From: “Sefer Kfar Hess” by Yaakov Ben-Tzioni, 1977. Published by Mozes Press.
As the number of students increased, the workers’ camp huts were converted into classrooms - until the time came to build a proper school building in the center of the bloc. In 1935, construction began on a large plot of land. Lord Melchett II and Israel Sieff, who had built his home in the nearby pine grove, offered their support for the project. Since the school was part of the Labor Movement’s education stream, the local Workers’ Council also participated in its administration.
In 1936, the school building was completed: six classrooms and a large hall for celebrations and gatherings, which also served as a community center for the bloc’s residents. For many years, this was the only public hall in the area, and it also served as the school’s gymnasium. That same year, the students moved from the camp huts to their new and spacious building in Tel Mond.
With the outbreak of the Arab Revolt in 1936, security in the area worsened, and there was even an attempt to lay mines on the road between Tel Mond and Herut. It was therefore decided that the younger children would attend kindergarten in their respective moshavim.
Two to three years later, even the new school building could not contain the growing student population, and additional huts had to be erected in the schoolyard.
In July 1939, Dr. Haim Shiber was invited by the Education Department of the Histadrut (Workers’ Federation) to open a 10th grade class, after a 9th grade continuation class had already been piloted the previous year. Between 1939 and 1945, the school operated ten progressive grade levels. Parents from the two moshavim - Kfar Hess and Herut - covered the costs of the higher grade classes themselves, despite the worsening economic situation.
In the first year of the 10th grade class, 12 students were enrolled: six from Kfar Hess, five from Herut, and one from Kfar Ziv. The level of instruction was appropriate, even though a fixed curriculum had yet to be established. At the end of the school year, a public examination was held for the graduating class, with the participation of parents and local community leaders.
Most of the graduates continued their studies at agricultural schools like Kadoorie and Nahalal, or in high schools in the city. Over time, the continuation classes (grades 9 and 10) became a permanent institution, and most children from the bloc continued their studies there.
In 1956–1957, the continuation classes were closed, and most students began attending high school in Kfar Saba or vocational schools elsewhere.
Ten years after the main school building was completed, construction of the second building began in the summer of 1945. With the wave of mass immigration and the growing number of students, a third wing was added in 1949–1950. The school also took in Holocaust survivor children adopted by the moshavim of Ein Vered, Herut, and Kfar Hess.
In the 1953–54 school year, the joint school had nearly 500 students in 14 classrooms. An additional 500 students studied in five classrooms at the affiliated institution located in the immigrant housing complex and transit camp. Throughout its existence, the school succeeded in maintaining its unique character as a shared institution serving all the bloc’s communities, even though other educational institutions existed in the Hapoel HaMizrachi settlements (Porat and Yizre’el) and a state religious school in the immigrant neighborhood.
The bloc’s educational institutions guaranteed a shared education for children from the veteran moshavim, new immigrants, and residents of the Tel Mond Local Council. This arrangement was disrupted when tensions arose between the Hadar HaSharon Regional Council and the Tel Mond Local Council. At that point, the joint institution was split in two: a school operated by the regional council for the moshavim, and a separate school under the local council.
As part of an educational reform that also applied to schools in the bloc, grades 7 and 8 were separated from the regional school, and those students were transferred to the regional school in Emek Hefer.
Throughout the years, special emphasis was placed on social education, expressed in joint celebrations and events. For many years, communal bar mitzvah ceremonies were held, accompanied by artistic programs. The Shavuot Bikkurim festival became an important social event in which the entire bloc participated. The bringing of the first fruits was celebrated with great splendor in the schoolyard or in one of the settlements.
On Tu BiShvat, students participated in tree planting - either in the schoolyard or in one of the surrounding villages - and this celebration too was accompanied by cultural performances. Over the years, the school also organized field trips across the country, appropriate to the students’ ages. For older students, these trips lasted a week or more and took them to the Upper Galilee and the vast expanses of the Negev. There is no doubt that these trips nurtured a deep connection and love of the land among the students.