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 The Bet Shemesh Educational and Residential Center was established in 1986 by the Jaffa Institute under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. The Center is a junior and senior high boarding school for boys, dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children. Founded in 1986 with only the barest of essentials for its first sixteen students, the campus is now fully equipped with newly furnished classrooms, modern computer facilities, a beautiful synagogue, and a science and technology center. Having since been established as an autonomous U.S. 501(c) (3) organization and amuta in Israel the Center now enrolls approximately 300 children from some of the most destitute areas in the country.
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 With the overall objective of improving the lives of as many children as possible by offering them the highest level of education, the Center offers its students a warm and loving environment, while providing comprehensive Jewish religious and secular education. The Bet Shemesh Center's high academic standards were officially recognized when it was awarded the prestigious National Education Prize from the Ministry of Education in 1995 and again in 2004.
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 The Residential Center serves a very diverse student body. Over one quarter (26 percent) of our students are from Ethiopia, 10 per cent are from the former Soviet Union, 3 per cent come from European countries, and the rest are native-born Israelis. Approximately 20 per cent of the students come from single-parent families; most are from families suffering significant financial hardships. Many of the boys have been transferred from one foster home to another, from one school to another, and even from one town to another. This lack of stability creates enormous gaps in their education. Moreover, as the students begin their studies in the seventh grade at age 12, and complete them in the twelfth grade at age 18, they are vulnerable to all the social pressures that normally arise during adolescence.
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Please visit www.betshemesh-educenter.org.il for more information.
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