Well it seems school is school no matter where you are in the world! Yesterday and today were devoted to “Back to School” for the kids! On Feb. 13th we ventured to the Graz International Bilingual School or GIBS for short. Located about a 25 minute tram/walking commute from our new home, GIBS is situated in the lovely northern edge of the Eggenberg neighborhood. We live on the southern edge of the same neighborhood. The area gets it’s name from the Schloss Eggengerg the local 17th century palace that just so happens to back up to GIBS.
The GIBS building is surprising opposite in architecture from Its neighboring baroque palace. Built in the 1960’s it grey, square, and made of concrete. However it was designed by a famous Austrian architect and is on the Austrian National Building Preservation list. Once inside, the building opens up to a 4 story foyer with windows in the ceiling of the central staircase. The various classrooms are in quads around the main central stairs. Our ears were met with the delightful sound of students changing classes and milling around in the main open foyer. There’s even a piano in the area that students can play on whenever they would like.
GIBS is one of 4 Bilingual schools in Austria, 1 in Salzburg and 2 in Vienna. There are over 1000 students who apply every year to enter the Level 1 class (American grade 5). Our children were allowed into the school based on their own academic grades and the fact that they are native English speakers, thus adding to the learning atmosphere of the school, which is a German/English speaking school.
We met with Mrs. Görög, the principal. Afterwards she took us to meet Mrs. Knapp who will be Seamus’ homeroom teacher. She is originally from New Orleans. She was very helpful in explaining to the kids the block scheduled classes, gave us the school supply lists, and showed us around the building. Liam also met his main homeroom teacher Mr. Wetzlmair (7i – US 11th grade). Unfortunately Faywen’s main teacher Mrs. Pfistermüller wasn’t at school, but Faywen did get to meet Mrs. Sainer, another of her teachers, and a few students. Elisse is from New York City and she was very kind to Faywen. She gave her a little present of an owl shaped lip balm. She also said she will be Faywen’s buddy the first few days of school. Seamus and Liam were also buddied up…Seamus with Lucas and Liam with Isobel. They are a brother and sister originally from Colorado.
Liam also met privately with Mrs. Schatz who will be one of his teachers in the International Baccalaureate program. This is an internationally recognized higher education program for advanced students. The equivalent in the states would be an AP (advanced placement) in high school program. However the students in the IB have higher standards than AP classes. Liam is excited to have been accepted in the IB program at GIBS.
Today, Feb. 14th we went school supply shopping. In Europe they use A4 and A5 standard paper. For instance an A4 notebook has what we would call wide rule lines and is longer with 4 holes instead of 3 on the side. We also got the typical dividers, notebooks, and loose leaf paper, but all in European sizes.
We got little plastic food boxes for the kids to take snacks to school. Because the days are shorter there isn’t a cafeteria at the school. There is a little snack bar and kids are encouraged to bring a bit of food to eat during their 20 minute break at 11:20am. The school day starts at 8:00am and it ends at various times depending on what classes you are taking. For instance some days Seamus and Faywen might get out at 1:15 and other days at 2:05. One day Seamus gets out at 12:25. He’ll just wait in the library for half an hour so he and Faywen can ride the tram home together. Liam’s schedule is even crazier! There will be very few days that he’ll be coming home the same time as his siblings! It will be the 2:05 time they share on a couple of days. On Tuesdays he attends until 2:05 then has about a 2 hour break until 4:45 then goes back to class until 6:oopm.
The Austrian education system is structured differently than the USA. Instead of 6-7 periods of the same class for a whole semester every day 5 days a week, they have required hours of instruction per subject. For instance 3 hours of math, 4 hours of English, 3 hours of history, 2 hours of Geography etc. These are broken up during the week in blocks. Sometimes you do two hours back to back! Each class period is 45 minutes long. The Austrians believe in having a “little bit of everything” each year. As the student progresses the material in each subject increases in difficulty. An example would be that Seamus who is leval 4 (grade 8) will be introduced to Physics for 2 hours a week. By the time he’s in level 6 (grade 10) it will be normal high school Physics taught 4 hours a week.
It’s a bit complicated at first, but the method for educational structure makes sense when you think about it. It’s better for one to keep learning the same subjects each year, but gradually increasing the level of difficulty each year.
The kid’s are excited and a bit apprehensive at the same time. They start on Monday Feb. 25th. They have already forged the path via tram and walking by themselves. Most of the kids in Graz travel to and from school on the trams and buses.
Oh and there is one other interesting thing to note about GIBS…a student never knows when they may be eyed through a window by a giant peacock! Yep, there are peacocks both male and female that roam around Schloss Eggenberg’s gardens. The peacocks have learned that there is free food (dropped by the kids) if they jump the fence into the schoolyard!
They will often nest and baby peacock chicks will meander around the grounds at GIBS too! All the kids are instructed not to touch the peacocks or their babies.
The peacocks sometimes get into the school. The first time it happened years ago, the teachers made the mistake of trying to “shoosh” the bird out. He then decided to leave them a nice smelly messy present in the hallway! Also the silence of test-taking is often broken by the piercing “human child like screams” of the male peacocks!
One year ago today, February 14th , we found out and told the kids we were moving to Graz, Austria! It’s hard to believe we are here and getting ready for a new school semester.
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