Mittwoch, 24 November 2010

What is a school really? Simply a building?

One is only fulfilled in life when he acts on it.

Above all it is the generations of students and the teachers who instruct them. Therefore the birth of a school is not so easy to define.

But we will make an attempt...

Today's von Saldern-Gymnasium was newly founded as „Gymnasium Neustadt" at the beginning of the 1991-1992 school year.

After the collapse of the GDR the public school system was completely reformed. Completely new schools were developed including the Gymnasium which provides the educational background needed for the Abitur final tests.

Up to the end of the 1990-1991 school year students could only take these exams at the Oberschule "Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe".

The newly founded "Gymnasium Neustadt" was the successor to this school because the Gymnasium building on Wredowplatz (at that time Goetheplatz) was used for the instruction of grades 9-12. Also a part of the teaching staff stayed at this school location.

Since the new Gymnasium school form includes classes as young as the 7th grade the school building on the Wredowplatz was no longer big enough.

As a second part to the school, the building of the former Polytechnic Oberschule "Dr. Theodor Neubauer" which was almost 2 kilometers away was attached to the school. A part of the teachers at this school now belonged to the teaching staff of the Gymnasium. The school community was completed with the addition of other former Polytechnic Oberschule teachers as well as students from grades 7 to 10 that wanted the possibility of taking the Abitur.

The first principal was Dr. Harry Münchow, who was known to many Brandenburgers through his involvement in the EOS and was a well-known Latin and Geography teacher. He was supported by Mrs. Barbara Jechow as Assistant Principal.

The Abitur was taken in the 1991-1992 school year and 129 students from six different 12th grades graduated from the school.

The 1992-1993 school year brought special changes regarding the school years before the Abitur. A program lasting 13 years instead of 12 was introduced. Mr. Thomas Reuß took up his position as the upper levels coordinator.

After going through an application procedure, Mr. Hanswalter Werner was selected by the school conference to become the new principal of the school beginning on February 1, 1993.

In June 1993 the last graduates-there were 92-from the 12 year educational program left the Gymnasium Neustadt.

The name "Gymnasium Neustadt" was selected temporarily by the school administration because all of the school names during the restructuring process were based on the location of the schools. This Gymnasium simply was in the Neustadt of Brandenburg.

But a new name was already being contemplated...All the schools in the city had the possibility to choose their final name. Our school also discussed which name to use in the future.

Essentially there were two suggestions: to take the name of J.W. von Goethe again or to take another name that had existed over several centuries-that of the Saldern Gymnasium.

The discussion at the school led to the decision to submit the name of "von Saldern-Gymnasium Brandenburg" to the town council for approval.

On September 29, 1993 the selected name was approved and the school carried the official name of "von Saldern-Gymnasium Brandenburg, Städtisches Gymnasium".

As was already mentioned, the school lessons were taking place at two locations that were very far from each other. Because of this there was a lot of "transfer hours" for the teachers and students between the two locations. The internal school organization was extremely complicated. Therefore the school looked for a new building that could encompass both parts of the school. In addition, the science courses needed subject specific rooms for their instruction.

Through hard work and obstinacy on the part of the committees made up of teachers, parents, and students, the move to a new building and the realization of an auxiliary building were possible.

A building complex on Franz-Ziegler-Straße was being used by two schools: the Grundschule "Theodor Fontane" and the Gesamtschule "Franz-Ziegler". In 3 (!!) days at the end of June 1995, the buildings were exchanged by the schools in a huge moving process.

Since the rooms were not yet completely sufficient, a portion of the lessons took place still at the Wredowplatz location. Mostly art lessons took place at the Wredowschen Zeichenschule due to its outstanding conditions for art. Various lessons took place in the building of the Fontane-Grundschule. The proximity to the "Stammhaus" on Franz-Ziegler-Straße allowed for the use of it as an extension building.

On March 7, 1996 the new auxiliary building with five modern, subject-specific classrooms for biology, physics, and chemistry, along with two additional classrooms, was opened. Both of the general classrooms in the auxiliary building were converted to computer classrooms for computer science classes.

Close attention was paid to the general arrangement of the school.   In 1995 during the course of one project week, the students renovated all of the classrooms with financial assistance from the development association and the hallways were freshly painted. Also the layout of the school yard became a special project. Meanwhile a part is paved with homemade clay stones which were made by the class of Abitur students in order to be remembered for years to come.

The school yard was extended in 1999 through the outline of the old heating house.

The next large building project was the establishment of a new three part gym on the plot on Weisenweg. The construction began in spring 2002. This gym, beginning in the 2003-2004 school year, led to noticeable relief for the sports lessons since the students don't have to use various gyms around the city of Brandenburg, for example the gym on Messelplatz or the Fachhochschule on Vereinsstraße.

The small gym in the building on Franz-Ziegler-Straße is used in the mornings almost exclusively by the students from the Fontane-Grundschule.

Further building projects in the meantime led to an improvement in the spatial situation. The 3rd floor could be used to create additional group areas, two areas were consolidated to form a larger area, a school library with a reading area was created, and much more.

Fireproof doors were installed in the hallways and the hallways were renovated. Many pieces of artwork by parents, teachers, and students were placed in the hallways during a project called "Beautiful School".

Meanwhile, a complete renovation of the school yard took place due to the new concept of being a "Ganztagsangebotes" or full day school with extracurricular offerings. Also, the sports fields on Wiesenweg were modernized. The building of the auditorium used modern technology in order to have better possibilities for classes like drama.

The student café was built with modern appliances and sales counter.

The current project (realization in 2009) is the building of a modern school kitchen for courses in the "Ganztagsangebot".