Supporting Early Childhood Education

Thank You for Supporting More Kindergarten Education.

The generosity of hundreds of individuals & foundations is expanding early education for Palestinian refugee children by 50%. Funds raised over the last year are paying for the construction of a new third classroom in our kindergarten, Zahrat Al-Yasmeen, located in the UN-run Aida refugee camp. This investment in the future of Palestine is life changing. Thank you for making it possible. To learn more click on the video to the right.

Snapshot.

Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten: Preschool in the UN-run Aida Refugee Camp

  • 3 years in operation

  • 2 graduations completed

  • 50, 4-&-5-year-olds taught (soon 75)

  • 6 teachers & 1 director provide excellent teaching & student nurture

  • Building a third classroom to increase enrollment by 50%

  • Ongoing communication & professional development in person & remotely with the teachers/ staff in both Palestine & the US

  • Reviewed by local government authorities and received high praise for child-focused learning environment

Picture, right: Magi Fatouleh, Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten director, joins students at their graduation in June 2023. Students come mainly from families living in two UN-run camps in the Bethlehem area or from refugee families living nearby the UN-run Aida refugee camp.

Integration & Support for Students

Palestine, like all locations in the world, has children who require special support to attend school. Zahrat Al-Yasmeen believes that all children should be in kindergarten. Some students at the school arrive traumatized by Israel’s military & settler violence. Others have developmental delay from birth. Teachers are trained to help students deal with traumatic episodes & an occupational therapist is a member of the Zahrat Al-Yasmeen staff. Nadine, a student pictured below, is a new student who has benefited from the support of both teachers & occupational therapist. She has autism & requires a different approach to enable her to integrate into the classroom. Nadine’s family’s situation meant that regular therapy was beyond their economic reach. However, at Zahrat Al-Yasmeen she is learning with other students. Teachers, family, therapist & Nadine came together to construct a therapeutic plan. The family had heard that the school offered these types of high-quality care & noted them as prime reasons for having their daughter attend. Now, with plan in hand, Nadine is on her way to learning & growing just like all the other students.

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Community Need

Zahrat Al-Yasmeen is made possible through a global partnership. Since 2019, 1for3 has brought together Palestinian & US educators to build & support the development of a dynamic, child-focused school. Together, they build curricula, teaching methods & new offerings of student support. Opened in 2021 & located on the ground floor of the Lajee Center in the UN-run Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, West Bank, Zahrat Al-Yasmeen provides a pre-school education for children from two camps.

• There are 2 classes (soon 3!) of 25 children each: KG1 serves 4 year olds; KG2 serves 5 year olds

• The school is a safe & secure place for children to learn about their world in a nurturing environment

• Teachers guide & support children to achieve academic, social & creative competencies with a comprehensive program centered on nature, culture & music

• Approximately 15% of students have ‘special needs’ and are fully integrated into the classroom

• A child graduating from the program is prepared intellectually & socially to enter primary school & to engage constructively with family & community

• Parents are encouraged to participate in the education of their child

Leadership

  • Beverly Wispelwey is an experienced teacher of 3-to-9 year-olds. Her particular educational work has been focused on teaching & curriculum development for 3-to-6 year-olds.

  • Hubert Murray is an architect with experience working on projects in the United States, Europe, Africa & the Middle East. His portfolio includes public housing, schools & colleges, highway infrastructure, university campus & healthcare planning & urban design. He has taught in London, Nairobi & Boston, & is a guest critic at schools of architecture in Boston. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
    With 1for3, a US-based non-profit organization, he has helped build & continues to support the Zahrat Al-Yasmeen kindergarten in Aida Refugee Camp in Palestine. Hubert also writes on architecture, the urban consequences of climate change & social issues. He works on art constructions in his back yard.

  • Katherine Hanna is an American-born Palestinian. She is a recently retired public school educator in Massachusetts with 26 years of experience in early elementary grades & literacy. She is co-founder of the Boston Palestine Film Festival where she volunteered for eleven years as film program curator & finance manager. Through her continued online presence @palestinefilm, she has helped to support new Palestinian film festivals & connect the community around the world. Since 2019, Katherine has been working with the education team of US based non-profit 1for3.org to build & support Zahrat Al-Yasmeen kindergarten in Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, Palestine. She collaborates with other US-based teachers & the Palestinian teaching team to support an innovative inclusive, play-based & trauma-informed curriculum. Katherine enjoys being a grandmother & traveling.

  • Magi Fatouleh is the director of the Zahrat Al-Yasmeen kindergarten. A lifelong resident of Beit Jala Magi brings years of experience in early childhood education to her work. As director, Magi has advanced a campaign to expand the size of the school, student enrollment, teacher training & diversification of the curriculum. It includes classroom-based and community-based activities & learning.

  • Merrie Najimy is an Arab American, veteran public school educator of over 30 years. She spent most of those years as an elementary school teacher in the Concord Public Schools, dedicating her career to developing anti-racist/anti-bias pedagogy, curriculum & teaching practices. She left the classroom from 2018-2022, to become the president of the 115,000 member Massachusetts Teachers Association. There she led the movement to transform the union into one that fights for racial, economic & gender justice & bargaining for the common good.

  • Betsy Abrams is a social worker, social activist & an American born Jewish woman of Ashkenzi heritage. She brings to this project passion, connection & decades of experience working with young children, their parents & teachers. Betsy works at the intersection of trauma, racism & resilience drawing upon the strengths of both community & individuals & their capacity for connection, compassion, creativity & healing.