Primary School
The first school in Israel where children learn together in Hebrew and Arabic, the Primary School models a successful bilingual, binational approach to education for children ages kindergarten through sixth grade. The school serves students from the Village as well as from more than a dozen communities in the region, with 90 percent of enrollees traveling more than 20 miles each day to attend.
History
The Primary School was established in the late 1970s, as the first generation of children began to be born in the Village. The school was founded on three principles:
Students, faculty, and leadership are equally Jewish and Arab
Instruction is offered in both Hebrew and Arabic
Curriculum is focused on strengthening identity by teaching the history, culture, and traditions of each group
The Primary School received state recognition in 1992 and has since become a model for similar schools across Israel. It remains the only bilingual, bicultural school in Israel located within a bilingual, bicultural, and egalitarian community.
Approach to Curriculum
Each classroom at the Primary School is led by two teachers, one Jewish, one Palestinian, modeling equality and teaching in their native languages. All students are taught to read, write, and speak in both Arabic and Hebrew. A state-of-the-art language lab helps children manage all aspects of living in both languages through real-life applications, such as buying groceries or visiting the doctor.
The Primary School is also home to the Zoo Lab, where students learn about and care for small animals. Classes in music and art provide practical instruction, outlets for self-expression, and opportunities to learn about Palestinian and Jewish cultures. There are also programs focused on the environment and agriculture, including a working farm where students learn to grow and harvest crops together.
Kindergarten winter holiday celebration: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Mawlid al-Nabi
Impact and Influence
For Primary School students, studying each other’s languages in the classroom soon translates to speaking each other’s languages on the playground. As children, they learn how to celebrate their own histories and cultures while remaining open to and respectful of difference. As a result, Primary School graduates are nuanced thinkers and confident problem solvers who consistently rank in the top percentile in educational testing.
There has been steadily increasing national and international interest in the school in recent years. Primary School teachers are often asked to train their peers in curriculum development and advise teacher-training colleges on bilingual teacher preparation and programs. In 2020, the Primary School sponsored a national conference for educators interested in using the curriculum as a model for their own institutions.
Schools in the Galilee, Jerusalem, and Jaffa have drawn significantly on the Primary School’s teaching methodology, and numerous institutions now use its specialized curriculum materials, which have been translated into several languages. With regional encouragement, the Primary School is currently developing a plan for expanding into a middle and high school.
