Back to School 2018 2019

The academic-year 2018/2019 started on Monday 17 September. Boarding students returned Sunday afternoon. JLSS returned to its full program with the reopening of the Intermediate Section in the Academic Department after closure for one year.

Teachers with high qualifications were employed as necessary to meet the needs of Grades 7 and 8. Although we also wanted to re-open Grade 9, very few students registered. Grade 9 will re-open next year with the students of Grade 8 moving up to Grade 9.

We were delighted with the number of new students who registered this year. We have 88 new students so far. The total number of students this year is 264. Most boarding homes reached full capacity with 107 boys and girls living in 8 boarding homes. What delighted us most was the return in substantial numbers of students from denominations whose numbers were substantially dropped in recent years. Our peace-education program runs much better with a balanced mix of students that is representative of all denominations in Lebanon. This is a very encouraging development.

The necessary maintenance work and campus development projects were completed in time. Thanks to a kind grant form the EVS Foundation, Maria Schneller Hall now has double-glazed aluminum windows. The main dining hall tiles were replaced with new ones. Water ducts around the East and North sides were built to protect the foundation. Water ducts were also built around the North side of the Seminar building. The blocked sewage pipes of both building were replaced with new ones. All other regular maintenance work was completed in time for students to return to school.
We express our sincere gratitude to our German partners EMS/EVS for also supporting our development projects in addition to being the main supporter of our operating budget.

The second Single Mothers' Program 2018 started on Wednesday 12 September 2018. Ten Syrian refugee mothers whose husbands are dead, missing, or imprisoned, will be learning sewing and dress-making under Ms. Carmen Zino. They and their children will receive the same benefits we offered to single mothers in previous programs.
35 Syrian refugee children are also fully integrated in our school and are following our normal teaching programs thanks to another grant by EMS.
We express our sincere gratitude to our German partners EMS for supporting these wonderful projects.

The visit of a high-level delegation from the Wuerttemberg Church and EMS was a good start for the new academic year. The Rt. Rev. Frank-Ottfried July, Bishop of the Evangelical -Lutheran Church in Wuerttemberg, the Very Rev. Marianne Wagner, Senior Member of the Consistory of the Protestant Church in the Palatinate and chairperson of the EMS Mission Council, Mrs. Inge Schneider, President of the Synod of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg, Rev. Klaus Rieth, Head of Department for Ecumenical relations at the Evangelical - Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg and deputy chairperson of the EMS Mission Council, Mr. Oliver Hoesch, Press Officer of the Evangelical -Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg, and Mr. Marcus Mockler, Journalist, Evangelical Press Agency in Germany visited JLSS on 21 September 2018. They were accompanied by Rev. Dr. Uwe Graebe and Rev. Dr. Habib Badr.
They arrived from Germany early in the morning. They rested in the JLSS guesthouse for a few hours and later spent the whole day visiting our school and getting to know all its departments.
Bishop July presented students of Grade 5 with the EMS publication "WIR SIND KINDER DIESER ERDE" (Friends Around the World) and a photo of Bishop July with EMSO the elephant in the publication which, with PIPIT the bird, are the figures that facilitate the understanding of children and make learning playful. The photo of Bishop July with EMSO is now hanging in Grade 5.

The Wuerttemberg Church is a staunch supporter of JLSS through EVS/EMS. The major renovation works were launched in 2006 with a generous grant form the Wuerttemberg Church. It was a great honor and privilege for our school to have this delegation.
We sincerely thank Bishop July and all members of his accompanying delegation for their wonderful visit and their long-time commitment to support our school.

The Al Robert's Chemistry Awards were presented to Nadine Fares, Hussein Al-Jalou, Mirele Salameh on Monday 1 October 2018. They each received an award and US$ 50 for having the highest grades in science last year. The award usually goes to the highest grades in chemistry, but because we only had up to Grade 6 last year we gave the awards to students with the highest grades in science.
We express our thanks to our partners LBMS (Lutheran Board for Mission Support - USA) for their continued support among which are these awards.

We praise God for this promising new beginning after the difficulties of the previous few years, and we look forward to a very fruitful school year.