The Lord Steinberg Hemed Torani-Environmental School - closing the gap

Providing an education for children who need it the most

Opened in September 2010, the Lord Steinberg Hemed Torani-Environmental School is part of a major new initiative to help close the social and educational gaps between Israel's centre and periphery. Based at the new Merom HaGalil Educational and Community Campus, the program will combine academic achievement with building self-esteem for the school's 400 pupils (grades 1-6).

Merom HaGalil is located in the breathtaking hills of northern Israel. But the natural beauty of the country's periphery - a short distance from the Lebanon border - brings unique challenges. Unemployment is high among the region's 11,300 inhabitants, most of whom come from socially deprived backgrounds. Geographical isolation and poor infrastructure reduce the chances of equal opportunities even further. The Ministry of Education has previously classified the school as "desperately in need of development."

New campus, new opportunities

Local education is vital for improving the quality of life in this community. The Lord Steinberg Hemed Torani-Environmental School joins another primary and secondary school on the Merom HaGalil Educational and Community Campus, which will become the region's educational and cultural hub.

In addition to modernising the 35 year-old school building, the children will benefit from support in core subjects like mathematics, English and Hebrew. New enrichment programmes and extra-curricular activities including arts, sports and computer science will help them to develop socially and give them the tools to realise their dreams.

Special emphasis is placed on therapies for children with cognitive and emotional difficulties, as well as improved services to enable 'at-risk' children to integrate into the same educational system as their peers.

Pupils and teachers at the Lord Steinberg Hemed Torani-Environmental School, a religious school, are bound together by a commitment to Torah, the Jewish People and the State of Israel. Together with the new community campus, the school is helping to build a brighter future for the people of the Galil.

See photos of the new school and its official opening in our online gallery.