Brother Schools in Palestine

History of the Brothers of Christian schools in Palestine.

The Order of The Brothers of the Christian Schools came to Palestine in 1874 when Fr. Evagre with a number of Brothers came from Egypt for a pilgrimage and decided to build schools in Palestine. In 1876, the first school in Jerusalem was inaugurated dedicated to teaching and educating Palestinians, especially the poor.
Since then a school in Jaffa was inaugurated in the year 1882, in Haifa in the year 1883, in Nazareth in 1893, in Bethlehem in 1893.

Jerusalem

Fr. Evagre who came to Palestine as a pilgrim in 1874, was responsible for the establishment of schools in Palestine. He resided in Palestine for 26 years. In 1897 the school population was at 176 and in 1913 380 students with 15 brothers teaching these students. The school in Jerusalem faced a number of difficulties and was closed for extended periods during the two world wars. In 1952, 745 students were studying at the school 402 for free 42 interns and the rest paying students. The number jumped to 900 in 1957 with 20 lay professors in the teachers’ corps. The school was divided to two parts, one paying and the other free. In 1955 a new building was built adjacent to the old one to accommodate the growing numbers of students and who wanted to benefit from the excellent education of the College Des Freres. In 1968 the system of the school was unified under one paying system. In year 2000 a new school was built in Beit Hanina Suburb of Jerusalem alongside the one in the old city in Jerusalem. In 2008 both schools in Jerusalem has a student population of 1360 students. The school had in its long history 19 Frere directors and most recently, in 2005 a Lay director was introduced . In its 135 years of existence 146 brothers served in the school from sixteen different nationalities.

Jaffa

In 1878 50 families from Jaffa have sent a letter asking the Brothers of the Christian schools to open a school at Jaffa. It took another 5 years to realize that demand. On 16 of April 1882 the school opened with 3 classes and 5 Brothers. In 1890 under the directorship of Brother Ignace Louis the school became two establishments: Colleges Saint Joseph 5 paying classes and De La Salle 4 free classes. In 1897 the school had 214 students. In 1913 three schools existed St. Jean Batiste and St Antoine free and Colleges Saint Joseph paying with a total of 480 students.
In 1933 12 brothers and 9 lay teachers were teaching in Jaffa with 512 students. In 1944, before the war 723 students studied in the schools in Jaffa.
The school population declined during the late forties and started to pick up in the fifties. In 1952, 402 students attended the school and 414 students in 1960. In the year 2008, the number of students reached 642.

Nazareth

Brother Duvall-Joseph and Br. Marco Joseph left Bethlehem in 1893 to Nazareth to start a new school. Three months later with rented rooms started the school. More than 70 students joined the school the first year. New properties were bought 1899, 1900 and in 1902 construction of the new school started by F. Edmond-Adrian. The new building was finished 1st of May 1903. From 1914-1919 the school was closed during the war. The school reopened with 175 students. During the period 1939-1945 the school was closed again. The best years for the school was in the middle fifties were the number of students rose to 335. In 1970 the school was closed and for more than two decades was designated for juvenile delinquents .For the last three years the school has been vacant. In its 108 years of service the school saw 19 directors and 150 Freres that have served in the school.

Haifa

The school in Haifa started accepting students April 12th 1883 with 3 classes and three brothers. The Brothers built a house on a ground rented for 5 francs a year for 99 years by King of Spain Alphonse XI. In 1897 the school had 212 students. In 1913 before closing the school during the war the school had 13 brothers and 5 lay teachers and 273 students. In 1926 the school had 8 brothers 4 lay teachers 175 paying students and 143 free students. In 1933 the school had 417 students and 11 brothers and 4 lay teachers. The school was hardly hit during the war and was closed. In the early fifties it had 316 students although in 1943 700 students attended the school. In 1960 the Spanish government asked the brothers to evacuate the school premises. In 1960, the sisters of charity accommodated the brothers in their premises and offered to sell them property. The number of students started to rise from 165 the first year to 325 in the second year to 398 in 1964. In 1965, the school had to close for administrative reasons.

Bethlehem

In January 31st 1887 the brothers bought a piece of land in Bethlehem in order to build novices for training young brothers. Two years latter Fr. Evagre laid the 1st stone for the future house of Jesus. The Turkish government gave its approval in 1893 after 4 years of the beginning of construction. The school occupied a prominent site at the highest hill in Bethlehem. In 1897 the school had 3 novices, 6 postulants, and 9 small novices. In 1913 Fr. Evagre started a school with 52 students and 4 brothers a year later the school had to close and reopen in 1918.In December 1933 the number of students were 82 only. In 1937, 94 students. It was not until the early fifties the numbers jumped to over 200 students. In 1964 the school had 226 students and in 1965 270 students.
In 1975, the school moved from its original location, to a new location and the old campus became Bethlehem University. In 2010 student population numbered 792 students.

Conclusion
These schools played an important role in the history of education in Palestine. Thousands of pupils graduated from these schools and became prominent Doctors, Engineers, Businessmen, Educators, intellectuals, and ambassadors etc. These schools also set a new standard for academic excellence and language teaching.

Today 4 of these schools survived one in Jerusalem with two campuses (one in the old city of Jerusalem and the other in Beit Hanina a suburb of Jerusalem) with a student population of 1465, one in Bethlehem with a student population of 792 students, one in Jaffa with a student population 642 students.