a school. After hour programming at the Boys and Girls Club will continue as before. 

The school is completely full, except for three spots in the First grade, which means that three students from the waiting list will be let in. 

Gary Greenberg, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, which has been located on 123 Jefferson St. since 1984, called Friday morning's ribbon cutting a "crowning moment."

"I really believe," Greenberg said about the partnership between the school and the Club, "that we've created a model here that we can replicate."

The parents and officials in attendance (there were no representatives from the Hoboken Board of Education present) were excited about the new school and admired the new classrooms and learning space, as they walked through the freshly renovated second floor of the Club. 

"This is a dream," said Acosta. "To see it come to what it is now ... I'm very proud of everybody."