Germany · Berlin
A 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.
Dit portret staat nog in het Engels. De andere talen komen school voor school.
Curriculum zoals de school het publiceert:German Abitur · American High School Diploma · Advanced Placement
Onderwijstalen:German, English
The John F. Kennedy School is a co-educational public day school at Teltower Damm 87-93, 14167 Berlin, in Zehlendorf. Official site jfks.de. Welcome office +49 30 90189-6800. Questions: welcome@jfksberlin.org. Applications: admissions@jfksberlin.org.
It is not BBIS in Kleinmachnow, and not Canisius-Kolleg by the Tiergarten. JFKS is a Berlin public school. The FAQ’s first money sentence is: it does not charge tuition.
The useful questions are: Does this child — and a parent — hold German or US citizenship? Are you registered inside Berlin’s city limits? And have you opened this year’s application window, because late applications cannot be considered?
Families who want a German-American public week in Zehlendorf, with a leaving paper that can be the Abitur or the American High School Diploma, and who can live with a citizenship rule that is not a vibe.
The apply page is blunt. Admission needs space, German or US citizenship (or both) for the child, and at least one parent or legal guardian who is a German or US citizen (or both). The child must speak the language of that citizenship as a first language — or, for multilingual children, a dominant language — for their age. The school says that balance between the American and German contingents is how the language programme works.
The FAQ adds a second sentence that you should not flatten into the first: applicants to Grades 1–12 have to be fluent in English, but not in German. Read both. We will not invent which one wins on the stairs.
The welcome page’s snapshot: founded 1960 by the US military, Berlin authorities and parents; 190+ faculty and staff, over 160 German and American teachers; average class size 23; close to 1,600 students. 93% passing over 15 different AP exams. Treat those as the school’s own photographs.
History: opened as the German-American Community School in 1960, named for President Kennedy after 1963, on Teltower Damm from April 1963.
It will not suit a family without the citizenship sentences, a family living in Brandenburg who cannot register in Berlin, or a family hunting an IB château. Walk those if that is the climate.
Teltower Damm, Zehlendorf. Entrance Class, Elementary 1–6, Middle, High School 7–12. The FAQ says the school does not currently offer tours, in-person meetings or open houses. Write welcome. There is no boarding. A private bus exists — Firma Der Spandauer — and the contract is between the family and the company, not the school.
It is a Berlin public Tuesday, not Kleinmachnow.
The apply page prints windows for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. Open the live table. For 2026/27, Entrance Class is no longer accepting applications (birth dates 1 Oct 2020 – 30 Sept 2021). Late applications cannot be considered.
For 2027/28: Entrance Class anywhere, and Grades 1–12 in Germany, 1 October 2026 – 31 January 2027. Grades 1–12 abroad through 31 March 2027. Entrance Class birth dates 1 Oct 2021 – 30 Sep 2022.
Selective. Records, and testing where needed. Probationary, the apply page says. Entrance Class: lottery in April, then letters. Grades 1–6: admissions from May, more chairs possible in August if someone withdraws or fails a language test. Grades 7–12: letters by the end of May. All applications remain valid for late admission until 30 September.
Brandenburg: the FAQ says Entrance Class and Grades 1–12 require registration within Berlin’s city limits. Proof of Berlin residency before the first day if you are moving. You may list JFKS as a Wunschschule on a Berlin transfer form; that is not the JFKS application.
We will not invent how many chairs open in August.
No tuition. It is a Berlin public school. A private bus, if you use one, is a private bill. We will not invent a learning-materials euro the FAQ does not print on that page.
We are not ranking JFKS against BBIS. We are not calling a public bilingual easy. We are not inventing a 2026/27 Grades 1–12 window the live table still marks as a dash. We are not treating “close to 1,600” as a census we counted. We are not inventing an open-house date the FAQ says does not exist.
Ask whether this child meets the citizenship sentences — child and parent. Ask whether you can register in Berlin. Ask which leaving paper you are buying, Abitur or the American diploma. Time Teltower Damm at 7:40.
The Berlin hub is the short map. The Germany country page is the wider one.
Officiële pagina’s en documenten die we lazen. Als een bedrag telt voor budget of aanmelding, open de link en check of die nog klopt.
Vriendelijke oriëntatie, geen aanmelding. Data, tarieven en programma’s schuiven. Check alles bij de school.
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.
15 minDe letters op het diploma doen ertoe. Ze zijn niet het hele kind. Hier hoe je ze uit elkaar houdt zonder hoofdpijn, en zonder te doen alsof elke deur openblijft.
16 minJe hebt geen perfect algoritme nodig. Wel een paar ware dingen over je kind, een saai lijstje op de koelkast, en de moed om een mooie campus te negeren die niet past.
15 minHet schoolgeld is het getal op de homepage. De pdf is het getal dat in maart binnenkomt. Hier lees je hoe je de tweede leest, zonder een euro, een kroon of een deadline te verzinnen.