Renanim School 

• Renanim School is located in Kiryat Shmona- a city in the upper Galilee, for Children with Special Needs. Our students come from across northern Israel.  Its 111 students are aged 6-21 and include Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze.  They come from different cultures and from a wide geographical area.  Renanim welcomes this heterogeneity with skill and sensitivity, meeting each student's particular needs.  
  
  
• The main diagnosis of our Students is mental retardation, while many of them also suffer from a range of other disabilities, including cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, Down’s syndrome and autism.
  
  
• The school enables each student to develop his or her own personal strengths, in order to attain maximum independence and to acquire the tools to deal with everyday life.
  
  
• Renanim is staffed by a dedicated team of teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and a social worker, Psychologist, pediatrician and nurse.
  
  
• In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, the school building was badly damaged by rockets.  In 2010, Renanim moved into a new, purpose-built building, financed partly by the Jewish Federations of Canada – UIA.
  
  Programs:
• As they would in any other school, students study Hebrew, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art and Physical Education.  The school also offers a wide range of special programs, including:
  
  
• Paramedical treatments to improve physical and social functioning, including physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and drama therapy. 
  
  
• Preparation for life, including: health and hygiene, sex education and road safety.
  
  
• Extra-curricular activities, including: music, dance, drama, ceramics, drawing, soccer, cycling, tennis and cooking.
  
  
• A crafts workshop in which students produce jewelry and items for the house.  Products are sold, with the revenue being used to pay for equipment and supplies. 
  
  
• Employment workshops in school which prepare students for the job market. 
  
  
• Employment workshops in the community in which students work at local businesses in the community and acquire real life work skills
  
  
• Cooperation and inclusion with different schools in the city in which the schools take classes together and work on joint projects
  
  
• Social involvement in which students volunteer in the community in kinder gardens, homes for the elderly and more.
  
  Special school projects:
• Integration with the community: The school holds collaborations with other schools, groups and organizations such as the police forces, the fire department, the military, colleges, factories and various businesses. 
  
  
• The choir: Our students receive music classes and learn how to play different music instruments both in one on one classes and/or sing and play in the choir and band. There are two school bands- one including the younger kids and the other, the older ones. The school bands play in our school activities and represent us on different occasions in other places around the city as well.
•  The educational coffee shop: Our school operates an educational coffee shop where students learn varies skills in preparing them for the work ethic, and open them to the opportunity in social integration. The students purchase the products, bake, set the tables and waiter customers. 
• School trips:The students participate in one day trips and 2-3 day trips too which include sleeping in tents with sleeping bags. These trips enable them to feel and go through to significant experiences as would their regular education, peers would.