Humboldt-Gymnasium Berlin-Tegel

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Hatzfeldtallee 2-4
13509 Berlin

Tel.: 030 433 70 08
Fax: 030 433 70 23

buero@humboldtschule-berlin.de

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©Humboldt-Gymnasium Berlin-Tegel
Renate Schulte,
Bernd Kokavecz

Useful Information about Humboldtschule

Location

Humboldtschule is located in Reinickendorf, a large district of Berlin with more than 200 000 inhabitants. Due to its central location and good accessibility by public transportation it is easily reached from all parts of Reinickendorf. But our student body consists not only of students from the same district, boys and girls from other parts of Berlin attend as well.

History

Humboldtschule was founded in 1903. It has always been a school which emphasises the idea of being open to new concepts rather than holding on to the old. It was not only one of the first schools to involve students in matters of decision-making and the taking on of responsibility, it was also at Humboldtschule where the current system of the "Abitur" (the acquisition of German high school diploma) was developed.
We teach students to use the internet and we have created new subjects: "Technology and Nature" and "English for Professional Discourse". Some of our students are enrolled in a special curriculum for highly gifted children. This enables them to achieve their "Abitur" a year earlier than they normally would.

Educational Goal

Our students are taught to take on responsibility for themselves and to work independently to a degree suitable to their age.

Academic Focus

Humboldtschule is a typical high school in Berlin, but it focuses on special academic fields: Languages, science and the arts are represented on an equally high level.
At present, two main branches are developing: The new subject "Technology and Nature" offers the possibility of combining topics normally taught separately in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer sciences. This is a subject the students choose in addition to their regular schedule. The second main focus lies on modern foreign languages.
In future, interested students will be able to choose the subject "economics" dealing with (political) economics and business management.

Standards

Humboldtschule is considered a high-ranking school, which is dedicated to academic excellence. We try to enroll only students who are able to fulfill German high school requirements. This is not an easy task because in Berlin it is up to the parents to decide which school their child is to attend and because there are no high school entrance examinations.

Organisation

The school houses 1200 students who are being taught by a hundred teachers. Classes take place in a very beautiful historical building which, however, is too small and needs some refurbishment.
The regular class size at the beginning of the school year is about 32 students. Only few of them leave school before the end of the academic year, so that the total number of students per class rarely diminishes. Especially in the field of natural sciences classes are being split up into two groups in some lessons, so that all students get the chance to conduct experiments by themselves. In the upper class levels (12^th and 13^th grade) students enter a course system; that means they can now choose from a number of courses being offered in every subject area. The total number of students in these courses does not exceed 25.
Compared to average German standard, the school is fairly well equipped with technical instruments. The science labs have all the necessary equipment; our two computer pools comprise 40 PCs altogether. There is internet access even in many of the regular classrooms.

Special course offerings

This year, students can take advantage of a Chinese workshop. From eleventh grade, students can choose from a wide-range of elective subjects like Russian, and later philosophy, computer science and drama class; the grades gained in these subjects are being credited for the Abitur (German High School diploma).

More extracurricular activities

All students have free access to a "multi-media-lab" with high-performance computers. Here they can independently do research work via internet or take advantage of the CD-ROM-library.
There is a students library where students can find a variety of books for papers, reports or pleasure reading (In Berlin, class text books for the students are provided by the school.). Students have access to all public libraries of Berlin via internet.
Moreover, there is a big student orchestra, a choir and many drama groups at Humboldtschule. Quite frequently during the year, concerts and theater performances are being staged.
The school is very successful in national science competitions. There are workshops where students can prepare their contribution.
Humboldtschule is located close to a big lake, where our rowing team has its regular training. Last year, our rowing team succeded to be the second best German student team.
We also have very intensive international partnerships and student exchanges with schools in Great Britain, Estonia, Russia, France, Denmark and Israel.

Workshops and clubs:

Computer, drama, photo, choir, orchestra, Russian, Polish, French, Italian, English, Chinese, German, philosophy, chemistry, physics, biology, rowing, ball games, track and field athletics, swimming.