In Sderot, a first day of school for ‘the second time’
Five months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, schools in the southern city officially reopen, with an estimated 55%-60% of students attending
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
It was the first day of school all over again in Sderot on Sunday, as the education system in the beleaguered city returned to life five months after most of the population was evacuated and dispersed, with the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
At Amit HaRoe Elementary School, excited returning children were greeted with balloons, welcome signs and actors in animal costumes while a DJ blasted music across the main playground. Teachers and staff greeted each other and the children, hugging and laughing as the school day got underway.
Also present at the school gate were several heavily armed security personnel drawn from reserve IDF forces and local police — part of some 200 extra security officers who were dispersed throughout the city on opening day.
Their presence was a stark reminder that on October 7, the southern city of some 30,000 was one of the many locations overrun by Hamas terrorists, who were able to move through the city on foot and in pickup trucks, slaughtering at least 50 civilians and 20 police officers.
“To tell you the truth, I am happy, I am excited to see the children back,” said Mayor Alon Davidi as he arrived at the Amit HaRoe, accompanied by a delegation of Education Ministry officials including Education Minister Yoav Kisch.
The group, also joined by security guards as well as several journalists, was escorted through the school and met with several groups of young students. In one class, Kisch asked children who had only returned to Sderot the week before, and most of the class raised their hands.
“We left a few days after October 7,” explained one young student in a soft voice, describing how her family had stayed in several different hotels in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat in the ensuing months, while occasionally visiting their home.
“The last time was a month ago, but there were still rockets,” she explained.
In the days after October 7, the IDF organized a mass evacuation of border communities, including many thousands of people from Sderot. Evacuees have been staying in hotels or rented accommodation, paid for by the government, while their children were absorbed into local education or participated in some of the hundreds of “pop-up schools” set up by the Education Ministry for evacuee communities.
Last month, the IDF authorized a return to many border area communities, including to Sderot. However, a significant number of citizens have not returned, and the government has extended the hotel and rent subsidies for evacuees until at least June. On Sunday, the city streets were quiet and many businesses and restaurants remained closed, although those that were open seemed to be doing brisk business.
Mayor Davidi, speaking outside the school, said he still felt “a lot of rage” at what evacuated Sderot residents had gone through and noted a “deep gap” in learning between evacuated students and those in other parts of the country.
Still, the number of students returning to school and kindergarten in the city “was a surprise,” he noted. “We thought it would be lower.”
The March 3 reopening of some 100 schools in the city saw “around 55-60 percent of the children” back in class, an Education Ministry official told The Times of Israel, and came after many of the educational facilities were repainted and tidied up after being used by IDF soldiers as impromptu bases in recent months.
After the officials left, the children poured out into the playground for a recess, hollering and running around to take part in various games and activities staff had set up in a shaded area.
At the nearby AMIT Sderot Gutwirth Junior and Senior High School, the city’s largest with more than 1,200 students during normal times, a ceremony was held to welcome back 11th and 12th graders, who filled up a small auditorium.
Several school and district officials spoke after an initial welcome video, but the lively teens cheered loudest when Principal Eddie Dagan was called up to the stage.
“I want to bring up a small lesson, but it’s a major issue during this war,” he told the students, explaining that an ability “to see the good aspects” in all that has happened to them was crucial to moving forward.
“Look how many people are doing good for us and helping us” in Sderot, he said.
He noted that one of “the many challenges of this war” for the teens will now be their matriculation exams, the subject-based standardized tests that 11th and 12th graders take which can affect placement in certain IDF units and entry into higher education.
“You are on your way to success,” he encouraged them. “You are the heroes of the city, the heroes of the country, and in another year or two you will be the heroes who continue with the victories of the Jewish nation in the Land of Israel,” he said to applause, referencing the teens’ coming army service.
The ceremony concluded with “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem.
Afterwards Dagan, a tall friendly man with glasses and a small yarmulke, was asked by this reporter about his clear popularity among the students. “They may love me, but I love them more.” he said.
This first school day, which Kisch, the education minister, called “a kind of opening of the 2023-2024 school year for the second time” in an official ministry notice, ended early, just after lunchtime. As the high schoolers gathered outside the gate, they released a bunch of yellow balloons into the air to celebrate.
Leaving the school in small groups, some were picked up by their parents and some made their way home by bus, foot or bicycle, another small sign of normalcy. One father, picking up his son with several smaller children in tow, said, “Yes, we’re walking home, just like we used to.”
Back at Amit HaRoe, one of the armed guards, an IDF reservist, was getting ready to go home. Giving his name only as “First Sgt. R,” he explained that he was a married lone soldier who lives in Sderot, but had been on reserve duty in Gaza since the war began.
Returning from service the previous week, he had jumped on the chance to come back to the city and switch his IDF role to that of protecting the city’s children.
“We’re just happy to be back,” he said.
Stuart Winer contributed to this report.
