Berlin · name the Land
Berlin is not one international campus. It is a public German-American school in Zehlendorf, an IB house over the Brandenburg line, and a Jesuit Gymnasium by the Tiergarten. Ask which paper, then time all three roads.
Berlin is not “the international school.” It is a city-state whose neighbourhood Grundschulen are allowed to be first, plus three official doors posting families name in the first week.
The portraits we have are the John F. Kennedy School on Teltower Damm, BBIS Berlin Brandenburg International School on Schopfheimer Allee, and Canisius-Kolleg on Tiergartenstrasse. Use them for the sentences that actually decide a Tuesday. JFKS prints no tuition and a citizenship rule. BBIS prints 2026–27 euros, including a reduction table and a boarding line. Canisius prints a new Schulgeldordnung from 1 August 2026 and a promise, not a monthly euro we will invent. This note is the city between them. The Germany country page is the wider map.
JFKS sits in Zehlendorf. A Berlin public school. German-American. Abitur or an American diploma. No tuition. Child and parent need German or US citizenship. You need to be registered inside Berlin. Brandenburg is not close enough. The FAQ says there is no tour just now. Write welcome.
BBIS sits in Kleinmachnow, Brandenburg, not a Berlin Bezirk. English IB. Ersatzschule through 10, Ergänzungsschule in 11–12. Day from three. Boarding from Grade 9. Add the registration fee. Open the reduction table if Grades 1–10 are the years you are buying. Time Kleinmachnow. It is not Teltower Damm.
Canisius sits on Tiergartenstrasse. Jesuit. German. Gymnasium from 5, ISS Pedro Arrupe later. A sliding Schulgeld the Rektor will talk about. The visit, the school says, will not fail on the fee. That is not the same as free.
They share a posting town and almost no Monday. Walk at least two, then a neighbourhood Gymnasium that charges nothing at the door.
If you might stay, an English IB is not automatically the kindest paper. Berlin keeps primary longer than Bavaria. That changes when the fork arrives. A state Gymnasium, a Stadtteilschule, a church house — those are official mornings.
The language of the yard is the test. A child can thrive in English at 9 a.m. and still be lonely at 11 if the park is speaking German — or lonely in German if the playground is not.
Munich and Hamburg are not suburbs of Berlin. Do not make Germany into one S-Bahn.
Ask JFKS whether this child meets the citizenship sentences. Ask BBIS whether you are buying a day commute or a bed, and which reduction band you actually meet. Ask Canisius for the Ordnung that starts on 1 August 2026. Time Zehlendorf, Kleinmachnow and the Tiergarten on the same wet Tuesday.
The city hub is the short map. The three portraits are the long ones.
Friendly orientation, not formal admissions advice. Always confirm dates with the school.
An IB campus in Brandenburg, not a first-district Berlin tram. Ersatzschule through Grade 10, Ergänzungsschule in 11–12. The 2026–27 pages print euros, including a reduction programme for Grades 1–10. Time Kleinmachnow.
BerlinA Jesuit Gymnasium and ISS by the Tiergarten, not an IB campus in Brandenburg. The school prints a new Schulgeldordnung from 1 August 2026 and a promise that money will not be the gate. We will not invent the monthly line the public page does not quote.
BerlinA Berlin public German-American school, not a fee-paying château in Brandenburg. No tuition. Citizenship and Berlin residence are the first sentences. The apply page prints the windows. Time Teltower Damm, not Kleinmachnow.
MunichTwo IB campuses, one non-profit gAG. Primary can sit in Schwabing. Secondary sits in Haimhausen, north of the city. The 2026–27 prospectus prints tuition and a three-year entrance fee. Time that commute before you fall in love with the Schloss.
The letters on the leaver’s certificate matter. They are not the whole child. Here is how to tell them apart without a headache, and without pretending every door stays open.
16 minYou do not need a perfect algorithm. You need a few true things about your child, a boring list on the fridge, and the courage to ignore a beautiful campus that does not fit.
15 minTuition is the number on the homepage. The PDF is the number that arrives in March. Here is how to read the second one, without inventing a euro, a krona, or a deadline.
12 minSkip the question about last year’s average. Ask the ones that make a teacher’s face change. Then look at the corridor while they answer.