Dear Parents in the Elementary School,

This is a reminder that there will be early dismissal for students in entrance class – grade 6, this Friday, 20 March, at 10:35 hrs.

When planning this professional development workshop for the teachers, the administration was not aware that exactly at dismissal time, an eclipse of the sun would be taking place.

While this is a fascinating natural phenomenon to observe, it can also be dangerous to children’s developing eyes, especially when the children look directly into the sun.

The administration has come up with the following plan to cope with the eclipse and prevent students from looking directly at the sun:

1. For children with eye problems already, parents are welcome to keep their children at home on 20 March, and the absence will be considered “excused”.

2. If the weather is already cloudy and the sun is nowhere in sight, early dismissal will go as planned, students will be sent home on the buses and the children will go to Hort. The little recess at 9:40 – 9:50 for grades 1 and 2 will take place as usual.

3. If the weather is clear, there will be no little recess for grades 1 and 2, and all students, grades Ec – 6, will be kept indoors, even past 10:35 if necessary.

Dismissal, departure of the busses, and the transfer to the Hort will be postponed until the administration thinks the situation is safe for the children to go outdoors. The children will be kept in their classrooms and supervised.

Thank you for your understanding of this unusual situation.

Reinhard Roth                                                                                     Steven Pothen

Geschäftsführender Schulleiter                                                    American Principal

On Friday, March 20 2015, instruction for the elementary school students will end after the third hour at 10:35h. The school buses will run at 10:50h instead of  at 15:00h. Hort and Late Birds will take place as usual after instruction.

All ES teachers will be participating in a seminar about health and stress prevention until 16:00h.

On Friday, March 13th, the JFKS and the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin celebrated the signing of a partnership between the center and the JFKS 6th grade religion classes. The Anne Frank Zentrum is a partner organization of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Its main focus is to promote across Germany the memory of Anne Frank and her famous diary. The activities of the Anne Frank Zentrum seek to strengthen the values of freedom, equality and democracy and combat Antisemitism, racism and discrimination. The pedagogical programs are especially aimed at young people, who are encouraged to become more active citizens, more aware of their societal responsibilities and also to learn to make the most of their freedom to participate in society.

10th Grade Music: Workshop in Carnatic Vocal music with visiting artist Manickam Yogeswaran – selected class periods in February and March, performance on March 27.

Manickam Yogeswaran conducts south Indian Carnatic vocal workshops for 10th grade music students in February and March, 2015 with a culminating lunchtime concert on March 27.

Manickam Yogeswaran shares tambura playing technique with a 10th grade music student.

Ms. Cook’s project assignment was general, broad, even vague:
Create something musical that has never existed –
(and teach yourself something about one of the topics on our 8th grade music syllabus).
Here you find more of the students‘ creations: 8B and 8C music projects article

8B and 8C Music Classes Present Musical Creations

Congratulations to our eight teams who participated in the German Finals at JFKS on Saturday! Wonderful atmosphere, incredible creativity, great performances!

Between its eight teams (4 from the elementary school, 4 from the high school), JFKS won: 3x1st place, 2x2nd place, 1x3rd place, 1x4th place and 1x6th place.

Special Congratulations to JFKS Coach Eavan Schmidt-Bleek who received the Odyssey of the Mind Germany Coach of the Year Award for her years of dedication and great work!

A big thank you to all teams, coaches, organizers, officials and all other volunteers! Special thanks also to the HS String Quintet and Band for their wonderful performances during the opening and closing ceremonies!

The German Finals of ODYSSEY OF THE MIND take place on Saturday, February 28 at JFKS. Eight teams from the elementary and high school participate this year – please come and support them!

More information about Odyssey of the Mind at JFKS: Odyssey of the Mind

17 Feb 2015 — Fifteen students competed in the gymnastics competition “ Turnwettkampf der Berliner Schulen 2015”at the Sporthalle Schöneberg on Fasching Tuesday. They were excited to be part of this Berlin-wide event with over 150 gymnasts participating from 16 Berlin elementary schools.
Here are the results of the three JFK teams:
• 1st place (grades 4-6) — Sarah H., Emma P., Finley R., Jonah R., and Konstantin T.
• 5th place (grades 1-3) — June B., Meredith L., Chiara G., and Sophia P.
• 14th place (grades 4-6) — Ella D., Hannah C., Nina S., Emily M., and Cristina S.
All boys and girls had to perform a compulsory routine on five events – horizontal bar, vault, balance beam, parallel bars, and floor. Additionally, each team showed a synchronized floor exercise. For some of these students this was their first competition, and they did really well.  
Congratulations to all gymnasts – beginners to advanced –  and thank you to the parents and trainers for their support and time! 

B. Reinert 
Gymnastics Division of the Sport-Club JFKS Berlin e.V.

The JFK Gymnasts with coaches Alice and Sascha at the Schöneberg gym.
Back to front: Ella D., Nina S., Cristina S., Emily M., Sarah H., Emma P., Hanna C., Konstantin T., Finley R., Jonathan R., Chiara G., June B., Sophia P., and Meredith L.