About the project
The Beit Safafa Elementary School was divided between two buildings when the neighborhood was divided by the armistice line between Israel and Jordan 1948-1967 (Israeli citizens attended one, Jordanians, the other). After 1967, the city re-unified the school entity and the populations it served, though it continued to operate out of two buildings (grades 1-3 in the building that would become the Beit Safafa-Shrafat Community Center, grades 4-6 in the Beit Safafa High School). Eventually, the schools merged and the Jerusalem Foundation supported a major renovation that included interior improvements, purchase of furnishings, and improvements to the basketball court and school yard. It has also supported activities at the school, including visits to the Djanogly Visual Arts Center, the L.A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art and other cultural venues. The school is now the only elementary school in Beit Safafa, serving approximately 1,000 students.
