New Immigrant Students at Ostrovsky High School

“Immigrants can be defined as people who are determined to leave their country behind, to draw a line and forget the country where they came from. However, they will never be able to forget the country they came from: it will come back to them in their memories and dreams, longings and nostalgia. They come to a new country hoping that everything will be different. They hope that all their dreams will come true in the land of their forefathers, but no immigrant will ever be able to fulfill all of his dreams."

Amos Oz, from an interview dedicated to publication of his book A Story of Love and Darkness.

Ostrovsky High School is the only High School in Raanana that accepts new immigrant students. The new immigrant students account for 47% of the school population and come from 29 different countries all over the world. Returning residents and new immigrants choose to reside in Raanana thanks to the reputation of Ostrovsky High School that specializes in working with the new immigrant students.

Our work with the new immigrant students is based on the following philosophy and values:

Integration model which suggests that the new immigrant students keep their central values and add another dimension of the values of the country they now live in,

Working with the new immigrant students is perceived as a moral and Zionist mission by our staff and we believe that successful absorption and integration of students at school affects the absorption of the entire family in Israeli society.  

We relate to the new immigrant students using holistic approach: considering their family, social, emotional and pedagogical needs.

Pedagogical Perspective:

Obligatory Courses: Hebrew language, civics, history, literature, and Bible are studied in the homeroom classes in accordance with the curriculum suited to the new immigrant population. The students take final exams in these subjects specifically tailored to new immigrant students.

Mathematic and English – the students study in mixed groups, along with other students from their grade according to their level and achievements in Junior High School AND the results of the screening tests that take place at beginning of the sophomore year in High School.

Major Subjects – new immigrant students study their majors in mixed groups with the rest of the students in their grade level according to their academic achievements, personal preferences, and teacher evaluation.

There is a possibility to study one of the languages at extended level (as one of the majors). We offer French, Russian, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at 5 points level.

Hebrew language class (ulpan)—all 10^th grade students are streamed into groups according to their level, not according to their homeroom classes. The goal of Hebrew ulpan is to allow students to acquire Hebrew as a second language; students study five weekly hours of Hebrew language. Assessment : extended use of experiential learning techniques, active student involvement in shaping the learning process and diverse assessment and pedagogical practices.

The new immigrant students also enjoy a variety of support and assistance:

The “Pele” program (translates as extra curricular learning activities) is financed by the Ministry of Absorption. It allows to divide the students into smaller groups and provide additional extra curricular activities.

In addition, we take advantage of teaching assistants, soldiers whose job is to teach students and young people who choose to do their national service at schools to provide new immigrant students with lessons one on one or in smaller groups.

Raanana municipality finances these additional and extra-curricular hours in order to ease the new immigrant students’ absorption.  

Social Perspective:

• Social bonding activities in homeroom classes.
• Additional trips to allow students to get to know Israel better
• Specialized workshops for empowerment and enrichment
• An in-school preparation for the draft to the IDF. Teachers accompany students on the day of their screening tests in the army.
• Our staff undergoes training in different aspects of absorption of the new immigrants
• Individually tailored programs to help new immigrant students with special or complex needs

Emotional Health and Well-being Perspective

We are aware of the fact that the process of absorption in Israel may be accompanied by a personal, family, social or cultural crisis. As far as the students are concerned, they face both problems at the same time: the adolescence crisis which is considered to be a natural part of the development of one’s identity alongside with the identity crisis caused by the immigration to a new country.  

The intensity of this crisis can be regulated by the amount of support each family provides, the amount of motivation the student has to immigrate to a new country, the difficulty one might have in Hebrew language acquisition. Such difficulties may lead to a feeling of alienation, lack of belonging and loneliness and as a result risky adolescent behavior.

We are aware of the complexity of mental and emotional state of the new immigrant students; our staff closely monitors students whose emotional state raises concerns and we try our best to provide help and support through any available means. One member of our staff is a professional and trained psychologist who fluently speaks three languages and provides services to our new immigrant students. We also organize workshops and activities to strengthen the bonds between new immigrant students and Israeli students to build and reinforce their sense of belonging to Israel.

Connection with parents

• We provide detailed explanations about the make up of studies in Israel, terms and conditions for being legible to a Final (Bagrut) Certificate
• We provide the necessary information and facilitate the integration of the new immigrant students in the educational system in Israel.
• We translate this information into three major languages
• We provide activities to prepare the new immigrant students for their army service
• Parental counciling is also provided if needed.

A short deion of the process of registration to school

• The school staff will schedule a personal interview with the student candidate and his/her parents
• If the case is more complex, additional specialists from school or municipality educational board will take part in the meeting.
• If a student arrives from abroad, s/he will wait for the permission of the municipality educational board to sign up to Ostrovsky High School. When such permission is received, s/he will be invited to a meeting with school staff.

A short deion of the procedure of registration to a new immigrant homeroom class

• The guiding principle in choosing the homeroom class is maintaining homogenous (as much as possible) level of the students: the level of command of Hebrew language, academic achievements, level of motivation.
• The school offers new immigrant classes that provide an extensive level of assistance in all subjects, more than in regular new immigrant classes
• The placement in math and English is done based on the former achievements of the student and results of the screening tests.
• The choice of major subjects is based on the students’ personal preferences/interests and their abilities.

After the student signs up to High School, the school receives a notification which states the learning accommodations each new immigrant student is entitled to, such as time extension, oral exam, reading out of the test etc. This decision is based on the data provided by the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Ministry of Absorption and takes into account the amount of time a student spent abroad, country of birth, year of arrival to Israel, age etc. The learning  accommodations are valid for in school tests and national final exams (Bagrut tests).

Please find attached links to the relevant documents:

Ministry of Education directive concerning new immigrant students

Ministry of Education directive concerning returning residents

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