Phone: 972-2-626-6800 FAX: 972-2-628.5764 ADDRESS: Muristan Rd. P.O. Box 14076 Jerusalem 91140 via Israel
History | Mission | Contact Info| School Website: dar-alkalima.scho.ps | Electronic Magazine in Arabic
The newest of the ELCJHL Schools, the Dar al-Kalima School in Bethlehem, is pioneering innovative and exciting approaches to education in Palestine today. It is built on a high bluff overlooking the city of Bethlehem. On one side lies Bethlehem’s Old City and its surrounding neighborhoods; on the other side is the UN-administered Dheisha refugee camp. This unusual location enables the school to address the many needs of the Bethlehem community today. Dar al-Kalima seeks to serve this community by providing for area students an open, stimulating, and safe educational environment.
Today Dar al-Kalima, which means in Arabic House of the Word, enrolls a total of approximately 260 students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. One of Dar al-Kalima’s most notable strengths is its innovative school schedule. After a traditional seven-period day, all students participate in the school’s Extra-Curricular Program (ECP) for at least one hour each day. A wide variety of options are available for students, from traditional subjects such as geography and chemistry to non-traditional offerings such as drama, embroidery, art, music, and story-telling. Students choose their ECP schedule based on their own interests and are encouraged to value and care for their own personal development, paying equal attention to academic, physical, and spiritual needs.
Students also have access to facilities of the Dar al-Kalima Health and Wellness Center, a fitness center and clinic located on the campus of the school. Classes in swimming, aerobics, and dance are offered regularly.
The Dar Al Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School is an educational institution operating under the umbrella of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).
The school aims at delivering an educated generation which, through the utilization of competencies and life experiences, is capable of undertaking responsibilities, adapting to the surrounding environment, and dealing with current problems and issues.
Therefore, the school (1) takes into consideration the target group’s needs, desires, and inclinations within the framework of a holistic approach which concentrates on mental, physical, psychological, spiritual, and social aspects and (2) reinforces these aspects through curricular and extra-curricular activities and programs.
The school aspires to reinforce in the students a number of values: acceptance, peace, love, and team-work. It also encourages students’ self-learning and motivates them to be creative, innovative, and critical in their problem-solving.
The school believes in adopting modern educational tools and in engaging modern technologies to achieve desired goals.
The history of the Dar al-Kalima School, founded in 2000, actually began long ago with the founding of the first Lutheran School in Bethlehem. In 1860, the original building of the German School in Bethlehem was constructed on land purchased by German missionaries for a Lutheran church and school. The German School was the first secular school in Bethlehem, in that it was the first to offer subjects such as math, science, and language, rather than only religion and liturgy as did other schools operated by Bethlehem churches. It was also the first school in Bethlehem to admit girls even as early as 1860. From its location in Bethlehem’s Old City, the school steadily continued its educational work into the 1990s.
In the 1970s and 80s, the ELCJHL began to dream of building a new school on a mountaintop property outside Bethlehem formerly owned by the local Lutheran Church. The British had first confiscated the property in 1919; after 1950 it became part of the treasury of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. After much research regarding the property’s ownership and extensive negotiations with various local and national authorities, the Lutheran community in Bethlehem realized its dream. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat issued an edict designating part of the mountain to be used to build Lutheran educational institutions, including the Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School. On January 6th, 1998, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan of the ELCJHL laid the cornerstone of the new school. The Evangelical Lutheran School in Bethlehem was closed in 1999; the new school opened for the 2000-2001 academic year and graduated its first class in the spring of 2005.
Dar Al Kalima Lutheran School
Headmistress: Nae'la Kharroub
P.O. Box 73, Bethlethem
Teleophone: +972-2-276-7871 or +972-2-276-7872
Fax: +972-2-276-7873
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