Hellenic Classical Charter School

Hellenic Classical Charter is a winning, spirited school with the kind of authentic content and instruction that motivates kids to participate wholeheartedly. Children study the world through the rich lens of Greek language and culture, and take their expertise into a wider sphere through their participation in local and citywide Greek events. This dynamic school community is a source of pride among the city's Greek community but has benefits for all students.

Kindergartners study Greek through games, flashcards, skits and songs. They also listen to Aesop's Fables and enjoy puppet shows, an important part of any Greek childhood. Greek instruction continues five days a week through middle school, where students add the study of Latin, and read excerpts from Greek classics such as The Iliad, The Odyssey and Plato's Republic.

The school embodies the Greek concept of "filoxenia," or hospitality. Children are taught to take ownership of their school by serving on the student government or as "ambassadors" in each classroom. At their open houses, students and staff receive visitors with smiles, snacks and information. The middle school science teacher said kids love all this warmth and community. "At the end of the day we kind of have to kick kids out of the building," he said.

Founded in 2005, Hellenic Classical Charter grew out of the Soterios Ellenas School, a longstanding Greek-Orthodox parochial school that has educated Brooklynites of Greek heritage for decades. Demographic changes reduced the number of local families wanting Greek parochial education, and the idea was born to create a not-for-profit charter school, based on Hellenic culture and drawing in a broader range of students.

The school population is ethnically and economically diverse with rising numbers of Hispanic students; not even one-quarter are of Greek heritage. Still, at least one hour of each 8 am to 4 pm school day is devoted to studying Greek with five native-speaking professional teachers. But other cultures are celebrated too. Each classroom studies a different country in preparation for the school's multicultural fair; Cinco de Mayo and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day are important holidays.

What's particularly successful here is how subjects are knit together for greater meaning. We watched theater/dance teacher Petros Fourniotis weave geography, history and language instruction into one of his Hellenic dance classes. Using a map, a child located the origin of the sharper, percussive dances of the mountainous Pontus region, and made a comparison to the smoother-flowing island dances. Sixth-graders danced with a respectful, Zen-like focus without a trace of the rebelliousness typically attributed to this age.

Since her arrival in 2007, Principal Christina Tettonis has increased arts and literacy instruction. More than 20 1st-graders receive one-on-one help in reading, and teachers work with coaches from Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. "We put a lot of resources into the lower grades," Tettonis said.

The school also adopted the practice of Socratic Seminars, or "Paideia time," as it's called, as a way to debate topics. The result is a refreshing forthrightness in student discourse. Kids don't have to wait to be called on by the teacher, and in the older grades children serve as discussion leaders. A 3rd-grader explained Paideia seminars like this: "We all have different opinions. We agree. We disagree. You can speak more than once but not too much so others can speak." She added, "We love it."

Classroom teachers are responsible for science, a subject that typically falls to a specialized teacher in a larger school, and we saw evidence of science lessons, although children said that hands-on experiments occur more frequently in the 4th grade, a testing grade. "Science is strong in the building and we're looking to make it even stronger," said school director of operations, Joy Petrakos. Children grow seeds, dissect frogs and study mechanical science, she said, by way of example.

Any student may take advantage of free Kaplan preparation for the specialized high school test. About 12 percent of graduates qualify and others attend a wide range of public and private high schools. High school-level Regents classes are available in Greek, algebra and Earth science.

There is no outdoor play space so the younger children walk to a nearby playground.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Special education teachers work with children individually and in small groups. "We want to increase the special education population," said Petrakos.

ADMISSIONS: Lottery, with priority to District 15. There is a long waitlist. (Lydie Raschka, May 2016; updated August 2016)