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TWO AMIT HIGH SCHOOLS RATED AMONG TOP TEN IN ISRAEL
April 28, 2004, New York City...... A recent study conducted by the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv and the Ministry of Education has ranked two AMIT high schools among the top ten in Israel. The AMIT Harry and Bina Appleman Comprehensive High School in Beersheva was ranked number 5 and the AMIT Gould High School in Rehovot number 9.
The two AMIT high schools were also the only religious high schools to make the list.
"I know I speak for the entire membership of AMIT," commented Jan Schechter, national president, "when I say how proud we are of this latest achievement by our AMIT schools. This is a testament to the extraordinary dedication of our faculty and professional staff and a confirmation of the AMIT mission and philosophy of education.
|  | | AMIT Harry and Bina Appleman Jr. and Sr. High School | |
"I extend a joyous Mazel Tov," she continued, "to Dr. Amnon Eldar, the director general of AMIT in Israel, to Drora Gopas, principal of AMIT Appleman, to Itzik Friedman, the school's immediate past principal, and to Miri Gil, principal of AMIT Gould, as well as to their teachers, staff and, of course, the students."
Among the criteria used in selecting Israel's top ten high schools were a zero (or less than one percent) drop out rate; a continuous rate of academic improvement; and a rate of more than 75 percent of the students successfully completing the matriculation exams.
The AMIT Harry and Bina Appleman Junior and Senior Comprehensive High School in Beersheva has a student population of more than 1200 youngsters in grades 7 to 12. Approximately 50 percent are Israeli born, 30 percent are immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 20 percent are immigrants from Ethiopia. The school accepts any student in Beersheva who wants a religious education.
The curriculum at AMIT Appleman focuses on physics, chemistry, biology, computers, general technology, electronics, electricity, office management, Russian and Judaic studies. All students are encouraged to take full matriculation (Bagrut) exams, with special programs in place to help the weaker students. On average, some 76 percent of the students receive a full bagrut certificate, an outstanding record among comprehensive high schools and first place among the comprehensive high schools in Beersheva.
The school has earned two significant prizes in the past two years: the Religious Education Prize for 2001/2002 in the category of immigrant absorption, and the Prime Minister's Prize for the school's superior achievements in the "Bagrut 2001" program. Most recently, Ilya Gurevich, a senior at AMIT Appleman, won first prize in the Intel Israel-Bloomfield Science Museum Young Scientists Competition. Ilya will go on to represent Israel at the Intel International Young Scientists Competition, scheduled for May 9-15, 2004, in Portland, Oregon.
When asked by a reporter from Ma'ariv if religion has an effect on success in education, Principal Gopas replied, "I think about this question a lot. "The Jewish philosophy is that education is the basis of society and we have children that if we do not give them a basis, all of society will lose."
 | | | AMIT Gould High School | | |
The AMIT Gould High School in Rehovot is home to 500 students in grades 9 to 12. Some eight percent are young immigrants from Ethiopia.
Students specialize in the sciences (biology, chemistry, physics and computers), in academic subjects such as literature and Judaic studies, or in technological subjects such as graphic design, electronics, environmental studies, and engineering. The school also offers post high school studies for grades 13 and 14 in textile engineering in cooperation with the Shenkar College.
Principal Gil described AMIT Gould as "a house of education."
"There are no weak students," she added, "only delayed students. "If we truly believe that we are talking about a group that advances a bit slower, then all the negative connotations do not exist and the message that is expressed is that the sky is the limit.
"We recently increased our success in the Bagrut examinations by 13 percent, and we hope that we will continue on and upwards."
AMIT is the world's leading supporter of religious Zionist education and social services for Israeli youth. Since 1925, AMIT has nurtured and educated Israeli children to become productive, contributing members of society. Its 60 schools, youth villages, surrogate family residences and other programs constitute Israel's only government-recognized network of religious Jewish education incorporating academic and technological studies. A majority of AMIT's 14,000 children come from economically disadvantaged and/or troubled families. They reflect all Israel: sabra and new immigrant; religious and secular; Ashkenazi, Sephardi and every nation of the Jewish Diaspora. Today, significant numbers of AMIT students are immigrants from Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union.
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Media Contact:
Barbara Goldberg
Director of Communications
212-477-4720, ext. 127
barbarag@amitchildren.org
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