The Ramallah Friends Schools are two private schools founded by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

in the city of Ramallah, in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The Friends Girls' School was inaugurated in 1869; the construction of the Friends Boys' School began in 1901 and the school opened in 1918.Michael Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley and Janet L. Abu-Lughod (2007) ''Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ABC-CLIO, p 310 The Schools were run by American Quakers.Sa’ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (New Texts Out Now)
" ''Jadaliyya.'' 22 December 2021. The schools are now co-educational and divided into Senior and Junior sections; a Meeting House was built in 1910. The Swift Building, located in the upper School and named after Sara Swift of New England, was made the home of the Friends International Center in Ramallah after restoration work was completed. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Boys' School was commandeered by Turkish troops for use as a hospital during Allenby's assault on Palestine.

Background

The Friends Girls' School was originally opened as “The Girls' Training Home of Ramallah” and was renamed "Friends Girls' School" in 1919.

Elihu Grant Elihu Grant (1873 – November 2, 1942) was an American scholar and writer on Palestine. Grant was ordained Methodist minister in 1900, and between 1901 and 1904 he was superintendent of the American Friends Schools in Ramallah and Jerusa ...

was the principal between 1901 and 1903. Both the Boys' and Girls' Friends Schools were designed and built by Dahoud Saah of Ramallah. The best school in Palestine The Lower School serves grades Pre-Kindergarten to fifth grade; the Upper School serves grades nine to twelve.

Location

The Lower School campus and kindergarten (Formerly Friends Girls' School) is located near the centre of the Old City of Ramallah on Hal Tabqa Sadik Street. The Lower School campus is located at The upper School campus (Formerly Friends Boys' School) is located along al Nahdha Street,

al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira ( ar, البيرة; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of th ...

The Upper School campus is located at

Curriculum

The Friends Schools have offered, in both Arabic and English, various educational curricula. As of 2011, they only offer the IB curriculum, optionally IB-no exam for those who wish to take the American

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

examination, but those students will have to apply through the

AMIDEAST Amideast (the America-Mideast Educational and Training Services) is a U.S. non-profit organization that works to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation between Americans and the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa, and to offer op ...

as it is no longer provided to students. The schools used to offer local governmental examinations: ‘ Tawjihi’. The school was certified to provide the IB curriculum in 2001 by the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

organization. During the first Intifada the Friends School was closed by the Israeli authorities—as was the case with all schools in Ramallah—during the years of 1988 and 1989, but it was reopened after the intifada.

Swift House

The Friends International Center regularly hosts meetings with other NGOs such as the

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a group opposed to Israeli settlements, which describes itself as "an Israeli peace and human rights organization dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and a ...

and the

Christian Peacemaker Teams Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims ...

.Ramallah Quakers
Friends International Center in Ramallah January - February 2009 Newsletter (Vol. III No. 1)

Notable alumni

Hanan Ashrawi Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi ( ar, حنان داوود مخايل عشراوي ; born 8 October 1946) is a Palestinian politician, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson ...

, politician and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council *

Jaweed al-Ghussein Jaweed al-Ghussein (18 July 1930 – 1 July 2008) was a Palestinian educationist and philanthropist. Early years Born in Gaza City, Gaza in 1930, into one of the most prominent Palestinian families. A refugee in 1948 he went to Cairo Egypt with h ...

, civil engineer and philanthropist *

Amaney Jamal Amaney A. Jamal (born December 30, 1970) is an American scholar of Middle Eastern politics who is currently the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics and Director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice at Princeton University. Ja ...

, dean of the Princeton School of public and international affairs *

Rami Kashou ''Project Runway Season 4'' was the fourth season of ''Project Runway'', Bravo's reality competition for fashion designers. The season premiered November 14, 2007. Returning as judges were supermodel Heidi Klum; fashion designer Michael Kors; ...

, fashion designer and first runner-up on Season 4 of ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

'' *

Widad Kawar Widad Kawar ( ar, وداد قعوار ), was born in Tulkarm city in 1931, is an internationally renowned collector of Jordanian and Palestinian ethnic and cultural arts. She has amassed an extensive collection of dresses, costumes, textiles, and ...

, folklorist of Palestinian costume *

Ibrahim Muhawi Ibrahim Muhawi (born 1937, ar, إبراهيم مهوي) is a Palestinian academic and writer, specializing in Palestinian and Arabic literature, folklore and translation. He is a member of the Palestinian diaspora.Ibrahim Muhawi,’Translation and ...

, professor, folklorist, translator and writer *

Serene Husseini Shahid Serene Husseini Shahid ( ar, سيرين حُسيني شهيد, French: Sirine Husseini Shahid; 1920–2008) was born in Jerusalem as a member of the influential Husayni family. Her father was Jamal al-Husayni (himself a second cousin of the then ...

, writer and historian of Palestinian arts and culture *

Farouk Shami Farouk Shami is a Palestinian-American businessman and founder of the hair-care and spa products company, Farouk Systems located in Texas.

, CEO of Farouk Systems, Inc., an American hair care products company; 2010 Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

* Raja Shehadeh, attorney, author, and activist; founder of the human rights group

Al-Haq Al-Haq () is an independent Palestinian human rights organization based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. Founded in 1979, Al-Haq monitors and documents human rights violations committed by parties to the Israeli–Palestinian confli ...

* Khaldoun Al Tabari, Jordanian Businessman

References

External links

Ramallah Friends School
{{Authority control Quaker schools International Baccalaureate schools in the State of Palestine Educational institutions established in 1869 Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Buildings and structures in Ramallah Schools in the West Bank 1869 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Buildings and structures in Al-Bireh Primary schools in the State of Palestine High schools in the State of Palestine