Bilingual Elementary School: Parents Learned the Details and Had the Opportunity to Ask Questions

Following the official approval of the bilingual elementary school program at Steinmühle for the 2019–20 school year, an information evening for interested parents was scheduled. Welcomed by principals Bernd Holly and Björn Gemmer, parents attended the event at the Steinmühlenforum to learn about the organizational details of the planned elementary school program, so they could get a sense of how things would work and see how their own wishes and expectations aligned with the program.

After an introduction to the school’s focus areas and character by Principal Björn Gemmer, former elementary school principal Sabine Rektorschek explained the planned flexible classroom model. The experienced educator had successfully led a primary school in the neighboring district of Gießen based on this model and now works as a consultant.

At the information evening, Sabine Rektorschek described the advantages of individualized learning and the distinctions between skill acquisition and learning objectives. The audience learned that assessment and progress monitoring are not just terms used in medicine, but can also apply in an educational context. “Assessing children and their skills at the outset and tracking the acquisition of additional skills in stages throughout their school years are among the fundamental tools for a successful elementary school experience,” she said.

Hannah Achenbach also introduced herself to the visitors; she will be returning from Leipzig to her hometown of Marburg to work as a teacher at the Steinmühle Bilingual Elementary School.

Afterward, interested parents asked questions primarily about the possibility of a trilingual education in specific cases and about the enrollment of so-called “children who are ready to start school.” Jeannine Walter, the pentilingual department head at Steinmühle, and Principal Bernd Holly—a father of two children who had not yet turned six when they started school—provided expert answers on these topics.

Among other things, it was announced toward the end of the event that the Steinmühle Bilingual Elementary School will facilitate transition into the Hessian and international school systems. It already has the necessary partner schools in place for this purpose.

Parents who are considering enrolling their child at the Steinmühle Bilingual Elementary School can sign up for an admissions interview by email (bjoern.gemmer@steinmuehle.net). The admission interviews will take place in February 2019. Key information about the Steinmühle Bilingual Elementary School is summarized in a brochure that attendees of the event were able to take home. The brochure is also available for download at the following link: http://gymnasium-steinmuehle.de/download/Bilinguale_Grundschule_Steinmuehle.pdf