and 16 children. Construction and expansion In 1931, Shomeria School was established. It was the first regional educational institution of the Kibbutz Artzi movement. It operated as a boarding school and put into practice HaShomer HaTzair's socialist ideology, creating an independent "children's society." The pupils saw their parents only on holidays or special visiting days throughout the year. The children had a daily schedule, with the morning devoted to education, the afternoon to labor, and the evening to cultural activities. Originally, the school was housed in temporary cabins. Later in 1931, the Kibbutz Artzi movement commissioned a large concrete building for the school which was planned and designed by Joseph Neufeld. It was built only in 1937 after the needed funds were raised. The construction was done by the kibbutz members to reduce costs. It was known as the "Children's House" and when completed it was among the biggest structures in the region and thus also nicknamed "the Big House". Its chosen location was on a hill overlooking the houses of the kibbutz, symbolizing the importance of education. The institution provided education to four other kibbutz communities that were established in the Jezreel Valley including Beit Alfa, Sarid, Mizra and Merhavia, later joined by children from Kibbutz Gan Shmuel and youth from the Youth Aliyah. In the following years, in addition to the school, the members also constructed a water tower, built a cowshed, planted a vineyard and various fruit trees and dug wells. The JNF wanted to cement the Jewish ownership over lands it had purchased. Because third of Mishmar HaEmek's territory consisted of rocky hills unsuited for agriculture it had a policy of planting forests and Mishmar HaEmek followed this policy and in the 1930s planted some 50,000 trees east of the kibbutz. The forest was also projected to provide material for local wood industry, and for decades provided a source of income for the kibbutz. Berta Guggenheimer was an activist who planned playgrounds all over the country and with her niece Irma Lindheim, a member of the kibbutz set up a children's playground in the kibbutz. In the 1930s there was an arrangement to allow Arab children from the nearby villages to visit and play with the kibbutz children making it a unique place for the kibbutzim movement. In the 1930s, Mishmar HaEmek absorbed two separate groups of HaShomer HaTzair. The first group had 17 people and