After a process of four years of planning and construction, the northern Israeli city of Tzfat finally has its first futuristic-looking (and thinking) school, the AMIT Tzfat Evelyn Schreiber Jr. & Sr. Ulpana High School.
AMIT partnered with the Tzfat municipality to create this forward-thinking space, one that reflects the changing concept of education in Israel.
“Today students live at a different pace, in a collaborative digital world,” said Tzfat Mayor Ilan Shohat, who also heads the city’s education department. “We in the education system must also undertake a conceptual revolution, and that revolution starts here.”
That conceptual revolution, which AMIT is spearheading across Israel, entails cultivating learning communities, which in turn create students who are eager to learn, are driven by Jewish values, and are equipped with the tools to help them thrive in the 21st century.
The school features Gogya-inspired open spaces and modular furniture to help students learn in the way that suits them best, individually or in groups, and to encourage transparency among the school staff and the students.
Yaffa Shemesh, the ulpana’s principal, said that her school reflects “a new language, a new conversation, in which everyone is a partner.”
“Our goal is for each student to choose the place that is right for her and the path that enables her to develop and pursue her interests,” Shemesh said.
One of the students described her excitement about the new space, saying, “In a regular classroom, I sit opposite a teacher who tells me what to do and how to do it. Here we have more options. I learn at my own pace, how I want and in a way that’s more interesting, and we are able to study topics more in depth.”