Kadoorie Agricultural High School
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Kadoorie Agricultural High School is an agricultural school and youth village in Israel situated next to Mount Tabor in the Lower Galilee, Israel, two kilometers north to the village Kfar Tavor, about 150 meters above sea level, founded in the year 1933.
"Kadoorie" is one of two of agricultural schools founded as agricultural boarding schools by the British Mandate of Palestine with the contribution of the Jewish philanthropist Sir Ellis Kadoorie whom died in the British colony in Hong Kong in the year 1922.
His contribution was a sum of 100,000 British Pounds, Herbert Samuel established a committee to determine how to use the money. Only after time when the testament itself was read it became clear that not the Israeli government would be the heiress of the money but the government of Britain, and that Kadoorie ordered in his testament to invest the money either in Israel or in Iraq. Haim Weizman contacted the brother of the deceased, Elly Kadoorie and succeeded to obtain a decision that the money will be invested in the Israel. For the Israeli-Jews there was going to be established a speculative gymnasium, and for the Israeli-Arabs there was going to be open an agriculture school. Eventually two agricultural schools named after Kadoorie were built, one in the Arab town of Tulkarm founded in 1930, and the second next to the village Kfar Tavor founded in 1933.
The Kadoorie agricultural school was reputed to be one of the best schools in the Israel in the period of the British Mandate of Palestine are many people from main settlements in Israel sent their boys to be educated in Kadoorie.
The main goal of the studies was giving the students the possibility for continuing their agriculture education in Europe. The school was well known by the work of its first manager, Nathan Fiat, who lead the "honour code examinations" (exams without the attendance of teachers) and concentrated in the subjects of agriculture and security. The school's nickname during that period was "The monastery", due to the place being so secluded at the time and that only boys were studying at the school at that time. During the period of Israeli War of Independence many of the school's students and graduates fought in the Palmach brigades and were an honorable part of the chain of the command in it. Many of the graduates of Kadoorie school took active part in the actions of the colonization and the struggle to defend the security of the state.
After the Israeli state was founded the school's became in the authority of the office of agriculture of the state of Israel, and during that period the school began to deteriorate slowly due to the decrease of funds in the Israeli boarding schools, the good Jewish students abandoned the school and the number of Arab students increased, and by the mid 1970's the school had a majority of Arab students.
By the year 1975 the school changed from a boarding school only to a mainly regional school (although the boarding school is still active). Since then the school has improved its condition significantly, and the number of students in it grew notably. Next to the Kadoorie high school was built a Kadoorie elementary school in which nowadays only few students go to (after new elementary schools were built in the 1990's in Kfar Tavor and Givat Avni).
These days more than 1500 students learn in Kadoorie, 200 are kids from all over Israel whom belong to the boarding school and the rest are students of the Lower Galilee area (Kfar Tavor, Giv'at Avni, Kfar Kama, Yavniel, Shadmot Devora, Sharona, Kfar Kish, Masad, Mitzpa, and more). In addition to that there is an active agricultural farm (which is used to educate the students), a technological college for the students of classes 13th grade and the 14th grade, The Kadoorie regional center around the school area developed with the years and part of the residencies of the teachers changed with the years and became a separate village.
