The German School of Athens also known as the Dörpfeld Gymnasium, is a coeducational independent, kindergarten, elementary school and high school in Marousi, Athens, Greece.

While at kindergarten and elementary school level no differentiation of school systems is made, high school is currently split into a German section (with students eventually graduating with the German high school diploma) and a Greek section (with students graduating with German and optionally an additional Greek high school diploma). Pupils take entry exams in order to become students of the latter section so the school is considered highly selective.

However, the school is currently undergoing a transition phase towards a unitary high school system.

School System(s)

The term “German School of Athens” really describes a complex of one kindergarten, one elementary school and a “split” (or dual) high school. For admission to kindergarten and elementary school, both following the German educational system, prospective pupils need to have achieved a reasonable level of competence in German for their age in order to be able to follow classes taught exclusively in German. For them to be admitted, they thus have to sit a short test or be interviewed by a member of the teaching staff.

High school, or Gymnasium, at the DSA/ΓΣΑ is split, offering students a choice between the German and Greek section of the school: The German section follows a form of the German educational system optimised for German schools abroad, and pupils with no prior secondary education in Germany, at the DSA/ΓΣΑ itself, or at another German school sit a short test and/or are interviewed by the school principal to be admitted. This is to ensure they can easily follow lessons, which are held almost exclusively in German, with the exceptions of the following subjects: English Language, Greek Language and (Greek Orthodox) Religion. After their final year, students receive the German high school diploma (Abitur), formally “Allgemeine Hochschulreife” or “Reifeprüfung”, and consequently often go on to study in Germany.

The Greek section of the “split” high school follows the Greek educational system, allowing students to sit for Greek university entrance exams (Panhellenics) and gain their Greek high school diploma (Apolytirion) while simultaneously preparing students for a form of the German high school diploma examinations formally known as “Ergänzungsprüfung”, allowing them easy entry into German universities. Pupils have to take entry exams in order to become students of the Greek section of Gymnasium. Lessons are held in both Greek and German.

This duality of the separate sections has proven administratively challenging over the years. Therefore, the school is currently (2015/16) undergoing a transition phase towards a unitary high school system known as an “Integrierte Begegnungsschule”, or “integrated communal school”. Under this new regulation all high school students study towards a single degree, specially designed for German Schools abroad, the German International Abitur Examination (Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung, DIAP). Students are admitted to high school either after 4th grade (finishing German elementary school), or, having finished a Greek elementary school, after 6th grade; the latter are required to sit written and possibly oral entry examinations focused on (German) language competence. Lessons are held in both Greek and German (apart from foreign-language lessons English and French) for all students. However, instead of a one-size-fits-all model or splitting into sections, the school offers different “language profiles” for different students, allowing students to choose between curricula with a low (1), medium (2) or high (E) number of lessons taught in Greek. Those choosing the latter (E), will still have the option of sitting Panhellenic (Greek university entry) examinations. The first students to study under this new system will enter 5th and 6th grade in 2015/16 and graduate in 2020/21.

Teaching staff at the DSA/ΓΣΑ are usually recruited from Germany for a period between 3 and 8 years, but a significant proportion of teachers have chosen to permanently live in Athens.

Extracurricular Activities (AGs)

Extracurricular activities offered at the DSA/ΓΣΑ include:

• Greek, German and English drama groups
• an Art and Stage Sets Group
• two orchestras and a chamber ensemble
• two choirs
• a Rock-Band
• a Model United Nations group
• debating, history, and chess clubs
• as well as 25 sports groups, among them dancing, swimming, badminton, table-tennis and various kinds of team sport