The International Schools Review Forum

Quality of schools?

Berlins a pretty big city, and like any location it has upper, middle and lower tier schools. Life in Berlin is nice, its by no means a hardship.

Berlin-Brandenburg is probably THE "international school" in Berlin. Some friends have worked there...seems like a good enough school but not sure about the admin situation. I heard complaints and my friends are no longer there. JFK is a Berlin public and mostly for 1st time overseas teachers. It's a revolving door of American teachers with long-time German teachers. Kinda makes for a weird dynamic. There is PHORMS and some others but they are smaller with lack of facilities. Berlin itself is an awesome city. One of the cheapest big cities in Europe. Incredible history and nightlife.

Berlin is a great place based on my limited experience. Unfortunately, it is such a great place that even the "top" schools don't feel that they have to offer any housing allowance and/or a package that allows you to do much more than break even in most cases.

Berlin Brandenburg is unfortunately quite far out of Berlin. A friend worked there last year and it takes them an hour to get there from Berlin itself, where they chose to live. Of course you can choose to live closer to the school if you wish to, maybe in Potsdam, but it is a very different experience. As I'm sure you know, Berlin as a city is great!

Yes, BB is in a southern suburb of Berlin. Probably an hour commute from Mitte. I would not recommend living in Potsdam if you work there though...you can find a happy medium in Charlottenburg which is kind of in the middle. The Berlin transit system makes everything relatively easy.

Either Berlin Brandenburg IS or BBS is the elite tier school, and my preference is BBS. A lack of housing allowance and high taxes are a common issue in high demand areas of WE. You have to come for the quality of life/lifestyle not the money. I advise living as far from the center as you can tolerate, the transit system makes the commute very efficient.

Thank you for your responses!