Info on my school and my neighborhood

I am here in Israel as a middle school and high school faculty intern for the Walworth Barbour American International School, which is a private, American curriculum, English language school. The school is named after Walworth Barbour--the first American ambassador to the state of Israel. It is a non-profit corporation under the wing of the American Embassy here in Israel that derives approximately 95% ofits income from tuition alone. Tuition at the school is between $14,500 and $16,550 depending on what level the child is enrolled.

WBAIS has a student population of about 450 Kindergarten through 12th grade. The student body represents 50 different nationalities, although about 1/3rd of our students are American and 1/10 are Israeli. There are approximately two classrooms per grade, with class sizes of around 12-14 (primary school classes are 10-12). The total faculty to student ratio is 1:9.

The faculty is 75 members in size-- the majority are American citizens, although 2/3rds are permanent residents of Israel. Our staff is 20% Israeli and 20% from the UK, South Africa, Australia. Just under half the faculty have degrees beyond a bachelors (our assistant librarian has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics and Math, and is getting a second M.S. in library sciences this year).

The current campus was sold for $21 million, and we are moving to a new, larger campus further north in the spring that is currently under construction. Our present campus is located in Kfar Shmaryahu-- less than 10 miles north of Tel Aviv.

I live in Kfar Shmaryahu, a 3-minute walk through the park to school. My apartment is the lower level of a home, with my land lady (a psychologist) and her occasional grandchildren occupying the 2 floors above me. Kfar Shmaryahu is known as the wealthiest neighborhood in Israel-- many diplomatic families live in this area. Houses are very beautiful. A crew of American Marines live just two doors down from my house. I don't know if this should be disturbing or comforting. While walking to school the other day, I ran into an old neighbor throwing out his trash. He asked me where I was from, and I told him I just moved to Israel two days earlier. After a brief chat, I found out that he was a former Olympic swimmer from Australia.