Erasmus Gymnasium Amberg
"school with heart"
Teaching tradition since 1626
Soon celebrating its 400th anniversary, Erasmus-Gymnasium is among the oldest grammar schools in the region and by far the oldest educational institution in the town of Amberg. Its history is impressively reflected in the building’s architecture – including small towers, hidden hallways and a mysterious attic – but in stark contrast to its technical equipment in the classrooms, basically all of them equipped with Apple TV, Smartboards or beamers connected to computers and tablets.
One of the school’s most striking characteristics is its small size of roughly 400 students and 50 teachers, which results in an outstanding familiarity and a strong feeling of belonging within the EG family. That’s why Erasmus-Gymnasium is often also referred to as a “school with heart”.
The students attending our school – an almost equal number of boys and girls, by the way – are between nine and eighteen years old and have the chance to choose between several options throughout their school career. They can either opt for the humanistic branch and thus learn the languages Latin, English and Greek, or they can go for the modern languages and learn English, Latin and French. All of them are offered the possibility to also study Italian as a fourth language. Thus, the combination of tradition and modernity becomes evident in the subjects currently available at our school, too.
But, of course, apart from the wide range of subjects taught in mostly small classes at Erasmus-Gymnasium it is the extracurricular activities, groups and clubs that contribute decisively to our school being experienced as a community. Essential work for our school family is constantly being done by our pupils participating in the students’ council; they do not only function as a link between teachers and pupils, but they do also prepare numerous events and courses (e.g. Christmas bazaar, carnival party, Valentine’s Day, printing T-shirts etc.) in which all of the students can meet, be active and creative every year.
Moreover, the various extracurricular activities offered by our teachers have their share in addressing the students’ interests and skills, and therefore attract many pupils who participate voluntarily. These activities include sports (e.g. mountain biking or rock climbing), music (e.g. choirs, bands or orchestra), science (e.g. astronomy, advanced mathematics or LEGO robotics), chess and many more. In addition to that, our highly gifted students are invited to take part in extra courses and excursions, and they can soon also choose courses in the “Amberger Schülerakademie” – an academy recently founded by all the grammar schools of Amberg to promote highly talented students living in the region.
To complete the picture, it deserves mentioning that the parents can optionally register their children for the programme of the fulltime day school at Erasmus-Gymnasium – an option which is increasingly requested predominantly by the parents of younger pupils. Generally, parents and teachers cooperate quite intensively at our school, not only in parent’s councils or committees, but also when it comes to planning events like concerts or graduation ceremonies.
Last but not least, it definitely needs to be pointed out that languages and cultural studies are not only theoretically taught in class, but that our students get the chance to effectively put their knowledge into practice in the manifold exchange programmes offered at our school. Erasmus-Gymnasium fosters cooperation with schools in Périgueux (France), Desenzano (Italy), as well as Bergen (Norway) and organises regular trips to Greece to visit historic sites. Furthermore, there are individual exchange programmes to different countries for talented pupils. Spending some time with the partner families abroad does not only let the students immerse into these countries’ cultures and improve their language skills, but also results in life-long memories and international friendships.
To sum it up, we consider it our mission to not only teach our students, but to form their personalities and to prepare them for the challenges of the future – well-equipped with knowledge, skills and competences, but even more than that with tolerance, morals and values, which let them become responsible citizens of our society.