Secondary School Program for 100 American Children Scheduled in Israel

A secondary school program in Israel for nearly 100 American 10th and 11th grade students will be held during the 1971-72 academic year at two kibbutzim in the Galilee area, it was announced by Dr. Emanuel Rackman, chairman of the advisory committee of the American section of the education and culture department of the Jewish Agency. The participating collectives will be the Huleh Valley regional high school at Kfar Blum and the Kvutzat Shaal at Karmiel, he said. Kfar Blum, a farm collective, will be open to 10th graders. Kvutzat Shaal, an urban kibbutz, will be open to 11th graders. Dr. Rackman added both schools are fully accredited by American high schools so returning students can get credits toward their high school degrees at home. Rabbi Rackman said that the next academic year will mark the fifth anniversary of the American-Israel secondary school program, but the first year in which an urban kibbutz will be included. In the first year, only 15 American students were enrolled.

During the current year there are 75 participants, he said. Both collectives have large numbers of Americans as members, which helps in the integration of the American students with the Israeli students, he added. Dr. Rackman also reported that the general courses at the kibbutz schools are taught in English and the Judaica courses taught in Hebrew as much as possible. He said that aside from the English curriculum, courses are given in the Hebrew language and literature, Bible, the history of the Jewish people in biblical days and those of the second temple, and Israel today. He declared that the success and growth of the program indicated “a real validity for a secondary school program in Israel for American students, just as there has long been for college students.” He reported that the students themselves, and their parents, “feel that there are real values in American youngsters participating in at least one year of high school study in Israel where their social and recreational life is fully integrated with resident Israeli students.”