Instead, IB Hebrew SL will be available every year, in addition to two other Hebrew classes. This is made possible by holding class only four days a week, with a study hall the fifth day, during which students may work on Hebrew homework.

“I’m happy about the change,” Stone said. “For juniors, getting rid of IB Hebrew would mean we would need to take another language or take Hebrew somewhere else.”

Not all students agree fully with the change. Junior Leah Shapiro said she felt concerned with the new class schedule.

“Class will be less frequent than five days, so obviously it will be harder to cover five days of material,” Shapiro said.

The Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School (HMJDS) offers Hebrew classes in kindergarten through 8th grade. Many students graduating from HMJDS choose to continue their studies at Park because of its advanced Hebrew classes, since Park is one of the few schools that offer Hebrew at the IB level. One such student is junior Imara Hixon.

“There would not have been as much of a push by my parents for me to come to Park if it had not been for the Hebrew program and the large Jewish population,” Hixon said.

This change may affect students in more ways than academics.

“It will be really nice for me to be able to continue Hebrew,” Stone said. “I’ve been thinking about going to Israel, and now I’ll be able to speak the language when I go there.”