Jerusalem - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability of international schools? What has been your general experience with them, if any?
Mae Boyar Highschool has an IB program that allowed my homeschool kids to take a la carte classes (IB Physics, IB Chemistry, Theory of Knowledge). That was a really great experience for them. The Anglican school is the other IB school in Jerusalem that is used by American families (AISJ). The school has many UN and Palestinian families that attend and the political climate within the school reflects that reality. The State Department-sponsored school is Jerusalem American International School (JAIS), but they currently only have up through grade 9 students. They are under the umbrella of Walworth Barbour American International School, which has its main campus north of Tel Aviv in Even Yehuda. They have a boarding school option for Jerusalem-based families who choose to enroll their children in their school. The Jerusalem French School, or Lycée Français de Jérusalem, is a French international school in which embassy families sometimes enroll their children. - Sep 2024
In my opinion, the school situation in Jerusalem is awful for older students. If you have a student expecting to be in 9th to 12th grades while serving here, seriously reconsider. It seems there are zero "adequate" high schools in Jerusalem, where adequate is defined by the Department of State. Here's a rundown based on what I have heard and seen, of all of the English-language schools in Jerusalem. Traditionally, the only IB school in Jerusalem has been the Anglican International School of Jerusalem (AISJ), a Christian-affiliated school with mandatory religious education. It's my understanding that only in 2017 did AISJ stop forcing parents to sign a "Statement of Christian Faith" before they would enroll students at this school. AISJ was founded by Christian missionaries whose sole purpose was to convert Jews to Christianity. A number of board members are missionaries. The Jerusalem American International School (JAIS) once went to 12th grade, but closed its high school in about 2016, and now only goes up to 8th grade. They tried adding on since then, holding small 9th grade classes, but these attempts were not a success. JAIS is where most Embassy children attend at the younger grades. It is the only truly secular English-language international school in Jerusalem but it is not an option for 9th grade and above. The Jerusalem American School is located in Beit Hanina, nowhere near where Embassy housing is. Many LE Staff send their children there. There is a new IB school in Jerusalem within the Mae Boyar school. They opened a 10th grade for the 2022-2023 school year and are hoping to grow each year. They are under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Education but are privately-run. Post did not have any information on this school. Yerushalayim Torah Academy provides instruction in English. The boys school is in Bayit VeGan, a few blocks from Mae Boyar. The girls school recently moved to Beit Shemesh, which is not an easy commute from Jerusalem. YTA is a religious Jewish school, and while it is not required to be Jewish to attend, more than half the day is spent on religious education (Torah and Talmud). YTA is the only English-language school in Jerusalem where students are expected to take the Israeli Bagrut exams, and some Bagrut exams are offered only in Hebrew. A number of Jewish American and Jewish Israeli organizations offer a semester of high school in Jerusalem for overseas students, including Ramah (located on the same campus as JAIS). However, none of these programs are suitable for high school students whose parents are assigned to Jerusalem for more than a year, since these programs are not long enough. If the parents were only going to be assigned here for one school year, then one of these programs might work out. Though not in Jerusalem, the Walworth Balbor American International School (WBAIS) is located in Evan Yehuda, and it's where most Embassy kids assigned to Tel Aviv attend. The school is 1 hour and 45 minutes driving from Jerusalem, WITHOUT traffic. Don't let anyone tell you that it's an easy commute, as it's utterly not true. Don't let anyone tell you that WBAIS is located in "Tel Aviv." It's not. It's 45 minutes north of Tel Aviv. During the 2022-2023 school year, WBAIS opened a weekly boarding school for students whose parents live elsewhere in Israel. Since there is no readily-available public transport on Friday afternoons, no idea how students are expected to get home to Jerusalem. No idea what the boarding is like. A number of EFM children homeschool as well. I did not find a lot of support when researching schools. If you have a high schooler, I feel like you're on your own with research. - Nov 2022
Elementary school is lovely. Middle and on is... problematic. The USG supported school (JAIS) dropped their high school program and their middle school program is about 15 kids across 4 grades (5th, which is middle school despite 5th graders not being developmentally ready for switching classes, etc., 6th, 7th, and 8th). If your kid gets along with any of those 15 kids, it's a great environment with small classes and nurturing teachers. If your kid doesn't find his tribe, it's a lonely couple of years. JAIS wants to add 9th and 10th grade, but seems to be floundering with their pilot program. I would look very carefully at the curriculum and opportunities available before signing on for that, especially if your kid has specific college ambitions or you're not able to pay full-freight and want them to get scholarships aid since there's no extracurriculars or opportunities to develop beyond the curriculum at JAIS. The other option is the Anglican School, which is NOT USG-supported which means there are no placed held for Embassy kids. Several of their classes are "Full" at various times, and they may apparently just chose not to admit your kid even if they're on the waiting list. This has been the cause of broken handshakes and curtailments. The Anglican School does not do pre-admittance, so if you have a high school kid there's no assurance that there will be a place for you when you arrive. Several people in DC will suggest that the American School in Tel Aviv is an option for kids in Jerusalem. These people are deluded. It's a 2-ish hour drive in rush hour to Tel Aviv, and Evan Yehuda, where the school is located, is another 45 minutes north beyond that. The high speed train makes it possible, but your kid would have to leave Jerusalem at 6:07am, and return home at 5:30, without any ability to participate in after school activities or social life. Please don't depend on this as a back-up option without really considering the realities of travel time. - Oct 2019
Most kids pre-K to 8th grade go to the Jerusalem American International School and the Anglican International School Jerusalem. The high school options are limited so we don't really have older kids here. - Aug 2018
There are essentially two schools here for mission dependents. The American school only goes up to grade 7 or 8 and those grades have ridiculously small class sizes so socially there will be some disappointment if your kids are coming from larger schools.
The Anglican school goes up to 12th grade but it is NOT a state-sponsored school due to the religious affiliation to the Anglican Church. It is also an IB school. The class sizes are only slightly better. Still small. - Dec 2016
JAIS is the official school for the U.S. ConGen. JAIS has a great new head of school as of 2014 who has brought positive energy to the school and made some needed decisions to better the overall situation there. Specifically, the school has removed its high school, which was tiny already but sucking up resources that can now better be used for the elementary and middle schools. The school rents space on a separate campus and has one class per grade (in general). Some grades are small. Others come close to about 20 pupils each. The teachers are, by and large, excellent. We've had one that we weren't happy with, but other parents didn't have problems with her. The other school is the Anglican School (British Curriculum). It has bigger classes, specifically at the higher grades. They own their school facilities and have a fairly nice sports field (which JAIS lacks). If you have a high school student, you would send them here. - Aug 2015
Don't know - our kid was too little. I never heard anyone complain about the school situation. - Aug 2015
There were only two available that we know of and only used one. Our son was not thrilled with the school and I am not sure if I was either. The classrooms were small which was nice but it seemed like he was bringing more work home to learn than he was doing at school. - May 2015
Most children of Consulate employees attend the Jerusalem American International School (JAIS) or Angelican International School Jerusalem (AISJ). - Mar 2014
There are several options and all seem to be very good, like the Anglican school and Alliance Francaise. - Aug 2013
Most people send their children to one of two schools: the Anglican School and the American School. I don't have school-age children, so I can't offer much insight into the pros and cons of either school. - Jul 2013
