Berlin - School Report Question and Answers
Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
There have been problems with bullying but I wouldn't say it's endemic to the culture of the school. My kids have not had that experience, personally, and the students don't tolerate it. It's not cultivated. I cannot say the same thing about the adult leadership of the school. There was one particular case that's been in the news recently that was awful, but in my opinion, it got awful because of administrative inaction. Overall, I think that bullying is not common and hopefully there will be a better protocol in place after this unfortunate episode. I do think there is a wide, wide range of acceptable classroom management in the school but this is true anywhere, I think, but it takes some getting used to when you are getting barked at in German. Berliners in general are very direct, come across as unsympathetic, hard, and just unfriendly in the way they interact. It doesn't translate well to Americans, especially on arrival, although again, this is something you grow to tolerate. - Sep 2018
No, there is decent turnover every year at the school -- almost everyone has been new at one time. - Oct 2015
I am sure there is some bullying and teasing but it doesn't seem any worse than the bullying and teasing at previous schools. There is not as much supervision of the recess areas or lunch room (at least for the older elementary) as you would find in America. - Apr 2014
