The Whitney Guide

Temple Israel of Hollywood

Temple Israel is located in a tree-lined section of Hollywood Blvd., in a neighborhood of well-maintained apartment buildings and old California bungalows. The building is a stone fortress that takes up a whole city block and, although it's surrounded by large, old trees, it's a decidedly urban school.

Inside, the spaces are airy and bright and classrooms are a colorful, creative, organized chaos of sorts. The impression you get is one of activity.

Children are involved and up to their elbows in the task at hand, whether it be drawing, cutting, pasting, working with manipulative learning tools, or creating a science project. The children seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves and were so engaged in their various activities that they hardly noticed they had a visitor.

In addition to the teacher and aide, there was a parent volunteer. One child had his own helper (hired by his parents) to help him sort out any disputes he might have with the other children. I took it as a very positive sign that the school did not turn away a child that was working out discipline problems, yet required that the family take responsibility to provide extra help in the classroom.

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