Publicity

As WBAIS Development and Public Relations Director, I would like to welcome you to our community. If you have any questions about what's new at WBAIS, both during the school day and in the evening, or if you are interested in finding out which events, courses and activities are open to the public please feel free to browse our website.  In addition, if you'd like to find out more about events in the Even Yehuda area (outside of school), you can visit the Even Yehuda webpage (in Hebrew) . If you have questions or would like to contribute information about upcoming events, please contact me (I speak English, Hebrew and French) at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call me at (09) 890-1000, extension 446.  For information on previous events that were held at the school, as well as sample articles written, visit our WBAIS Previous Events Wikispace .

I would like to invite you all to have a look at the many varied, exciting, challenging programs at AIS. Enjoy this video of the school !

Any information needed,please contact me:

Ada Renan
WBAIS Development and Public Relations Director. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

I am very pleased to inform you that a special article about our school was published in the "Haaretz" Special Education magazine! מגזין חינוך – 50 המשפיעים on August 28,2008.   What a great start to the new year at AIS! I have received many calls and questions about "this dream school". The article is in Hebrew but  I  translated  it for you into English

Here it is:

”A Dream School …The American International School in Israel (WBAIS)…….

has moved after 50 years in Kfar Shmaryahu, to a magnificent campus in Even Yehuda. The campus includes 50 classrooms, Kindergarten to Grade12; a theater building; sports facility; a library; cafeteria; sports fields and swimming pools for adults and children. 

From the moment you enter the campus, the calm atmosphere, the green fields, the quietness and politeness remind you that you are in another world. 

The mission and aims of the school are: to achieve academic potential; to assume leadership; to encourage life-long learning; to be respectful of diversity; to contribute actively to society and to manage conflict effectively. Indeed from Kindergarten to Grade 12, the emphasis is on acquiring these values whilst engaging in challenging academic studies and providing the necessary tools to cope. 

WBAIS students are exposed to multiple languages, religions, cultures and nationalities. They are also “open to the broader world” through participation in international sporting competitions, conferences like the MUN (Model United Nations,) music competitions, video festivals, math contests, science fairs, the Space Camp program, art studies, languages, literature and poetry evenings, senior project program and more … the WBAIS elementary school chorus was even invited to perform a few times at the Israeli Knesset. 

This year WBAIS continues with its one-to-one laptop computer program for 7th and 8th grade students, not to mention the professional care given to students with learning difficulties and ELL (English Language Learners) classes for non-English speaking students, and the list continues……. 

The results speak for themselves - the very small classes, (in the elementary classes teachers are assisted by instructional assistants,) facilitate professional and individual contact with each child and lead to maximum achievements by way of fun and enjoyable activities. Students absolutely love coming to school! 

Utopia?  Not at all! A school of this kind does exist - The American International School in Israel - WBAIS.”

About Israel

You are coming to a tiny (population 6.0 million), exciting, superficially Western country in the heart of the Middle East.  The language is modern Hebrew although English is widely spoken or understood. Arabic is the third official language. While it is a dynamic and intense society, you should not be discouraged by the U.S. media’s interpretation of current events.  We at AIS are security-conscious but not subjected to daily risks.

Israel, the Promised Land of the Bible, is today a modern, thriving, bustling and vibrant country.  For centuries, the sites of many of the most stirring events in the history of mankind lay dormant beneath shifting sands and crumbling terraces.  In today’s Israel, cities, towns and villages, fertile farms and green forests, sophisticated industries and well-developed commercial enterprises and shopping malls have replaced barren hillsides, swamps and desert wilderness.

But the echoes of the past still reverberate.  Jerusalem, the Holy City, retains its aura of sanctity and welcomes a constant stream of pilgrims of all faiths.  The contemporary city of Be’er Sheva (Beersheba) stands at the threshold of the Negev Desert, as it did in the days of the patriarch Abraham.  Eilat, Israel’s outlet to the Red Sea, is a busy seaport, as it was during the reign of King Solomon.

Besides its religious and historical sites, Israel has much to offer the tourist – vast stretches of clean, sunny beaches, modern cities and hotels, kibbutzim (collective villages), theaters and nightclubs, health resorts and colorful markets – all within a compact geographic microcosm:  only a few hours’ traveling time separates the sun-warmed seashores and the snow-capped mountains, the forests and the scenic deserts.  Israel is indeed a rich and varied bouquet of attractions.

Geography

Israel is a Middle Eastern continental crossroads, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the great Syrian-African Rift to the east, and the Red Sea to the south, sharing its borders with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The northern and central part of Israel, where most of the population is concentrated, is divided into three distinct longitudinal sectors:

•    The Coastal Plain, to the west, including the major urban centers of Tel Aviv and Haifa;

•    The Valley Region, to the east, with the Jordan River linking the two inland seas (the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea);

•    The mountain range in central Israel, incorporating the Hills of Galilee, Samaria and Judea, including the capital, Jerusalem.

In the northeast rise the Golan Heights and snow-capped Mt. Hermon, while the Southern Region comprises the Negev and Arava Deserts, which constitute much of the country’s land area, including Be’er Sheva, capital of the Negev, and Eilat on the Red Sea.  Altitudes vary from 2,224 m. (7,296 ft.) at Mt. Hermon to -392 m (-1.286 ft.) at the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth.

Weather

Summers are hot and humid.  August, when you arrive, is uncomfortably hot - probably the most difficult time of the year!  

AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURES (Fahrenheit)

                                August  January

Jerusalem         37-46     64-82

TeI Aviv               52-68     72-86

Beersheva           46-68     68-86

Eilat                       42-73     68-92

Upper Galilee     46-70     64-93

The above are given in Fahrenheit.  To convert to Centigrade, double the Fahrenheit and subtract 32.  The precise calculation is C=5/9(F-32)

Government

The independent State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948.  Israel is a parliamentary democracy.  Its 120-member unicameral legislature, the Knesset, is elected by universal suffrage according to the proportional representation system.  The government is administered by the cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister.  The official Head of State is the President, elected by the Knesset for a five-year term.

About Even Yehuda

The story of Even Yehuda began about 75 years ago. An organization of young farmers from all over Israel decided to look for new empty land to buy in order to start new settlements. They built Netanya, Herzelya & then Even-Yehuda, their last settlement.

 The name of the organization was Bnei-Binyamin, after both Binyamin Herzel & Binyamin Rothschild. They named all their settlements after the great Zionist figures: Herzel, Nathan Strauss & Ben-Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew language. They combined the word "Ben-Yehuda" with his initial "e” (in Hebrew "v" & "b" sometime change places) – the result was "Even-Yehuda".

 Citrus groves, a flourishing business at that time, in the late 1920's, were the planned economic basis for these new villages. The secret was the reddish soil all over the Sharon area that is the best for this kind of crop. Chicken farms were the second source of income here.

 The first two villages, Netanya & Herzelya, quickly became towns, but Even-Yehuda remained relatively small until the 1980's, when demand for the suburban way of living changed real estate prices. Groves were cut down and houses grew instead. From a sleepy village of 4,000, Even Yehuda has grown to a population of 10,000 and is growing fast.

 In Even Yehuda there are ten kindergartens and one school - the second is soon to be built near AIS. The high school in Hadasim started in the 1940's as a village for young survivors of the holocaust. Until a few years ago there was a religious school but it closed as a result of reduced demand. Children who seek a different kind of education, find it elsewhere.

 The local community center is growing strong. It hosts a great variety of afternoon activities - arts, sports, and science. The community center is also in charge of the local center for the elderly & the center for young children aged 0-3.

 The new gym, situated near the American School, is almost finished. An upcoming project next to the gym will be open tennis courts.

 In Even Yehuda you will find a 60 year old library, with a small English section. The center of Even Yehuda has a variety of stores, cafes, restaurants, banks, supermarkets, post office and a pharmacy.