Mar Elias Educational Institutions
Ibillin - Galilee
The Mariam Bawardi "Elementary and Middle" school is a place through which we seek to raise up and educate our students from early age.
The children who complete kindergarten can directly enroll in the Miriam Bawardi Elementary School, which serves nowadays over 1150 students.
The Elementary school was founded in 1997 with two first-grade classes. A grade a year was added with two classrooms for each. In 2019, there were 650 students in the Elementary School (Grades 1-6), with around 40 students per class. In September 2004, the new elementary school building opened, but the school quickly outgrew even this space. In 2006, the first eighth-graders graduated from Mar Elias Elementary School in a great celebration involving the entire community.
Students in the elementary school come from many villages within a 30-mile radius of Ibillin. They come to school by bus, or their parents drive them in their cars. The students and teachers include Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Jews. The Principal of Mariam Bawardi Elementary and Middle School, Mrs. Johaina Mattar, says the most challenging part of her job is saying no to families whose children are on the waiting list.
Throughout the year, special exchange programs bring the students of the Elementary School together with Jewish students from nearby schools to help build friendships and understanding across all religious lines.
Mrs. Mattar, the Principal of Mariam Bawardi Elementary and Middle School, emphasizes that the school atmosphere depends on mutual respect between all members. Dialogue and respect for the surrounding community are aims of the school. Through this approach, the school aims to educate children about their rights, commitments, and obligations towards their society and community. The school believes in respect for diversity, even in personalities, and offers opportunities to all members of the school, including students and teachers alike.
At Mariam Bawardi Elementary, students move from 6th to 7th grade; they also move across the Campus from the elementary school building to the old high school, where they enjoy upgraded computer and science lab facilities in the newly renovated building.
More than 450 students do increasingly advanced work in math, science, history, arts, and three languages: formal Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Virtually all enter Mar Elias High School after their 8th-grade graduation.
"Our children deserve the best education we can give them." "They deserve to live with dignity. They must learn to live in peace with their neighbors. Hopefully, some of our students will shape the future of Israel and Palestine and bring peace to this troubled land. We also hope our graduates will choose to stay in Israel/Palestine for their graduate education. They can make a difference and help bring peace by finding jobs here.
- EXCERPT FROM BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS - ABUNA CHACOUR
Jean Blackwell Hopson was a long-time friend of the Mar Elias Schools. Her wish was to give a large gift to the school after her passing, which provided many upgrades to the Mar Elias, including the middle and high school buildings, meeting and administrative spaces, and much-needed playground shelter in the outside kindergarten area. She had a spirit of generosity and a commitment to “making a difference” in the lives of many, leading her to teach in the US and abroad. She had numerous interests, traveled extensively, loved music, and was a fine horticulturist. Jean made several trips to Ibillin, helping the existing school and enabling it to expand. Jean devoted her last years to the Palestinian cause.
