The Jerusalem Keshet Campus

The Keshet School in Jerusalem was founded by Ms. Ruti Lehavi in 1995, a few months before the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “Keshet” means “a rainbow” in Hebrew, and this founding concept promotes a rainbow of Jewish and Israeli cultural expression. Keshet was the first school to offer a combined educational framework to religious and secular students. In 2011 there are 750 students in kindergarten through 12th grade at the Jerusalem campus. The Keshet School in Jerusalem serves as a strong unique model of education that inspires many other schools in the country.

 

The Keshet model of education encourages both students and staff to express and identify themselves in a variety of ways, with confidence and pride. In the Keshet combined educational framework, students are exposed to a variety of Jewish life styles – from full traditional commitment to Halacha to viewing Judaism as a humanistic culture. This experience is accompanied by an understanding of each one's narrative and basic concepts. Our ultimate goal is to create and nurture educational environments, based on dialogue, that respect each student's Jewish identity.

We try to welcome into each classroom an even number of secular and religious students, and of boys and girls, while trying to maintain a balance of different learning styles and challenges. In each grade we have a secular homeroom teacher and a religious homeroom teacher, who play important role models for the different identity groups.

Students at Keshet have a high social awareness and deep commitment to the neighborhood, which has a relatively low socio-economic status.

At the Lower School:
Our third grade students have a long-term on-going connection with the Ilanot School, which is a special-needs school that serves students with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and other muscular diseases. Our fourth grade students volunteer in the neighborhood to “make it green” by working in the communal garden with the elderly. Our fifth and sixth graders mentor the Kindergarten students.

Our Middle and High School students are involved with numerous projects including:
Teaching computer skills to older women from the neighborhood,
Coaching younger teens at the neighborhood after school program, ("קן לספור") "Ken Lasipur" – a combined drama and literature project for neighborhood families with young children, pet-sitting for neighborhood elders, and many many more.

General Information:

Head of Lower School: Ms. Tova Avichai-Kremer

Head of Middle and High School: Mr. Shimon Avichzer

School contact info: 23 Alexandrion St. Jerusalem 93268

Phone #: L.S. 972-2-6480854 e-mail: keshetyes@gmail.com

H.S. 972-2-6791298 e-mail: keshettichon@gmail.com