GSSB general school news

Seeking Candidates for Position of Chair of School Committee

Emily Westhoven — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:32:27 -0700

The German Saturday School of the Boylston Schul-Verein seeks candidates for the position of Chairperson of the School Committee to uphold the school’s tradition of excellence in German language education.

This volunteer position oversees the administration of a school with approximate student enrollment of 300 and faculty of 29. It may require 10+ hours per week during the school year, including most of the 30 Saturday mornings from September to May. The Chairperson’s primary responsibility is to lead the nine member school committee in setting the strategic direction for the organization and assuring that the school fulfills its mission.

Qualifications include:

All students passed B1 and C1 exams

Emily Westhoven — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:38:12 -0700

Congratulations to 14 students from the German Saturday School Boston who took the challenging DSD C1 German exam (3 students) this spring and the DSD B1 (11 students) and all passed!

2008/09 Handbook, calendar and other things you should know...

Emily Westhoven — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:02:12 -0700

We have posted the current school calendar - all school Saturdays are listed in our online calendar. Under certain dates you will find extra information regarding events, so be sure to click on specific dates if you are in the calendar overview. We also have the calendar as a PDF file for you to view or print. As you are looking at the calendar, please bear in mind that we have to schedule our school days around a few Saturdays when the building is closed for our use (due to Boston University events). We are mindful of public school vacation days as much as possible while offering the number of required classroom hours to our students. We thank you for your understanding!

The calendar as well as the 2008/09 Handbook (which is available online, too) have been mailed to you. The Handbook is a great resource written to answer any questions you may have. In addition, feel free to contact someone in the school administration or the school principal if the handbook hasn't provided the information you needed.

As you know, the school wouldn't run smoothly (and tuition kept low) if it weren't for the commited help and participation of you, our parents! In your acceptance package in the mail, you received notice about your assigned "parent job" for this school year. If you'd like to view the list and general description of your job as it was outlined during the registration process, please click here. We can't thank you enough already for your help and participation in making every Saturday a success!

Last but not least, our library is one of the most popular services our school has to offer the school community. You will find the updated library borrowing policy and easy reference list online as well. Please enjoy all library materials with care and return items on time. You may also be interested in reading our newly posted library mission and objectives as well as a list of library milestones describing the accomplishments of the library and its team members since its founding days in the early 90s.

Furthermore, we try to update our site regularly and provide you with news inside and beyond our school. Let us know about things you'd like to hear or read and visit our news section to stay informed.

First Day of School: Saturday, September 6, 2008

Emily Westhoven — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 06:04:29 -0700

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone this Saturday, September 6! Please remember: Classes start promptly at 9.30AM. All families should have received an “Acceptance Package” in the mail and an e-mail from us with a few reminders for the first day of school (if you haven’t, please contact us immediately). Assigned classes, teachers, classroom location (please note that a few upper classes are now held at our new, additional location, the Fuller Building, on 808 Commonwealth Avenue) and your parent job assignment are all listed in your acceptance package.

A few things you need to pack this Saturday (in addition to anything the teachers may have asked you to bring):

your school parking permit (please display on your dashboard in your car)
text and work books (returning students)
completed emergency card information (please hand to your child's teacher)

We’re wishing everyone a wonderful and exciting school year at the German Saturday School Boston!

2nd prize in German skit competition goes to 7A

Emily Westhoven — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:22:12 -0700

Hanna Luecke's 7A won 2nd prize in the AATG 2nd annual New England-wide German skit competition. The title of their winning skit: "Der Kasperle bekommt einen Freund" - congratulations to the entire class for writing, producing (on DVD) and submitting a skit in this competition and taking home 2nd prize!

Uta Fuchs wins grant to attend ACTFL Conference

Emily Westhoven — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:23:08 -0700

This just came in: Uta Fuchs, 2nd Grade teacher and head teacher for the elementary level grades at our school won a grant to pay for the participation at the ACTFL Conference in Florida this fall. The ACTFL Conference is the largest conference of teachers of foreign languages in the U.S. and a great forum to learn about the latest teaching methods in foreign language instruction. The grant was given by the StADaF (Ständige Arbeitsgruppe Deutsch als Fremdsprache) Group at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. (with support of their arts & culture department). 11 grants were selected by lottery - and Uta Fuchs was among the lucky winners. Congratulations!

Registration for the 2008/09 school year

Emily Westhoven — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:07:49 -0700

If you are interested in registering your child/children for the 2008/09 school year at the German Saturday School Boston, please be advised that the classes Preschool through 4th Grade are currently full. Please read here how to proceed if you'd like to be placed on a waiting list or register a child for another grade.

Thank you for a wonderful "Abschlussfeier" and see you in September!

Emily Westhoven — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:57:55 -0700

Yes, it was raining in the morning, but by the time the official "Abschlussfeier" program concluded under the pavilion the sun was shining at the Boylston Schul-Verein in Walpole, the games were on and the food was delicious. A huge thank you to the entire faculty and especially our music teachers, Birgit Danckert und Katja Schoenherr, for working with the students on this year's performances - from the "Papageienlied" to the "Saturday School Rap". Congratulations to those who were officially recognized during the program:

Congratulations to our ZfA-Essay winners!

Emily Westhoven — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:39:41 -0700

The winners of the 2008 ZfA-Essay Contest were recently announced and we proudly congratulate six students from our school:

1st Place: Gabrielle Kussmaul (Frau Lister)
1st Place: Felice Liang (Frau Handte)
1st Place: Amanda von Taube (Frau Schinkmann)
2nd Place: Jody-Ann Serani (Frau James)
2nd Place: Caterina Bonmassar (Frau Moceri)
3rd Place: Stefan Kussmaul (Frau Burggraf)
1st Place: 4th Grade class (Frau Burggraf) - group winner

This contest is issued and sponsored by the ZfA ("Zentralstelle für Auslandsschulwesen") for the Eastern half of the United States. This year's topic, one on many minds these days: "Environmental Protection". There were more than 700 entries in total, 90 alone from the German Saturday School Boston. We'd like to thank our teachers who encouraged and helped students to submit essays and congratulate our seven winners!

Library Reminders: Dankeschön Program / All library items due on May 10

Emily Westhoven — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:08:09 -0700

Dankeschön Program:
The forms to donate for the Dankeschön Program went out a few Saturdays ago in your child's backback. If you've misplaced the document, but would like to donate, you can download the form.