"We Established the Only Class in the Country for Disabled Girls in a Regular School"

September 1st is a significant date for all students and their parents, but for some, it marks a breakthrough beyond boundaries and limitations. Such are the students of classes A'4 and G'4 at Beit Yaakov School, Matersdorf, in Jerusalem. They will also be arriving on September 1st with ironed uniforms, equipped backpacks, and neatly wrapped textbooks. They will enter their classes within the large building and become part of the many students attending the school.

Only those who meet them up close will realize they are not exactly like everyone else. "These classes are intended for girls with complex physical disabilities," explains Chaya Karp, the director of the classes on behalf of the independent education system. "Two years ago, we opened the first A' class in the country specifically for six girls with disabilities, most of whom are graduates of 'Mashi Kindergartens.' Their parents always dreamed about it, and Mashi’s director, Elisheba Rothenberg, pushed and drove the engines. After the great success, the girls moved to second grade last school year. In the upcoming school year, new first graders will join, and we will have joint first and second grades, and a third-grade class where the girls are in their third year at Matersdorf School."

Being Like Everyone Else

For those wondering who these classes are for, and why not all disabled children study in such frameworks, Karp wants to clarify an important point: "There are children with physical disabilities who can learn in a regular class at a regular school, as they're able to integrate with suitable accessibility. There are also many disabled children who specifically need a rehabilitative framework in special education, for various reasons. For such children, wonderful frameworks exist that do very dedicated work. But there is also a certain group of children who are on the borderline – they cannot fully integrate into a regular class, yet special education doesn’t suit them either. They need a rehabilitative framework and tailored learning within an inclusive setup. These are the girls studying in the special classes we established. These classes are a true breakthrough, as aside from them, there are no such classes at all, neither in the Haredi education nor generally."

So what do they actually offer them in the class?

"We established the first A' class with enormous investment from Rabbi Sorotzkin, CEO of independent education, who operates with a sense of vision and mission and dedicates very high budgets to it. There's also significant support from the City of Jerusalem, led by Mayor Moshe Leon and the head of the Haredi Education Department, Shmuelik Greenberg. They ensured the school building and classrooms were accessible, and a specially advanced gym was set up for the students. The parents are full partners and incredibly supportive, which helped us establish with *siyata d'shmaya* a class with a full rehabilitation framework. Additionally, we have a first-rate professional team accompanying the class at all times - a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, an emotional therapist, a social worker, and a nurse."

But why can't all this be set up within a special education framework?

"Currently, there are rehabilitative kindergartens and classes within the special education framework, but for such girls, the most crucial thing is having a regular peer community that lets them be part of the breaks and social life at school. These are girls with normal intelligence, meaning they want to participate in everything. Thank Hashem, this is really possible for them – they are full-fledged Beit Yaakov students, wearing the Matersdorf school uniform, taking part in celebrations and activities, and during breaks, their class is filled with girls from all classes coming to play with them.

"This class advances the girls in extraordinary ways; they've experienced a leap in all possible aspects. There are girls with selective mutism who, at last Chanukah's party, took the microphone and sang in front of the whole cohort, and academically, they've greatly developed, some even integrating into some lessons in regular classes. Of course, alongside their belonging to the regular school, they receive emotional support that constantly aids them. It's not easy for a special girl to live in a regular society and constantly see children around her able to walk, jump, and do a range of activities she can only dream of. On the other hand, it's clear that when she's in a class with other girls like her, she at least doesn’t feel like an outlier."

With Preparation and Understanding

Karp emphasizes that for the large success, preparation was required not just for the special girls but for the whole school ecosystem. "For this purpose, we organized workshops at the school where we shared with the students and gave them the opportunity to ask all the questions that troubled them," she recounts. "We let them experience 'disability' for a few minutes in an experiential workshop and built an illustrated dictionary of the various accessories the girls use. It was amazing to see the honesty in the questions, with one child asking about one of the special girls: 'Why is she always with her mouth open? It seems like she wants to devour me.' Another child inquired, 'How do they sleep at night?' and some wanted to know, 'What will happen when they get married?' Discussions are held openly; we try to answer everything possible according to their level and understanding, yet also emphasize the normal cognitive and social abilities of the students in the class, making the special classes such that are very worth visiting. They contain a wealth of games and interesting corners – there's not a single break where the class isn’t full of different students from the cohort."

The special classes, according to Karp, lead to the most emotional situations. "You can see on annual trips that the regular girls 'save a spot' for the disabled girls out of true friendship; they want them to sit beside them on the bus and help them throughout the trip. There are also special girls who host afternoon friends from parallel classes, and at the end of the year, I saw a girl in a wheelchair together with a friend from the regular class going to a candy shop to buy themselves snacks for the annual trip.

"In the end, I believe the contribution here is mutual and doubled," Karp emphasizes, "The schoolgirls benefit from having such a class with them; it develops a high awareness of others and a lot of consideration. Alongside that, of course, it’s a huge project for the school management that requires a lot of preparation. We are deeply thankful to the school principal Atara Wolfa, who does not give in despite all difficulties and actually manages a whole school with a kind of mini rehabilitation school."

In conclusion, Karp shares a remarkable achievement: "One of the programs we received this past year from the municipality is a 'Challenges Program,' offering activities aimed at special schools for training in extreme sports combined with work on social and emotional skills. Within this activity, instructors from 'Challenges' came to the school and engaged the girls in various ways. At one point, they set up a challenging ladder on one of the trees and encouraged the girls to climb it. The class's physiotherapist was present and told me, 'There’s no way they'll manage to climb it, as the ladder steps are too far apart,' but eventually, eight out of nine girls climbed the ladder, something that didn’t match their capabilities or their physical and behavioral profile. I stood there with the class staff women as we simply teared up, amazed by these girls' determination, feeling it was truly a ladder set on earth with its top reaching the sky."