September 1, 2009 / 12 Elul 5769

Elite Academy Students go to Israel

About fifty American Jewish high school students arrived in Israel today to begin their sophomore year of high school there, as part of a Jewish Agency program in which students complete their last three years of high school in Israel.

The program, Elite Academy, in its sixth year in North America, provides students’ tuition, room and board, and living expenses for all three years in Israel; after graduating, the students have the option of making aliyah and serving in the IDF or studying at university in Israel, or they may choose to return home. A large majority continue on in Israel. The program is an offshoot of the Jewish Agency’s long-standing and very successful program, Naale, started in 1992, in which high school students from the former Soviet Union complete their high school in Israel. Since the Naale program began, more than 15,000 high school students have studied in Israel. Several years ago the program was broadened to include students from France, South Africa, and North and South America.

Caption: Elite Academy students and their parents gather for a send off party at JFK International Airport in New York on their way to Israel.

This year the group was divided and some of the students left to Israel from Los Angeles. They all met at Ben gurion Airport in Israel and started the program.

Sunday Aug. 30, 2009

Photo Credit: David Karp