Dozens of smiling pre-school and kindergarten youngsters filed into a revolutionary new inclusion class, which integrates both special needs and typical children in the same classroom environment. The opening of inclusion class was attended by Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, who has championed the needs of special education, since he took office nearly 8 years ago.

Housed in the new $55 million dollar Shalva National Children’s Center (built on 7 acres near Shaare Zedek Hospital), this class is part of the wider umbrella of ground breaking services for the special needs community in Jerusalem. The new state-of-the-art National Children’s Center is poised to become a global leader in providing unrivaled services to the Israeli community and serve as an innovative research facility for special needs children and teenagers alike.

Mayor Barkat praised Shalva founders Kalman and Malki Samuels for their selfless dedication to the community. “Shalva was a jewel when it originally opened in Har Nof. Now, it’s a bigger and more expensive jewel, but it’s worth every shekel and every dollar invested in this place,” said Mayor Barkat. Shalva opened in one Har Nof apartment in 1990 and has now expanded to become one of the leading Israeli institution providing numerous programs to special needs children.

Sara Chana Wolff, the mother of Avraham, a five-year old special needs child who will be participating in the innovative educational program, was effusive in her praise of Shalva, “I just feel endless gratitude towards Shalva,” she said. “When they see that there is something else they can do to help the kids, they turn the world upside down to make it happen. It’s very humbling and inspiring when I look at what Shalva and the Samuels’ family has done for the community.”

For Gal Katzir, whose 3.5 year old son, Sahar, will be attending kindergarten classes with special needs children and helped cut the ribbon with Mayor Barkat, remarked, “We are so happy with our choice. We thought this would be a special opportunity for Sahar to get to know kids that are different from him. Also they have so many resources that aren’t in any other kindergarten that we know Sahar will benefit from. Sahar was just great on his first day, he didn’t cry or anything, he just said, ‘bye-bye mommy.’ I was the emotional one!”