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The Hatikvah International Academy Charter School, which will open this fall in East Brunswick as the first Hebrew language charter school in the state, has hired its principal.

Colin Hogan, currently a 6th grade social studies teacher at Highland Park Middle School, was selected to lead the third Hebrew language charter school in the United States (the others are in Hollywood, Fla. and Brooklyn, N.Y.).

''The opportunity to get involved in this initiative is extremely exciting,'' Hogan told The Jewish State in a phone interview April 20.

The school, which will include an International Baccalaureate-Primary Years Programme as well as Hebrew language immersion, plans to open with 108 students in three grades, kindergarten through 2nd. The school expects to add a grade each year through 8th grade, with a total enrollment of 370 students.

Hogan, 37, who has been an educator in public, charter, and private schools, and studied and worked in Israel, said that in his new role ''all the different aspects of my life are converging.''

A native of Allentown, Pa., Hogan studied abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem during his junior year as an undergraduate at Indiana University. Following college, he spent a year volunteering in Israel through the Otzma program, working in Israeli schools and local social service agencies. He then spent approximately two years, beginning in 1996, in Hebrew University's New York office, where he was responsible for recruiting students to study at the university's programs for international students.

It was during his time working for Hebrew University that he decided to pursue a career in teaching and enrolled at Bank Street College in New York, from where he received his master's in early adolescent education.

In addition to his current position, Hogan has taught at the Academy of Communications and Technology Charter School in Chicago, the Princeton Charter School, and Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, also in Chicago.

Danna Nezaria, Hatikvah's board president, said that while there were certain qualities that were preferable in a candidate (such as Hebrew literacy or charter school experience), there was no single determining factor.

''He really had the total package,'' she said of Hogan.

The search for a principal began five months ago, Nezaria said, and after a ''voluminous'' number of replies, followed by phone and in-person interviews with applicants, the board narrowed the search to two finalists.

''We were looking for a visionary who would not only be able to bring our vision to life but put his own stamp on it,'' she said, adding that she believes Hogan will be an inspirational leader.

Hogan explained that a dual language curriculum -- in any foreign language -- is advantageous to a child's development in several ways.

''Most importantly it really trains our brains to see things in a different way, to be more agile thinkers,'' he said, adding that a dual language education also allows students to learn about a different culture and makes it easier for them to learn another foreign language later in life.

Teaching Hebrew within a dual language curriculum makes particular sense, Hogan said, due to the fact that for many of its speakers the language is not their native tongue. Consequently, he explained, Hebrew language instruction has produced a well-researched and effective pedagogy.

But Hogan said he wants the school not only to be known for its bilingual education, but also for the quality and innovativeness of its teaching in general.

''I want the school to stand out not only for offering a unique program of dual language immersion, but as a model for innovation, the best practice teaching and in terms of curriculum, how do we write a curriculum that not only expands the students' knowledge base, but expands the lessons into real world experiences,'' he said.

Hogan explained that the school will emphasize interdisciplinary education and show how the disciplines from science to literature to math are interrelated.

The students, he said, will come to understand that ''what they learn in school is not isolated in a single class.''

Hogan said that charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, allow for teachers, parents, and students to play a central role in developing and shaping the direction of the school.

Hogan added that he hopes the school becomes an ''active member of the community at large,'' by offering periodic cultural program on Hebrew language and Israel open to the local community.

Although his new job does not officially start until July, Hogan said he has already jumped into the work of building the new school. He noted that he has already begun recruiting teachers, developing the curriculum, and reaching out to families who are considering sending their children to the school.

''We're doing everything at once,'' he said.