Summer vacation is over and 26 kids arrive to school fearful of their notoriously strict new teacher, Irena. Russian born Irena immigrated to Israel with her son and husband who died shortly after. She faces the challenge of teaching the third grade in one of the most difficult neighborhoods in Jerusalem where poverty, violence and unemployment are widespread. Using her unique approach, combining uncompromising discipline and love she propels a real change in the lives of her students. Following the course of the school year the film offers a window into the confines of a classroom.—Anonymous

Irena is a third grade teacher in an elementary school in the 'Katamonim' neighborhood in Jerusalem, a place of poverty and unemployment. Native born Israelis and children of immigrants attend the same school. Many of them can barely read or write and few of these 8-year-olds go to work after school. Irena, a Russian immigrant, lives in the same neighborhood, raising her son on her own, in a run-down project housing apartment. Irena wages a Sisyphean battle against the daily hardships and desperation. She is a sensitive teacher, but also assertive and feisty, determined to educate the kids properly. The film portrays the human, yet almost miraculous teacher and the power of positive action in a place where so many have already given up.