Type Private Established 1959 Staff ~80 Phone +61 8 9276 1644 Founded 1959 | Denomination Jewish Principal Shula Lazar Enrolment ~750 Motto Faith & Knowledge | |
Address 123 Cresswell Rd, Yokine WA 6060, Australia | ||
Carmel School is a private Modern Orthodox Zionist Jewish school in Perth, Western Australia which was founded in 1959. It offers Jewish religious and cultural education as well as conventional secular education for students from Kindergarten to Year 12 though its two school components: "a full-time primary school", and high school. It is the only Jewish day school in WA.
Contents
History
The Perth Hebrew School, housed by The Perth Hebrew Congregation "was the forerunner to Carmel School". It doesn't have many members anymore, due to the existence of Carmel School.
In 1957 a Jewish kindergarten was opened with 17 pupils, which led to the creation of Carmel School in 1959. Its first location was adjacent to the Brisbane Street synagogue, before moving to the current location in Yokine in 1962. The junior high school was opened in 1974 and in 1978 the senior high school was completed.
In 2005 and 2006, Carmel School took part in the S.C.R.A.M (Schools Conflict Resolution and Mediation) initiative.
In November 2006 it opened a state-of-the-art Early Learning Centre which houses students from Kindergarten to Year 1.
Since 2008, the school has hosted annual meetings by The Australian Association for Religious Education entitled "Common History – Shared Future", which are "about Judaism [and] featuring some eminent Jewish educators and speakers from around the world".
In 2009, on the 80th birthday of Carmel School Life Member Harry Hoffman OAM, the school published a book about his life entitled Hate Never Sat At My Table. The author was then-principal Christina Dullard. In honour of Hoffman's (and the Korsunski's) philanthropic contributions to Carmel, in the same year the school was renamed H & S Hoffman and G Korsunski Carmel School.
On 13 September 2009 the Kadima Performing Arts Centre, a state-of-the-art building for drama and arts and media was opened. It also celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. In 2012, the drama theatre was named the Nassim Family Theatre, "in lovely memory of Gladys Nassim at a cocktail evening".
The school has officially adopted The Jewish War Memorial (located on Fraser Avenue, Kings Park). It seeks to do research into the military servicemen. The school has also adopted the Memorial to the Victims of the Holocaust.
In the week leading up to 11 April 2010, Brendan O’Connor, the minister for Home Affairs visited Carmel School to talk to students and staff about internal terrorism threats and border security.
Also in 2010, the Ishioka and Lara Hana Brady, the subjects of the book Hana's Suitcase were invited to visit Carmel and speak about the Holocaust.
In 2011, the school officially opened its new gym.
In 2011, "in commemoration of Gilad Shalit’s captivity, members of the executive went into Carmel School, and delivered a presentation in honour of Gilad Shalit". They gave out yellow ribbons to students, and encouraged them to sign the "‘hands for hope’ banner, which was sent to Gilad Shalit’s tent in Jerusalem".
The school holds annual Jewish camps for students, which are hosted by Israeli madrichim.
Relationship with community
Carmel School is situated in the same area as the Jewish Centre, Maccabi Grounds, The Maurice Zeffert Home, and other Jewish facilities. It upholds a relationship with all these places.
The home page for the Perth Hebrew Congregation says it serves to "supplement...the Jewish education received by those students who...attend Carmel School".
Due to the Maurice Zeffert Home's close proximity to Carmel School, the residents at the aged care facility are "enthusiastically entertain[ed]...with concerts [by Carmel School Students] at regular intervals".
Motto and Vision
Carmel School's motto is Emunah V'da’at (English: Faith and Knowledge) and is the philosophy of the school. This motto is displayed on the school crest. The vision of the school is Am Yisrael Chai.
The 3 biggest aims and challenges for the school are to retain quality Jewish education, quality secular education, and sustainable financial management.
Religion
Hebrew and Jewish Studies are both WACE subjects which are taught to high school students, while various Judaica topics are taught to the younger students. Praying is compulsory every morning before school commences.
The The Role of Music in Terezin course is taught to Year 12 by Shirley Atlas as part of Holocaust Studies.
Debbie Posner is the Hebrew and Jewish Studies Teacher and Program, and Debbi Benn is the Coordinator of Primary School Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
The entire campus has a "No Meat Policy", and all food on site is encouraged to be in accordance with the kashrut laws.
Education
The school has an enrolment fee of $200 and states that a "fee schedule is available upon application", although as its philosophy is to "not exclude any Jewish child", it also "offers fee assistance as needed".
In Australian Jewish high schools, Holocaust education is taught as part of the Jewish Studies curriculum under Contemporary Jewish History. A study of Jewish schools in Australia by Sophie E. Gelski entitled The Missing Paradigm, cited Dr Judith Berman's research Berman’s 1998 and 2001 research, which focused on "the Jewish day school experience in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, over a fifty year period". She noted that "although the time devoted to teaching the Holocaust had increased, it did vary between a one semester course at Carmel School".
In January 2009, the school had 67 computers.
School leaders
Alan Hershowitz has been President of the Board since 2008. Larry Rudman is the current President of the Board
Principals
Directors of Jewish Studies
Statistics and achievements
In 2009, the class of 2009 achieved some standout results in the Tertiary Entrance Ranking (TER):
The school has also received other academic achievements:
The school has performed well in the WACE exams and has consistently rated in the top 50 schools in the state.
Controversy
In 1996, there was a case in which a mother who was a Reform Convert sought to have the Orthodox school accept her son for enrollment. A court case ensued in after "the [family] was handed a letter stating specific religious restrictions which would be placed on their son because he was not Jewish according to Orthodox definitions, and therefore prohibited by halacha from participating in some school programs. The Equal Opportunity Tribunal handed down a 46 page document in which it dismissed the family's complaint." The result of the Goldberg vs. Korsunski Carmel School case, delivered in 1999, was significant for all religious schools, as it effectively allowed "such school to discriminate in favour of members of that particular religion or creed, as long as the discrimination is in 'good faith'". The Equal Opportunity Tribunal defined 'good faith' as "in accordance with practices or beliefs of that religion or creed", and added that it was not required of the school to have to justify those practises or beliefs to "the outside world".
In 2008, Carmel School science teacher Jeff Cahill, 48, committed suicide after being "linked to child sex-offense allegations". The 15-year-old was not a Carmel student. Cahill's lawyers said he had been led to believe the youth was 17, when in reality he was underage. Alan Hershowitz, then Carmel School president told newspaper JTA "the school board had [already] decided to suspend him because of the allegations". He was not able to be formally notified as he "died the next day". His funeral was attended by over 500 people, including many Carmel students and teachers.