The Hope Flowers is an independent, integrated private school now located in the village of Al-Khader in the southern Bethlehem area. It provides a full curriculum of basic education for grades K-1 to K-6, and kindergarten, with a philosophy dedicated to education for peace and democracy.

The Hope Flowers School was opened as a result of the need of the preschool education for the Palestinian children and insisting on the importance of building conditions for peace with the Israeli people, while concentrating on meeting the basic needs of the Palestinian children.

The path of the school is an independent one. We have no political and no formal religious affiliation; and the school welcomes all the students regardless their religion or political affiliation. Without our independence, the unique, peace- related activities could not have come to be – activities, like field trips for parents and children into cooperative contact situations with their Jewish counterparts inside Israel, and Hebrew language lessons, to help reduce fears by promoting communication with Israelis; and now also our “twin” relationship with the Democratic school of Hadera, and close relationship with Harishonim High School in Herzlia, Israel, and other schools open to learn about the Palestinian culture while working toward understanding for peace with justice.

Only with our independence we are able to grow more and more into our leadership role as a community center for peace and democracy activities, with elections – education for adults and related programs that are natural extension of our educational philosophy into the south Bethlehem area. Also, in 1992, we began and continue now a series of workshops on peace education, the first of their kind in the West Bank for both Palestinians and Israelis. Since before then, we have been able to offer increasingly enriched studies for our students with the help of a cadre of Israeli and American and other volunteers, who cooperate with our staff in using their talents for our children, in the belief that the needs of our peoples can be addressed openly and honestly and together. We have led other schools to explore this cooperative way. We have been able to do so only because of our independence.