Fantastic news: Concordia Language Villages is setting aside two $500 Passport Fund scholarships for GSoM students to help pay for a two-week or four-week summer camp course at Waldsee, the oldest and largest German language immersion program in the US.

Applicants need to fill out an application form and need to provide additional documents. Details about the application process can be found here. Rates and dates for Waldsee summer camps can be found here. We ask that you let us know if you are applying for the scholarship and that you specify “German School of Madison” as your school on the application form (don’t list the elementary or middle school your child goes to — this would put them in the general pool for scholarships). If you have any questions about the process, please contact us by e-mail (germanschoolofmadison@gmail.com).

Our weekend project classes are off to a great start. On October 5, Deutsch 1 and Deutsch 3 teachers Morgan Achterberg and Fabian Fischer led a fall-themed class for our Deutsch 1/2/3 students.

Project Class Deutsch 1/2/3, Oct. 2014

The next project class will take place on November 9. This class will bring together students and teachers from our DaF 1 class (2-4 p.m.), Vorstufe (2-4 p.m.), and Deutsch 1/2/3 (1-4 p.m.).  The class will be followed by festivities in honor of St. Martin’s Day, including a Laternenumzug (lantern walk). Details will be announced soon.

St. Martin Laternenfest 2013

For the most up-to-date information on events (including dates and times of future project classes), please always check our calendar.

With 60 children enrolled, our classes are off to a great start! This year marks an important step for our school: We have officially established a collaboration with the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA), which, among other things, means that we have increased the amount of instructional time per week in most of our classes and that we are following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Europäischer Referenzrahmen) in our curriculum.

On Sep. 25 we hosted an open house/information evening with ZfA advisor Anka Fehling (Chicago), who visited some of our classes and gave a presentation on the various forms of ZfA sponsorship, including information about proficiency exams. Did you know that children enrolled at our school can take German proficiency exams, like the German Sprachdiplom (DSD), for free? Or that our school is the only German part-time school in Wisconsin? After the presentation, Ms. Fehling addressed parents’ questions reaching from internships in Germany to recommendations for second language learning apps.

Anka Fehling im Gespräch mit Eltern

We thank everyone who attended the event and look forward to continuing our collaboration with the ZfA.

Welcome to the new school year! Classes will begin after Labor Day. Our teachers cannot wait to meet your children! From left to right: Morgen Achterberg (Deutsch 1), Bhavani Nagaraj (Dachse), Chris Tabisz (DaF 1, co-teacher Youth Group), Fabian Fischer (Deutsch 3), Richard Hrosek (Deutsch 2), Sarah James (Vorstufe, Toe Dip), Catrin Weimbs (Instructional Director). Not in the picture: Iris Hengst (co-teacher Youth Group).

Save the date: Would you like to learn more about our collaboration with the German Central Agency of Foreign Schools Abroad  (ZfA) or about our school in general? We will host an open house with ZfA Advisor Anka Fehling on September 25, from 6-7 p.m. (directly after Deutsch 1/2/3). Child care will be available. More information to follow soon.

Copyright picture Ralph Grunewald.