THE PRINCIPAL OF AN INNOVATIVE ISRAELI SCHOOL BIALIK ROGOZIN WILL SHARE HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMMUNITY OF TEACH FOR BULGARIA

The headmaster of one of the most innovative Israeli schools will share his experience at the upcoming Innovations Day in front of the community of Teach for Bulgaria. Ellie Nehama is the headmaster of Bialik Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, Israel. Every day the school is attended by 1300 students from 51 different countries. All of them belong to various demographic groups – from poor Israeli families, economic immigrants, new immigrants (mostly from the former Soviet republics, refugees from Darfur and different Arabic minorities). They are of different religious backgrounds and speak different languages in their homes.

The main goal of the Bialik Rogozin School is to provide to its underprivileged students a broad spectrum of opportunities to develop their full potential.  The school aims to give each student a chance to acquire education, skills and experience which will be helpful for their successful fulfilment on the labor market, for building strong families and development of a sense of belonging to one’s community and the Israeli society. More than 100 teachers work at the school, some of them part of the program Teach First Israel (a non-governmental organization operating like Teach for Bulgaria and a partner in Teach for All global network), as well as hundreds of volunteers.

Ellie Nehama will share his experience with teachers of Teach for Bulgaria on Saturday, January 21 when the traditional Innovations Day in the community of Teach for Bulgaria will be taking place.  The event will bring together current teachers and graduates of the program, as well as guests outside the organization. They all share good practices from the classroom, interesting innovative ideas and lots of inspiration.

Besides the Innovations Day, Mr Nehama will also attend a discussion with education experts, representatives of the MES, RAE, school leaders and teachers. It is jointly organized by Teach for Bulgaria, the Institute of Progressive Education and The Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria. Before the discussion, all guests will also have the opportunity to see the movie about Mr Nehama’s school Strangers No More, which was awarded an Oscar for the best documentary short subject. See the movie trailer here:

Ellie Nehama received a bachelor degree in drama and theatre arts from the University of Tel Aviv in 1990. Afterwards, she became a successful theater actor. It was during that period when he developed a greater interest in education.  He elaborated an educational, artistic approach which aimed at employing art as a tool for personal development and improvement of communicative skills.  In 2001, Elie Nehama completed a master’s degree in integrating arts into the education process, and in 2003 he was awarded a diploma in the management of educational institutions. Between 2003 and 2010, he was a principal of one of the most prestigious and well-known schools in Israel – A.D. Gordon School.

In 2011, Mr Nehama became principal of the unique school Bialik Rogozin affirmed as a model of education in line with the needs of children from different marginal groups in Israel.

Throughout the years of heading the school, Elie Nehama took a series of steps for his students related to the provision of social and health care and education of children with special educational needs. The school works with nearly 100 teachers, some of them part of the Teach First Israel Program and more than 300 volunteers from non-governmental organizations, the army, etc. The school also employs various educational approaches and receives strong support from the local community and corporate partners. Thanks to that, it manages to provide very high-quality education to all students regardless of their starting level and individual needs.  The students on their part perform extremely well at external school assessments, which often opens doors for them to continue their education at the university.

In addition to his work as headmaster, Elie Nahama provides guidance and counseling to different educational teams and school leaders by delivering lectures and presentations in Europe and the USA.

In 2015, the Israeli magazine Time Out places him among the 100 most influential persons in Tel Aviv.