About us
The Hettena School is a special education school of the Ministry of Education and the Jerusalem Municipality. The school was founded in 1978 in the Mamilla neighborhood of Jerusalem and is named after the Hettena family who helped establish it. In 2006, the school separated from the mythical building in the Mamilla neighborhood and moved to the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood, and is currently located opposite the pastoral landscape of Ein Kerem. Hettena is intended for students aged 3-21 with complex multiple disabilities: low-level cognitive developmental disabilities combined with motor and physical difficulties, visual and hearing impairments, various syndromes and challenging medical conditions, including traumatic brain injury. The school has two kindergarten classes (ages 3-6), junior division classes and senior division classes. Each age group has its own wing with adapted yards. The school combines professional and meticulous teaching and treatment with a family and personal atmosphere, dedicated and loving care from a veteran and experienced staff. The school's students participate in a variety of classes: a gardening program in the greenhouse, dog training classes, a program of trips around Jerusalem, including museums, the zoo and the botanical gardens, as well as hydrotherapy treatments in the "Roga al Hamayim" pool in the Gilo neighborhood. In the afternoon, the school operates a unique joint playroom for students and their siblings. The school has an intensive therapy program which includes: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and treatments through music, art, medical clown care and animal-assisted therapy. Most of the treatments are done in classrooms, others in treatment rooms which are concentrated on a designated therapy floor within the school. Hettena is a state school, open to all segments of the population from the Jerusalem area and the surrounding area. Jewish, Arab and Christian students study here, and the staff is likewise multicultural.
