The End of the School Year in the Primary School

The Primary School students had a special performance, in June, given by an African circus troupe. The performance was a special treat, and the kids were amazed at the acrobatics performed on their school stage.

The second-graders each got a personalized binder with all of their work in the HOTAM classes, including artwork and photos from activities. These children will continue to learn in the HOTAM Education, Culture, Tradition curriculum as long as they remain in the primary school; the binders were a reminder to them of how far they have already come and gave them a taste for more projects in the years to come.

June 13 was English language day in the entire school. The teacher, Polly, and some of the English- speaking kids helped the school celebrate this day in style.

The student council that was elected in November finished an eventful and productive year. They met one final time, and Neama and the teaching staff thanked them for all the work they had done in planning and leading activities for the school community.

The Natural History Museum in Jerusalem is an introduction to the different animals, habitats and ecology of our region from north to south. The nature class, together with their teacher, Voltaire, had a field trip to the museum, together with explanations.

The Language Center is already meshing with other lessons: The students had special games and activities in the language center around the subject of the last Spring Holidays.

The end of the year parties are bittersweet celebrations. The sixth-graders put on a show for their families and teachers with skits and musical performances. Drums and guitars and songs rounded out the evening.

Every class celebrated, some with pool parties, some with sleep-overs, all with food and hopes for the next year.

Neama Abu Delo, the school principal, summed up the year in a letter to the parents.

• The school is in the process of instilling an approach of differential learning – a system that teaches to each student’s strengths and pace. Meanwhile, a program to encourage reading increased language skills by 30% in all the classes.
• The Language Center, which opened in the second half of the year, is getting the kids
• involved in learning proper modern usage in both Hebrew and Arabic. And a new workbook, prepared with the help of Ety Edlund and Ramin Abu Sharakh, for fifth and sixth-graders, was a big hit with these kids.
• With mindfulness sessions, behavioral analysis, and other methods, instances of school violence are way down.
• A teacher’s retreat in the middle of the year was essential to creating a unified team with our diverse staff, and ensuring every voice is heard and every one contributes. The team feeling is crucial to a school atmosphere in which all the children are equals and feel a part of the school community.

Happy Summer Vacation to all