History of the Anglican International School Jerusalem and its Campus
The school campus on Prophets Street is steeped in both Jerusalem’s modern history and the history of CMJ. The property is owned and operated by CMJ, an evangelical, Anglican-based organization, founded in London in 1809 by a Jewish follower of Jesus, Joseph Frey, and established in Jerusalem in the 1820s. Among CMJ’s first leaders and advocates were William Wilberforce, Lord Shaftesbury, and Bishop J C Ryle.
The Story Begins
The story of our school begins in 1847, when Bishop Samuel Gobat of Switzerland, the second Bishop of Jerusalem and an advocate of education, opened a school in the Old City, primarily for Arabic-speaking boys. Bishop Gobat was closely associated with CMJ. The following year, Miss Caroline Cooper from England founded an educational institution for Jewish women and girls.
Following the dedication of CMJ’s Christ Church inside the Old City in January 1849, a school for Jewish boys and girls was established in 1857 under the leadership of Revd William Bailey, minister of the church. Therefore, 1857 marks the official start of CMJ’s educational work in Jerusalem. Miss Cooper’s work transferred to CMJ after her death in 1859.
Schools and Hospitals
The beginnings of our Prophets Street property date to 1862, when Revd Joseph Barclay, the minister of CMJ’s Christ Church, purchased land about half a mile to the west of the Old City, named Kerem-el-Bir (Vineyard of the Well). CMJ built a sanatorium on the property in 1863; it was one of the first developed properties outside the Old City, surrounded by hills, fields, and olive groves.
CMJ opened the first modern hospital in Jerusalem (the Old City) on 12 December 1844. It quickly became known as a place of healing, care, and mercy. Fifty years later, in 1894, CMJ’s medical work had outgrown the small hospital in the Old City, and construction of a new hospital began on our school site.
In 1889, the Girls’ Boarding School moved from the Old City to our current site, marking the first use of educational work on this strategic property. By 1897 the large property housed more of CMJ’s educational work as well as being the centre of their medical work.
In 1909, Miss Ruth Clark came to Jerusalem to work at the Girls’ Day School in the Old City. Relocating out of Israel for the duration of the First World War, she returned to the Girl’s Day School in 1918 and served as headmistress until her retirement in 1959. At its peak, the school grew to as many as 250 girls. She was awarded the UK’s MBE in 1963.
In October 1921, the Boys’ Boarding School moved from Christ Church in the Old City to occupy the former Girls’ Boarding School on the Prophets Street property. This school closed in 1932. Meanwhile, the Girls’ Day School (for Jewish, Arab, and Armenian girls) continued to operate at Christ Church in the Old City.
Troubled Times
Then, in late 1947, as it became progressively more dangerous for Jewish children to enter the Old City, part of the school was moved to the property on Prophets Street, and particularly to the former Doctor’s House. While the Jewish girls were educated on this property, the Arabic-speaking and Armenian girls continued their education at Christ Church.
On 18 March 1948, CMJ loaned the hospital to the Jewish leadership in the land of Israel, as the Jewish people were cut off from their main hospital, Hadassah, on Mount Scopus. The CMJ hospital became known as Hadassah Aleph and served as Jerusalem’s main hospital during the hostilities that followed the establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948.
Another significant development occurred in 1952 when CMJ agreed to the Ministry of Religion’s request to expand our educational work to include children of foreign workers who were in Jerusalem in an ‘official capacity’.
New Beginnings
When Hadassah moved to its new campus in Ein Karem in 1962, the Prophets Street site was rededicated to education. By this time, CMJ’s educational work in Jerusalem had been ongoing for 105 years. During much of that time, Jewish, Arabic-speaking, Armenian, and now expatriate children had been educated in the various CMJ schools. The school now entered a period of consolidation and expansion under the headship of Miss Beryl Bradnack. She was awarded the UK’s OBE in 1976.
Articulating her vision for the school to the Bishop of Dover, Miss Bradnack wrote:
‘I think such a school has value to serve the following types of people… Hebrew Christian families, families of Christian workers, families of other workers coming here for short-term placements… Moslem and Christian Arabs… and Jewish families.’
Under Miss Bradnack’s leadership, the school expanded and developed into what we now recognize as the Anglican International School Jerusalem.
The school has borne witness to major events in the city, including the Six-Day War of 1967—after which children from East Jerusalem were able to attend—the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and two Intifadas.
Through every challenge, the school has remained faithful to the original vision of Revd Bailey, Ruth Clark, and Beryl Bradnack: to be an oasis of calm, understanding, and tolerance in the heart of Jerusalem.
Over the decades, and under differing circumstances, distinguished people were hosted on our site. These included Horatio Kitchener, later Lord Kitchener of Khartoum; Richard Cadbury, of the famous Cadbury’s chocolate family; General Edmund Allenby, who accepted the Ottoman Empire’s surrender of Jerusalem in December 1917; Francois Picot, the French high commissioner designate for Syria; and Colonel T E Lawrence, better known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.
Our Modern School
Since the late twentieth century, the school has undertaken major educational change. It was authorized as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School in 1998, joining a worldwide community of 6,000 schools and providing IB diploma students the prospect of attending virtually any university in the world, including Ivy League universities in the USA and prestigious UK universities. In 1986, the school was accredited as a Middle States Association (MSA) School, enabling the conferment of American high school diplomas at graduation.
We remain a non-selective school, admitting students of all faiths and none. We employ Christian, Jewish, and Muslim staff and seek to work in harmony, with peace and understanding between all.
The Senior Leadership Team, comprising the Principal of the whole school and the Head of the Elementary School, is governed by an appointed school board.
In a previous MSA accreditation visit, Dr. Irene Epp, the chair of the visiting team, reported that ‘the Anglican International School Jerusalem does the impossible every day’. Given our history and our eclectic mix of students, parents, and staff, we believe we do. Our hope and prayer is that we can make a positive impact on the lives and circumstances of our students and the citizens of this city and continue to fulfill the original vision for the Anglican International School Jerusalem.