← Back to homePatriarchiki Scholi Agias Sion
Jerusalem, Israel · est. 1911 · Private
Illustration · Jerusalem
The Patriarchal School of Mount Zion is the Greek lower and upper secondary school (Gymnasium and Lyceum) of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and a boarding school. It has operated since 1911 and has been recognised by the Greek State since that year; it has been housed in its present building on the hill of Zion, a few metres from the Cenacle, since 1970. It is a general Gymnasium and Lyceum equivalent to the public secondary schools of Greece: teaching follows the curriculum of the Greek Ministry of Education, in Greek, in small classes. In addition the school teaches Byzantine music, Arabic as the second foreign language and, at the Lyceum, the History of Jerusalem. The school says its students are Greek children from various regions of Greece and from the Greek diaspora. Students live in the boarding house throughout the school year, pray, eat and study together, take part in the services of the Patriarchate, go on pilgrimages and excursions and stage music and drama performances for national holidays. Tuition, accommodation, meals, travel and medical care are paid by the Patriarchate. Alumni include the current Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III; graduates choose whether to join the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre or follow another path.
Key facts
Programmes
Greek programme
Languages of instruction
Greek
About the fees Education is free: the school states that "tuition, accommodation, meals and travel expenses are provided free of charge". The student's expenses for the whole period of study, including medical care, are covered by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Admissions The school says its students are Greek children from various regions of Greece and from the Greek diaspora, and that the Patriarchate provides free education to all students who wish to attend the school. The school does not publish its admission procedure, entry requirements, entry age or application deadlines: the regulations and FAQ sections of its website have not yet been filled in. The school can be contacted through the form on its website or by email.
Stages and year groups A general Gymnasium and Lyceum following the curriculum of the Greek Ministry of Education; there is no primary school or kindergarten. The Gymnasium and Lyceum classes are taught in parallel in the same building. In addition to the Ministry curriculum all students study Byzantine music and Arabic, and Lyceum students also study the History of Jerusalem; these subjects are part of the morning timetable. On completing the Lyceum students receive the Greek Apolytirio, a leaving certificate "equivalent to those of all Greek schools", the school says. Graduates who have attended the school for at least four years (from the third year of the Gymnasium) can sit the Panhellenic exams for the Greek diaspora in September. There is no international programme or qualification (IB, Cambridge or other) on the school's website.
Address P.O. Box 14055, 91140 Jerusalem, Israel
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
YPAITHAGreece's education ministry lists the school among Greek-language schools abroad that belong to the formal Greek education system: the gymnasium and the lyceum appear on the list as two rows, with Israel as the country and Jerusalem as the city. The school belongs to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and, in its own words, has been recognised by the Greek state since 1911.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
YPAITHAGreece's Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports (YPAITHA)
A Greek school abroad: the Greek curriculum taught in Greek, and the school belongs to the formal Greek education system under the ministry's supervision. Every such school is named on the list of Greece's education ministry.
What the badge means for this school. This is a Greek school abroad, and that can be checked on the list of Greece's education ministry. The entry is not a quality inspection: a school is on the list as part of the Greek education system, not as the outcome of an assessment. The curriculum and the certificate are Greek. Whom the school admits and what it charges are on its own website. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Greek programme
The Greek school curriculum taught in Greek, with Greek qualifications: the gymnasium certificate and the lyceum certificate.
What this means for this school. The curriculum is set by Greece's education ministry, which also names the school on its list of Greek-language schools abroad that belong to the formal Greek education system. A lyceum leaver receives the Greek school-leaving certificate used for entry to Greek universities; for children of Greeks living abroad Greece has a separate quota in the university entrance examinations.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: The school and boarding house share one three-storey building on the hill of Zion, built in 1905-1911 as a monastery; the school has been housed there since 1970. The middle floor has the classrooms (also used for afternoon study), a computer room, a computer in every classroom, equipment for chemistry, physics and biology and for art, the staff room and the events hall, where music and drama performances are staged for national holidays. The top floor is the boarding house: students' rooms, usually shared by two, a library, a fitness room and a play room with computers, a game console, virtual reality headsets, table football, board games, musical instruments and bicycles. Below are the Church of the Holy Trinity, the kitchen and the dining room. The courtyard has a basketball and football court, and there is a table tennis area indoors.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
✓Number of teachers12
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show:
The school is headed by the Scholarch, Father Vasileios Kalaitzidis. The published staff list names twelve teachers: a theologian, three philologists, a native-speaker teacher of Arabic, a mathematician who is also a physician, two physicists, a computer science teacher, a teacher of Byzantine music, as well as a physician and a pharmacist. The school says all subjects are taught in small classes; it does not give exact class sizes or a student-teacher ratio. The boarding house is run by a housekeeper.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school staff list includes a physician and a pharmacist, and the school's mathematician is also a physician; medical care for students is paid by the Patriarchate. Boarding life follows a common routine: morning and evening prayer together, shared meals and supervised afternoon study with the teachers. The school does not describe a child protection policy, security or psychological support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
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