HaKfar HaYarok (Hebrew: הכפר הירוק, lit. "The Green Village") is a youth village in Israel, located at the south of Ramat HaSharon. It is one of the biggest youth villages in the country.
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The village was founded by Gershon Zak in 1950 (later it was renamed after the third Prime Minister of Israel, Levi Eshkol) and originally was an agricultural village for immigrants. In 1986 Zak, together with HaKfar HaYarok, won the prestigious Israel Prize for lifetime achievement to education.[1] Over the years, the number of students began to grow and so did the village.
Today, the village has close to 1,200 students, from ages 12 to 20 (both residential students and external students). Many teachers on the staff make their permanent home on the campus of the village. Each year a group of recent high school graduates doing "Shnat Sherut" volunteer service prior to their IDF induction, come to live in the village as program counselors for the residential students.
HaKfar HaYarok took steps, in 2004, towards becoming an experimental youth village, with the support of the Ministry of Education. This program is based on the educational precepts of humane and democratic education, tolerance, acceptance of the environment, and connection to the land.
Within the village there is an anthroposophical school: the Waldorf Urim school, which houses a teacher training seminary and a kindergarten that operates according to the Waldorf (or Steiner) method.
The college offers one-year and two-year courses.
The Junior High School, which includes 7th, 8th Grade Mofet Science Classes, is intended for highly motivated students with scientific orientation. The program includes classes in mathematics, chemistry or biology, computers, chess, English and Russian or French. The Mofet section prepares students for matriculation exams in the 10th and 11th grades, enabling them to start their higher education during the 11th-12th grades.
The high school offers a unique program called "Manhigut" ("leadership"), that emphasizes the less scientific more humanic classes.
The Junior High School also offers a 7th and 9th Grade Life Science program, which focuses on biology and animal behavior.
The high-school is one of the most advanced of its kind, incorporating advanced teaching methods and following the "22 Project" framework, using demonstrates alternative methods of teaching and student assessment. The school offers various majors in life-sciences, agriculture, music, multimedia, fashion design, computer-aided vehicle diagnostics, electronics, and information systems.
In partnership with the Gifted Students Department of the Ministry of Education, HaKfar HaYarok offers a special program for gifted students. To be accepted, students are first evaluated by the Karni Institute in Kfar Saba.