There are separate classes for three year olds, four year olds and five year olds (gan chovah) in both the boys’ division and the girls’ division respectively. As of now there are nine classes. Most of the ganim are located in Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph.
Girls Pre-School locations
Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef – Nachal Uriah 19
Gan Orit- 3-4 yrs. old
Gan Miriam- 5 yrs. old- Gan Chova
Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel
Gan Brachi -3 yrs. old- #1 Achiyah Hashiloni st.
Gan Dasi -4 yrs. old- #11 Nachum st.
Gan Shelly- 5 yrs. old-Gan Chovah – #11 Nachum st.
Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalet
Gan Aliza-3 & 4 yrs. old- Rechov Abaye 21
Boys Pre-School locations
Gan Chavi (3 yr. olds): #3 Nachal Katlav st.
Gan Tehilla (4 yr. olds): #3 Nachal Katlav st.
Gan Chani (5 yr. olds): Boys’ School, #2 R’ Meir Bal Haness st.
The daily schedule of the gans is 8:00 AM-1:30 PM Sunday through Thursday, and 8:00-12:00 PM on Fridays. There is an option for Tzaharon/ afternoon program until 3:45 PM (Mon.-Thurs.), at minimal cost, in all of the ganim. A hot fleishig (Badatz hechsher) lunch is served daily. Some aspects of the afternoon program include crafts, music and drama.
The boys’ and girls’ gans are on the same yearly schedule as the girls’ elementary school, including a two-month summer vacation. School begins Sept 1st and ends June 30th.
There is a day camp / kaytana run by the preschool during the month of July for an additional minimal cost.
The curriculum for the ganim is as follows:
The children in the boys’ and girls’ gans learn about the chagim, the parsha of the week, the world around them, seasons, special topics, basic math, arts and crafts etc. There is a music teacher who comes once a week to enrich the children through rhythm and movement. There is daily outdoor play with playground equipment and seasonal gardening activities.
In the boys’ gans, we begin with Hebrew letter recognition in the three- year -old gan, and progress to reading, complete with vowel, by the end of gan chova.
In the girls’ gans we teach letter recognition in gan chovah in conjunction with whole language formal reading skills, and phonics are taught in first grade.
The boys’ and girls’ gans are taught by trained and experienced pre-school teachers. These women are graduates of Bais Yaakov seminaries and are certified by the Israeli Board of Education. Most of them have been with the school for many successful years.
**School bus service has been offered in the past at an additional cost. There are separate school buses to and from Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph and Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel with adult supervision.