Press release 02/2008 from February 27, 2008
20 years of the Free Evangelical Schools Berlin

“A small group of people, Christians with children of different ages, is sitting together in a living room. And suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, an idea pops up: Let’s start a free evangelical faith-based school. A school that is based on Christian values, has a biblical world view and in which teaching serves to honor God. The motives are different for individual people; some are looking for a safe school environment for their own children, others see such a school as an opportunity to reach children and their parents with the Christian message.” – This is how Birgit Lubig, the wife of our present elementary school principal in Prenzlauer Berg, Hans-Peter Lubig, describes the moment when the Free Evangelical Schools Berlin (FESB) were “born”.

Very few of those who were present that day would have guessed what would become of this vision: Not only has it become a reality but – with GOD’s help – a larger, future-oriented organization has emerged: the Free Evangelical Schools Berlin. Schools that – as Clemens Volber, chairman and director of the FESB association, emphasizes – “through their value-oriented education, help children and teens to discover meaningful goals within society and thus enable them to lead a meaningful and active life in our society. Our education is based on the guidelines of the bible and provides children and teens with the necessary foundation for a reality-based and holistic life… “

The Free Evangelical Schools Berlin are state-recognized schools that are independently-operated by an association of born-again Christians from various Protestant and independent evangelical churches as well as from other Christian communities. The first elementary school was founded by visionaries 20 years ago, in 1988. The junior high school exists since 1998. One year later the elementary and junior high school moved to their present location on 14 Christburger Straße in the Prenzlauer Berg district. By now the ensemble of land-marked buildings is owned by the FESB association. In 2006, the state-recognized “Arche-Grundschule” in Hellersdorf and “Immanuel-Schule” in Spandau were opened under the umbrella of the FESB e.V.
Ines Bachnick, the acting principal of these two elementary schools, is delighted that the third or fourth generation of first graders will start school this summer. The FESB already employ more than 100 staff members at their three different locations.

At present, approximately 500 students attend our schools and about half of them visit the after-school care center. The director of the after-school care center, Kerstin Kühn, and her team developed and implemented a concept that allows children to choose from various courses and rooms according to their interests and needs. The rooms are designed to meet the different needs for exercise, rest or inspiration.

We urgently need a new home for our junior high school as the building for the junior high and elementary school in Prenzlauer Berg is “bursting at the seams”. According to Susanne Ronge, principal of the junior high school, the goal for every 10th grade is that all students finish school with their secondary school level certificate. In 2006, all our final year students graduated successfully. One year later it was 96 percent of the students. The total average in Berlin is only 80 percent. We offer a holistic concept to accompany teens on their way into professional life. The class “occupational orientation” empowers students to assume personal responsibility in their professional life. The initiative of every student is pivotal in this process which is fostered through the combination of knowledge and values imparted at our schools.

This year we celebrate two anniversaries, the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the first elementary school and the 10th anniversary of our junior high school.

Gunter Hänel
Public Relations
Phone: +49 (0)30 44 05 05 02
Email: gh@fesb.de