Oren, Matan and Itai Franco, children of former South Africans, all happily attending the Democratic School in Kfar Saba.

Robbie and Lianne Franco were looking for a ‘better’ school for their sons, Oren and Matan, a few years ago, and they decided to take a gamble with the newly opened Democratic School in Kfar Saba. They were living on a moshav north of Kfar Saba and were not comfortable with their district elementary school. The classes were too large, too noisy and they felt that the pupils were just not getting enough attention from the teachers.
That year, ten children from their moshav joined the Democratic School. Nine are still there. The Democratic School in Kfar Saba was founded on the same principle as the other Democratic Schools in the country, the first, and most well known in Hadera, which received the Israel Prize for Education in 1994. There are now over ten such schools spread throughout Israel,from as far north as the Golan Heights to the southern town of Mitzpe Ramon.
The primary goal of the Democratic Schools is to respect the individual, irrespective of any prejudices, especially of age by applying a true democratic system. The community of children and adults respects the rights and freedom of the individual, as well as the democratic decisions of the group. The second goal is to assist the pupil to set his or her own goals and to build and create tools that will help achieve them.
“The parents take a very active role in every aspect of the school,” explains Robby. “ It is a journey for us as well as the children. Firstly, you must trust your child to make decisions regarding his own education even at an early age. Secondly, you are entering a community of other parents, children and teachers. Ours is a lovely community, but it makes great demands on your time and energies.”
An idea was raised to build a playground for the surrounding neighborhood as a school project. “We found a playground designer who just happened to be available, organised twenty-something parents and children who defined the needs of the people who would be using the playground, drew up the plans, got the approval of the school ‘parliament’, and constructed the park. Now that is a learning experience!”
Robbie tells of the skeptics who are afraid that the children might “stop learning if they are not coaxed by traditional school authority. In this framework, the pupils learn to take responsibility for their own achievements.” Robbie adds that “it is a safe, warm, nurturing learning environment.”
The Democratic schools vary from one to the next in every aspect including curriculum. This is inevitable as the headmasters, staff, students and parents all have different approaches, as well as an equal say in the running of the school.
Robert Franco, a former Capetonian, is an organizational consultant, who has been in Israel for 23 years. He came to Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu with a Habonim garin , served in the army, and settled in the Sharon. His wife, Lianne, also from Cape Town, has been in Israel for 15 years.
Preparing their three and a half year old son, Itai for his initiation into the Democratic School, the Francos were notified that because the school has grown so fast, it is accepting new pupils only from Kfar Saba. Although they were happy with their moshav, the Francos made the move to nearby Kfar Saba so Itai could have the same growing and learning experience which so enriched his siblings and parents. That says a lot for a school.

by Frank Zabow

Frank Zabow, who made aliyah from South Africa, is a freelance writer living in Givat Ada.