Kochs School is today the city’s largest private school with room for 580 students, and with 150 years behind us, we are also one of the oldest private schools in Aarhus.
THE STORY
Koch’s School was founded in 1866 by Sofie Lindhard. It was a girls’ school, and it started with 3 students, who quickly became more.
In 1916, when the school had 74 students, Sofie Lindhardt sold the school to Nicoline Koch. The school then lived for rent on two floors in Christiansgade 18.
Nicoline Koch applied immediately and was given the right to take the exams to the middle school and high school exams.
At that time there was a tradition that private schools had the owner’s name, so therefore the school came to be called N. Koch’s School. In 1918, Nicoline Koch built the school building on Åboulevarden 67, where we lived until March 1989.
In 1932 Nicoline Koch died, and Kirstine Nordby bought the school; there were then well over 200 students. In 1937 she admitted the first boys and made the school a common school.
Under Mrs Nordby, the school reached its largest student body at the time in the mid – 50s – approx. 550 students. There were 36-40 students in the classes, and seen with the eyes of the day, it must in every way be said to have been crowded. It is said that the children could not run in the schoolyard during recess. They filled so much that they could only walk around – even only in one direction!
In 1963, Mrs. Nordby sold the school to her parents. In the school’s first 97 years, it was privately or personally owned by the headmaster. For the last almost 50 years, it has been a self-governing institution, and in this case it means that the circle of parents at the school at all times owns it. The parent group decides the school’s articles of association and thus the school’s purpose.
Since the school became a self-governing institution, it has had between 350 and 585 students. However, we only reached the 500 students after we sold the school on Åboulevarden in 1989 and took over the disused municipal Finsensgades School in Trøjborg.
In 2016, in connection with the school’s 150th anniversary and new website and logo, the Joint Board simply chose to call the school Kochs School, which is the name most people know and refer to the school as.
The school has had 5 employed school leaders Eske Nielsen (1963-68), Erik Holm-Andersen (1968-77), Stig Madsen (1977-2010) and Lisbeth Qvortrup (2010-2019). The current school leader, Jens Degn, was hired in 2019.
Koch’s School is a school for everyone who adheres to our values and who wants the best setting for their children’s schooling. We welcome new students and parents. The active option is important for us to point out because we are a school where we choose to do a number of things in our own way.
ADMISSION OF STUDENTS
Anyone can have their child admitted to the school if there is room at the grade level, and the school estimates that the child can be integrated into that class.
We charge an administration fee of DKK 250 per. family.
Priority
Siblings for children at the school have priority for admission, and then we admit in order of priority employees’ children, former students’ siblings and former students’ children. However, this does not apply to 10th grade, as this school year is an independent 1-year course and not part of the total school course from 0.-9. class.
0th grade
When all children who are registered to start in 0th grade are 2 years old, a draw will be made at the board meeting in January (girls and boys separately) about the places left after children from the above groups are busy.
After the draw, the parents will be notified no later than 1 February of which children have been admitted. The other children are assigned a waiting list number.
We point out that parents of children who, according to the admission rules, have priority, must themselves ensure that their children are registered up to 0th grade, no later than in the calendar year in which they turn 2 years old, otherwise they lose the priority!
10th grade
Pupils in 10th grade are finally admitted when the school has received 2 months of tuition fees for a total of 12 installments this year.
Waiting list
You are very welcome to be written up on our waiting list, registration documents can be found below.
A waiting list fee of DKK 100 is charged annually to be on the waiting list for existing classes (0th-9th grade). Collection is sent to everyone on the waiting list at the beginning of September. Payment must be made before October 1, otherwise you will be deleted from the list.
If you are interested in hearing more about waiting lists or enrollment on this, you can contact the school office.
RECEIPT OF REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS
Submit the registration form and pay the administration fee, with a clear indication of the child’s name and which class / school year is desired. You will only receive a letter from the school office about your child’s registration on the waiting list when we have received both the registration form and registered the payment of the administration fee.
For more information contact the school office. The form is sent to kochs@kochs.dk