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| In the spring of 2002, in response to the destruction we witnessed from
the school’s windows on 9/11, a group of parents and teachers initiated
the School to School program at PS 3. Working with School of Hope, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization based in the United States, PS 3 committed itself to raising money to finance a school in a rural region of Afghanistan, while providing an educational opportunity for PS 3 students and its community, as well as the communities beyond PS 3. |
 Rural landscape of Ghazni Province |
 Ranakhail Girls School |
Building a school does not happen over night even during the best of times and Afghanistan is still a war torn country. Progress happens slowly as the government tries to reestablish itself and the Ministry of Education struggles to find the money to raise the salaries of the teachers to a livable wage. But the signs of hope cannot be ignored. According to a recent letter from Zolaykha Sherzad, the president of School of Hope, the school now has grades 1, 2 and 3, student enrollment has increased to 700 children, and there are both boys and girls attending school. |
In spring 2004, Time Out New York Kids recognized the success of the program by featuring an article entitled “Kids Without Borders” which discussed how the “students at PS 3 have built a bridge to another culture by raising money for a school in Afghanistan.” That school is the Ranakhail School for Boys and Girls in Waghaz, the first school in the rural Ghazni Province of Afghanistan that has included girls in over a generation. |
 Ranakhail Boys School |
  two students, testament to the ethnic
diversity of this country |
Exposing PS 3 students to the Afghan culture is an ongoing process that includes:
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