AMIT: The First 100 Years
AMIT’s next 100 years start now. Join us to endow this incredible future.
The Realization of Bessie’s Dream
Bessie Gotsfeld, visionary founder of American Mizrachi Women, traveled to pre-state Palestine to purchase an undeveloped piece of land. Her mission: to support the new Jewish settlement by increasing the educational opportunities for all the children of Israel. In 1933, the Bessie Gotsfeld Children’s Village and Farm School—known as AMIT Kfar Batya—opened. With this school, the reality of AMIT’s 100-year mission began.
AMIT Kfar Batya
Kfar means “village” in Hebrew. Batya was Bessie’s Hebrew name.
The Location:
Ra’anana, Israel’s Model City
Ra’anana is in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel and serves as a bedroom community for Tel Aviv. It boasts an upper-middle-class population, high-tech start-ups, and an education system coveted around Israel. Ra’anana’s industrial park is home to both innovative local enterprises and the Israeli headquarters for global giants such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, SAP, Texas Instruments, and many others.
The AMIT Kfar Batya SmartCampus
Embodying Gogya Innovation
In 2014, AMIT launched a new methodology called Gogya, derived from the Hebrew term for pedagogy. Gogya began as a vision to change Israel’s education system through a 21st-century education approach focused on responding to economical, technological, and societal shifts. Gogya emphasizes creativity, curiosity, teamwork, flexibility, and critical thinking, setting up Israel’s children to succeed in an ever-changing world.
AMIT’s first Gogya Center in Ra’anana was designed around natural light, bright color, flexibility, modular furniture, and open spaces to allow for exploration and out-of-the-box thinking. Based on the center’s stunning success and with careful evaluation of measured outcomes, AMIT built Gogya spaces in every AMIT school across the country and led a revolution through Israel’s Ministry of Education to fund these hubs for innovation.
$70 Million Epicenter of Educational Transformation
From islands of innovation within each school, AMIT will create a unique, cutting-edge campus in Ra’anana that embodies the complete Gogya approach. This SmartCampus will serve as an incubator for the development and implementation of ideas, with the singular goal of leveling the playing field for all Israeli children on the social and geographic periphery. The SmartCampus will enable AMIT to address serious societal issues with meaningful results and measurable outcomes. It will be an epicenter of educational innovation—a next-generation facility designed to develop the academic frameworks of the future, all grounded in AMIT’s timeless Torah values.
Why Is AMIT the Best Investment?
AMIT’s proven track record as the leader in Israeli secondary school education, large network of schools, and innovative culture are unique qualifiers to address Israel’s most serious societal challenges. Real questions that cut to the core of our future include the serious gaps in social mobility, severe rifts in Israeli society, navigation of the complicated questions of identity and values formation, and breaking the stubborn glass ceiling for women. This SmartCampus provides much more than a forum for these discussions—it will be the key to practical change. It will be the epicenter of that change, a nexus for education thought leaders and the practical teaching laboratory for thousands of teachers and students across the nation. The educational advancements and new methodologies conceived at AMIT Kfar Batya will be shared with the education community worldwide.
AMIT Kfar Batya is the future of Israel. That future begins with you.
AMIT Kfar Batya will be a place to nurture, challenge, and inspire. It is where students will develop shared values of excellence, unity, and tolerance, preparing them to become not just productive citizens, but also proud leaders of the State of Israel.
The campus will train hundreds of teachers and be the educational home to thousands of students every year. It will feature:
- The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building and Program
- Educators' Innovation Center
- AMIT Headquarters
- Community Athletic Complex
- The Gwen Straus High School for Boys
- Welcome Center
- Memorial Park for Fallen Soldiers
- Outdoor Amphitheater
- Learning Gardens
- Exercise Spaces
The AMIT Kfar Batya Campus
AMIT Kfar Batya spans nearly 10 acres in Ra’anana, Israel, and borders Park Ra’anana. The first level is the main gate entrance with the Community Athletic Complex, outdoor sports courts, and pathway of preserved eucalyptus trees. The second and higher level includes The Gwen Straus Junior and Senior High School for Boys, The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building, outdoor learning spaces, outdoor gym, and Memorial Park for Fallen Soldiers. The amphitheater resides in the area between the two levels.
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- Primary School
- Amphitheater & Memorial Gardens
- Community Athletic Complex
- The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building and AMIT Headquarters
- High School Building
The campus received two-star green status for its efficient HVAC systems, parking spots for bicycles, building facades, smart energy system, and energy conservation. Based on Ministry of Education guidelines, this is the highest green status an educational campus in Israel can receive.
The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building & AMIT Headquarters
The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building will be the heart of the campus, welcoming local and visiting students as well as top educators. It will also be home to AMIT’s new headquarters. The Educators’ Innovation Center will be an incubator for the development of ideas to be shared across AMIT’s 86 schools and the entire education system in Israel, and will serve as a beacon of inspiration to the education community worldwide.
Educators’ Innovation Center
An experiential center for R&D and implementation of cutting-edge educational methodologies.5,489 square feet
AMIT Headquarters
Located on the first floor, centralizing professional support for AMIT’s schools across the country, including finance, HR, educational development, and assessment. 9,260 square feet
Welcome Center
An experiential space that enables global visitors to interact with AMIT methodologies and innovation. 1,290 square feet
Gogya Dining Hall
A gathering place for AMIT HQ staff and visitors. 5,490 square feet
Conference Center
A flexible, multipurpose hall for meetings, presentations, and workshops. 2,580 square feet
Gogya Science Wing
An area to facilitate high-level science studies for AMIT students from across Isreal. 2,260 square feet
The Gwen Straus Junior and Senior High School for Boys
The school will educate 1,000 boys each year and will be divided into six wings—one for each grade.
High School Building
78,850 square feet
Beit Midrash
Multi-floor space for tefillah, lectures, and learning. 5,543 square feet, with 450 seats
High School Ground Floor Lobby & Library
A gathering area for collaborative learning, relaxation, and socialization 5,380 square feet
Community Athletic Complex
The Community Athletic Complex will include a multipurpose court for basketball and volleyball with scoreboards, locker rooms, and five exercise rooms.
Community Athletic Complex
18,300 square feet
Community Athletic Complex Auditorium
For sports and large gatherings. Open to the community in the evening. 9,690 square feet, with 500 stadium seats and ability to add seating
Outdoor Spaces
Quad
A flexible environment where learning and socialization can take place in many different modes and locations. 4,950 square feet
Amphitheater
An open-air venue that will seat 1,000 for student gatherings, graduations, entertainment, and performances.2,800 square feet
Learning Gardens
Expansive spaces to add to the open feel of the campus. 7,500 square feet
Memorial Park for Fallen Soldiers
An area to commemorate fallen AMIT alumni from the establishment of the State of Israel until today. 2,900 square feet
Top Naming Opportunities
$20M
Kfar Batya Campus
$10M
High School
$10M
Community Athletic Complex
$5M
The Evan and Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building & Program
$3M
Educators’ Innovation Center
$3M
AMIT Headquarters
$2M
Memorial Park for Fallen Soldiers
$1M
- High School Beit Midrash
- Campus Quad
- Amphitheater
- Gogya Rooftop Garden
- Gogya Lobby
- Welcome Center
- Main Entrance Gate
- Community Athletic Complex Auditorium
$500,000
- High School Lobby
- Community Athletic Center Lobby
- Beit Midrash Aron Kodesh
- Gogya Lecture Hall
- Gogya Dining Hall
- Outdoor Learning Garden (2)
$250,000
- High School Wing (6)
- Athletic Center Activity Studio (2)
- Gogya Multipurpose Hall
- AMIT Director General’s Office
$100,000
- Beit Midrash Ner Tamid
- High School Makerspace
- Laboratory
- Music Room
- Special Education Studio (2)
- High School Open Learning Space (8)
- Gogya Learning Space
- Principal’s Office
$50,000
- High School Learning Studio (16)
- Seminar Room (4)
- High School Counseling Space (2)
- Gogya Small Seminar Room
- Gogya Main Entrance Mezuzah
- High School Main Entrance Mezuzah
- Beit Midrash Bimah