German School Boston
| German International School Boston | |
|---|---|
| founding | 2001 |
| address |
57 Holton Street |
| place | Boston |
| State | Massachusetts |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 42 ° 21 '37 " N , 71 ° 8' 10" W |
| carrier | Private school |
| student | over 240 (as of 2017) |
| Teachers | about 40-45 |
| management | Holger Wirtz |
| Website | www.gisbos.org |
The German International School in Boston , Massachusetts (German International School Boston, GISB for short) is an American-German private school in the Boston district of Allston. It belongs to the network of 140 recognized German schools abroad funded by the Federal Foreign Office. In addition to schoolchildren from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, children from local families from the Boston metropolitan area attend the school. A total of around 20 nations are represented. In 2017 the school was nominated for the German School Prize.
Emergence
The school was established in 2001 with the help of families and volunteers. It was officially opened on November 15, 2001 by the then Federal President Johannes Rau . At the time the school had nine children in preschool and eight children in 1st and 2nd grades.
Until the 2007/2008 school year, the school was located in Cambridge. During the 2007 summer vacation, she and around 70 students moved to a larger school building in the Boston district of Allston. Since then, the school has offered classes from kindergarten to grade 12 for more than 240 students (as of 2017). It has its own sports hall, a school playground and a stage. The opening of a Lower Campus within walking distance of the main building is planned for the summer of 2017, in which a total of 7 learning groups from the PreSchool and the Preschool will be accommodated.
Education / teaching
The children are introduced to reading and writing in kindergarten; they learn to know and respect other cultures at an early age. The same subjects are taught at the school as in Germany. The school is based on the Thuringian curriculum and, in the secondary school branch, also on the specifications of the core curriculum set by the KMK. The curriculum and the grading correspond to those of a grammar school. The school teaches in cross-year classes and learning-oriented lesson arrangements. The aim of the lessons is that the pupils take on more responsibility for their own learning process.
In addition to the German curriculum, American History / Social Studies is taught in English . In this subject, students learn about American history.
There are bilingual classes at the school. English is taught at the native speaker level. Newly arriving children are gradually brought up to this level and supported by an ELL program.
From the 6th grade onwards, French is also taught , from the 7th grade onwards Spanish . Both programs are not carried out in grades, but in competence levels according to the European Framework of Reference (A1 / C2) in order to be able to offer all students an adequate language learning environment. The GISB also offers German as a second language (DAZ).
The school offers an attractive sports program that includes a. Includes swimming, climbing, and skiing. In autumn, adventure-based class trips to the White Mountains take place in cooperation with the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).
Since the classes are small, the subject matter can be conveyed better. Since the 2012/13 school year, the school has been offering the full range of classes from kindergarten to the German International Abitur and the Massachusetts High School Diploma.
In grades 9 and 10, the GISB students complete a one-week internship.
In September 2012, the then headmaster Christian Nitschke received a prize for innovative teaching ideas at the 2nd International Education Festival in Berlin, namely for setting up the "Transatlantic Classroom" as part of the close cooperation with its sister school, the German International School Silicon Valley, in the upper school area.
In June 2013, GISB students took the German International Abitur examination (DIAP) for the first time. The graduates of the first three years were accepted at the following colleges and universities: Bard College, Bates College, Bennington College, Commonwealth Honors College at University of Massachusetts Amherst, Danube Private University, Fordham University, Humboldt University Berlin, Maastricht University, New England Institute of Art, The New School, Northeastern University, Sarah Lawrence College, Seton Hill University, University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich.
Events
- On April 26, 2007, the school's theater club participated in the Mount Hoyoke College Theater Festival and won 1st prize.
- A German Oktoberfest took place on September 13, 2007, with which the new school building was inaugurated. Since then the festival has been held annually.
- On September 28, 2007, the Federal Cross of Merit was awarded to Ernst-Richard Matthiensen at the school . He supported the German school in New York and the GISB in their founding. Bodo Reinisch, another co-founder of the school, was chairman of the school association from 2009 to 2013. He is also a holder of the Federal Cross of Merit.
- Annually find u. a. the traditional Christmas market and the fundraising dinner take place.
- From June 8th to 15th, 2013, 10 students from grades 6 - 10 took part in an inter-grades study trip to the "Young Hamburg Climate Conference" under the direction of senior grade coordinator Christian Heide.
- For several years there has been a student exchange in the 10th grade with the German School in Valparaiso (Chile).
- Since 2014 there has been a student exchange in the upper level with the traditional Hamburg high school Christianeum.
- In 2017, the German International School Boston was nominated for the German School Prize, making it one of the 14 best German schools this year.
Sponsors
The school's supporters include a. Lufthansa, the Goethe-Institut Boston, Fresenius Medical Care, TÜV Süd, Trumpf Maschinen, LDI, Steiff, the Highland Lake Inn in Andover, the German Consulate Boston, the German-American Business Council of Boston.