Givat Shmuel is a family city with a strong state-religious system: of the 63 kindergartens in the Ministry of Education data, 44 are state-religious (mamlachti dati), 12 state and 7 Haredi. Registration runs online through the municipality, and you must register again every year.
Registering for 2027-28 (5788)
When I checked on 9 October 2026, the municipality had not yet announced gan and grade 1 registration for 2027-28. Use last year as the guide:
- For 2026-27 (5787), registration for municipal gans and grade 1 ran online from 19 January to 8 February 2026. From 9 February, placement was only where places were free. Expect the 2027-28 window around January 2027 and watch the municipal registration page (opens in a new tab).
- A child who has not turned 3 by the Ministry of Education cut-off cannot be registered for a municipal gan that year.
- New residents need the municipality's new-resident form, cancellation of registration from the previous authority, both parents' ID appendices (sefach) and a signed rental or purchase contract showing the entry date (5787 booklet, PDF (opens in a new tab)).
- Placement answers go out in June, appeals open with the placement notice and final answers come in July.
- Grade 7 registration is only through the municipal site, then continues with the school. The same page has forms for out-of-city placement and for cancelling registration when you move (registration hub (opens in a new tab)).
The municipality warns that registering with a false permanent address is a criminal offence and cancels the registration.
Afternoon programmes (tzaharonim)
The matnas runs tzaharonim in the state and state-religious municipal gans until 17:00, with an educational programme and enrichment classes. Its tzaharon page (opens in a new tab) has 2026-27 registration, the rules, the caterer's menu, an allergy policy, the holiday calendar and the Labour Ministry subsidy for single-parent families. Registration for primary-school tzaharonim is linked from the municipal registration hub.
Under 3: maonot and daycare
The municipality's birth-to-3 unit publishes a 2026 list of daycares. Recognised (semel) maonot register through the Labour Ministry website, opening in February for a limited time; after that, call the maon directly about free places. Private gans register directly with the operator, and the municipality says it has no say over their admissions (daycare registration (opens in a new tab)). The ministry data lists 28 recognised daycares.
The schools
The Ministry of Education lists 9 schools plus the Bnei Akiva yeshiva high school:
- State primary: Ben Gurion (Ramat Ilan) and Yigal Alon (Givat Yehuda).
- State-religious primary: Moreshet Zevulun, Moreshet Menachem, Moreshet Neria and Kanfei Ruach (opened 2022).
- Secondary: the state six-year high school, the state-religious girls' ulpana, Yeshivat Bnei Akiva Givat Shmuel (boys) and the Telem state-religious special-education school.
There are 6 special-education gans; requests to the eligibility committee are due by 31 March.
For olim children and English speakers
- NBN lists municipal Hebrew enrichment for olim children in grades 1-8, plus an English parenting workshop and a services brochure in English and French (NBN community guide (opens in a new tab)).
- Both Bnei Akiva branches run the Amishav programme for olim children; at Beit Yossi that includes an olim-only primary group and an olim-only high-school girls' group.
- The matnas runs an after-school "English for English speakers only" class at several branches in 2026-27.
- The municipal absorption department (olim coordinators 03-9028240 and 03-9546506) helps with rights and support (absorption department (opens in a new tab)).
I found no English-medium or international school in Givat Shmuel itself, and I did not check each school's own website. If you have a child in the system here and something is wrong or missing, please tell me.
