Alumni of Schule Schloss Salem

Schule Schloss Salem ( Anglicisation: ''School of Salem Castle'', ''Salem Castle School'') is a boarding school with campuses in Salem and Überlingen in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany.

It offers the German Abitur, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB). With a scholarship program and its "Dienste" (Services) such as the Firebrigade, the "Technisches Hilfswerk" short: THW (Technical Support Organisation), the First Aid or the Nautical Service. The Schule Schloss Salem, also commonly referred to as Salem College, hence offers an education for its students at the academic as well as social levels.

The school was established by the educator Kurt Hahn with support of Prince Maximilian of Baden in 1920 and from the beginning accepted girls and boys. Under the Nazi regime Hahn (who was Jewish) was forced to emigrate to Scotland, where he founded the British Salem School of Gordonstoun as well as later Outward Bound and the United World Colleges.

The school today

The academic program in Years 5–7 is in German. Intensive instruction in German as a foreign language is available for international pupils.

From Year 8 onward, Salem is fully bilingual and offers a dual curriculum. Students may either continue in the German system (Abitur) or enter the international classes & the IB Diploma Programme, in which the language is English. However, students may switch systems until they enter the upper school. Approximately a third of the students in the upper years are in the IB system. Most students are of German background, but there are a significant number of international students, with students attending from a variety of countries such as Switzerland, Spain, USA, China, Russia, Korea, India, Canada, Australia or Italy.

At Salem, involvement in extracurricular activities and the life in the boarding community and academic achievement are equally emphasized. All students in the upper years must engage in community service such as Nautical Service, THW (Technical Support Organisation) extended First Aid, Community Service (Kindergarten, Disabled people's home, etc.) or Fire brigade at least one afternoon per week. During the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision, Salem Students were some of the first at the scene. All students must also participate in a regular program of sports and/or outdoor pursuits such as Outward Bound, Football, Rugby or Gymnastics. Participation in theatre, music and visual-arts extracurricular programs, while not mandatory, is strongly encouraged. The student orchestra in Salem is regarded to be one of the foremost youth-orchestras in Germany and travels around the world to perform its music, such as a recent trip to Beijing, China.

Far more than in boarding schools from the Anglo-American tradition, responsibility for the everyday running of the School in the upper years is, in keeping with Salem's democratic ethos based on the principles of Kurt Hahn, placed in the hands of students under the guidance of staff. All activities and dormitories (Flügel) are led by students elected by their peers. School regulations are outlined with the consent of the student parliament and breaches of these are jointly dealt with by the School administration and the elected leaders of the student body in what is called the ''Leitungsrat'' or the 'Leadership Council', which comprises the headmaster of the college, the two Head Boys/Girls, the students housemaster/mistress and other senior staff members.

In 2013 the one-year interdisciplinary Salem Kolleg was opened in Überlingen. The autonomously operated Studium generale programme prepares high school graduates for their academic and professional future through an orientation year of three trimesters during which trained advisors provide intensive career counseling, personal assessment with the help of assessment tests such as the Holland Codes

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