Oct 14, 2021
University School Dresden enters into its third year with a growing community
The students of the University Elementary School have assigned new names to the 9 core groups. They are named for the most important celestial bodies of our solar system.
The University School Dresden has entered into its third school year with 500 students from grades 1 to 7. The school first opened two years ago with just 200 students. There is already a lot of interest for the 2022/23 school year. In September, the parents of more than 160 students had their children placed on a waiting list for the 75 available spots in the 1st grade—a record number compared to the city’s other districts. In the selection process, the school administration is assisted by research proposals based on a representative sample of the school community.
Digitally supported during the pandemic school year
The University School is entering into the new school year with confidence after having successfully mastered its first two years—even under challenging conditions. Just half a year after its establishment, the first Covid-related school closures introduced the teachers, parents and students to the advantages of independent learning and the use of school and learning management software. For example, the school benefited from a communication platform and digital scheduling. These tools enabled the school to remain flexible and react quickly to constantly changing conditions, as the school timetable is created and mapped for one project cycle at a time, rather than for the entire school year. The Parents’ Association’s countless activities supported the community spirit at the growing school, even under difficult circumstances.
In addition to the integration of a growing teaching staff and an increasing number of students, the educational concept was substantially refined. Projects offer the opportunity to learn about a variety of subjects without a textbook, as this learning format relies on a constantly developing body of learning modules (e.g. reading statistics, writing reports, calculating areas).
“The Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed the theoretical approach we built the University School Dresden on. It focuses on increasingly independent learning driven by children’s curiosity. The biggest difficulty was to facilitate collaborative learning while schools were closed.”
Prof. Dr. Anke Langner,
Chair of Education with a Focus on Inclusive Education and Scientific Director of the University School Dresden
The school was able to reach its goals despite the current classroom and teaching staff shortage. This could only be partially alleviated by partner organizations for all-day programs (GTA), particularly when the schools were closed. The GTA partners are an integral part of the rhythm between all-day concentration and relaxation phases, which cannot yet be implemented as initially described in the school’s central mission statement. Furthermore, the pilot project is not yet equipped with additional resources for teachers and educators, for example to reflect on their work. This means that the teaching staff has to provide feedback to the accompanying research project and help develop the research strategy as part of their regular teaching hours.
Next milestone: Community school
The start of the 2021/22 school year marked a significant milestone due to the eradication of grading for all students up to grade 9. The next milestone will be the establishment of Dresden’s first public community school of its type with the uppermost levels of Gymnasium, after which students are qualified to study at a university. The school council expressed its unequivocal support for this last March. Dresden’s City Council is planning to hold a vote on this matter in November. A prerequisite for the establishment of the community school is having four class groups in grades 5–10 to ensure three class groups at an Abitur (final school year) level.
Aside from the plans for a community school, the school is growing and needs more space because it opened in a building with limited capacity. For this reason, the school is planning the construction of temporary classrooms for the coming school year. The city of Dresden is yet to make a final decision regarding the construction of a new school building or the renovation of a GDR-era school building within walking distance of the current school.
“The University School is entering its third year with confidence. We are delighted by the amount of interest our contemporary learning methods have generated among Dresden’s parents. To this end, our teaching team will continue to receive ongoing training at the Pädagog:innenakademie (Education Academy)."
Maxi Heß, Head of the University School Dresden
About the University School Dresden
The University School Dresden is a joint project of the City of Dresden and Technische Universität Dresden. It is a public primary and secondary school funded by the city, where innovative teaching and learning formats are tested under academic supervision. Furthermore, it serves as a training school for current and future teachers at TU Dresden.
Read more about TU Dresden’s research project: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/unischule
Read more about the University School Dresden: http://universitaetsschule.org
You can gain a glimpse into daily school life and the research project on social media at @unischuleTUD. Follow the links to see the University School accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Media inquiries
Maria Völzer
+49 351 463-39917