Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, commonly abbreviated SYK (English: "Helsinki Finnish co-educational school"), is a free elementary, middle and high school in the Etelä-Haaga district of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland.

History

SYK was founded in 1886. Its roots trace back to a group of notable Finnish intellectuals whose aim was to found a

Finnish-language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...

lycée for female students in order to further the education of women in Finland. By the time that this group had raised enough funds to actually found the school, the ideal of coeducational schools had gained so much ground among the members that the school that was founded in 1886 became a coeducational one. This was a very important event in the history of Finnish schools, as SYK was the first Finnish-language coeducational school in Finland.

SYK today

SYK continues to be held in high regard. It offers education from 3rd to 9th grade as well as the three high school years. The school's matriculation examination results are usually among the best in Finland. According to a 2010 survey, compared to most other secondary education institutes, a disproportionate number of alumni continue with university-level studies, especially in fields such as engineering, economics or legal studies. SYK is noted for its internationality. It is one of the 15 schools in Finland to offer the

IB Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

in the equivalent of the 11th and 12th grades. After the

PISA Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

(2004 and 2005) results came out, Chinese headmasters have been a familiar sight in the corridors. Traditionally, SYK has an amicable rivalry with Helsingin normaalilyseo, another school that was originally situated in central Helsinki. Unlike most other schools, SYK takes in students from all over the Helsinki metropolitan area in addition to its own district. Places are limited, so second graders have to pass entrance tests to get in. Tests measure mostly command of written Finnish and readiness to learn foreign languages, in line with the official "language focus" in the school's curriculum.

Language education

3rd graders begin with French, German or Russian as their first foreign language; English is only offered to those whose English level is native, or who have had their first school years taught in English. In year five they start studying English. A year later, 6th graders take on Swedish as the second national language. Elective fourth language starts in year eight (French, German, Japanese, or Russian), and more are available in the high school. A typical high school graduate takes the matriculation exam in 2 to 4 foreign languages. Another special task the school has is to take in repatriating Finnish children who may have studied in international schools abroad, offering English teaching that matches their level and possibly giving special tutoring in Finnish or other subjects. These children have the option to take French, German or Russian as their second foreign language in year 5 instead of English.

Notable alumni

Over the years the school has contributed to the cultural and economical life of Finland through some of its well-known alumni. Some of these are: *

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

(orchestral conductor) *

Atso Almila Atso Almila (born 13 June 1953, in Helsinki 1) is a Finnish orchestral conductor, music director, composer, trombonist and teacher. He has worked with most Finnish orchestras as a guest conductor or otherwise. Though he primarily operates in Finlan ...

(orchestral conductor) *

Teppo Felin Teppo Felin (born 1970s) is the Douglas D. Anderson Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship at the Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. He is also the Founding Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Study. From 2013 to 2 ...

(professor at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

) * Erkki Tuomioja (Minister of Foreign Affairs) *

Eljas Erkko Juho Eljas Erkko (1 June 1895 in Helsinki – 20 February 1965 in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician and journalist. He was a foreign minister and negotiated with the Soviet Union before the Winter War started. Erkko's father was politician an ...

(Foreign Minister of Finland) * Tarja Cronberg (Minister of Labour) * Matti Wuori (lawyer and member of the European Parliament) *

Henrik Tikkanen Georg Henrik Tikkanen (9 September 1924, Helsinki – 19 May 1984, Espoo) was a Finland-Swedish author, known primarily for anti-war literature. Several of his works are either autobiographical or semi-autobiographical. Though Finnish, he publi ...

(author and artist) *

Olli Mustonen Olli Mustonen (born 7 June 1967 in Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish pianist, conductor, and composer. Biography Mustonen studied harpsichord and piano from the age of five with Ralf Gothóni and then Eero Heinonen. He studied composition with Ei ...

(pianist) *

Tomi Mäkelä Tomi Matti Mäkelä (born 4 January 1964 in Lahti) is a Finnish musicologist and pianist, professor at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. He studied music and musicology in Lahti, Vienna, Berlin (West) and Helsinki. As a pia ...

(pianist) *

Ora Lassila Ora Lassila is a Finnish computer scientist who lives in the U.S. and works as a technologist at Amazon Web Services. He has been conducting research into the Semantic Web since 1996, and was co-author, with Tim Berners-Lee and James Hendler, o ...

(computer scientist) *

Heikki Mannila Heikki Olavi Mannila (born 4 January 1960 in Espoo) is a Finnish computer scientist, the president of the Academy of Finland.''Kuka kukin on 2007'', p. 585. Helsinki 2006. Mannila earned his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Helsinki under t ...

(computer scientist) *

Pentti Linkola Kaarlo Pentti Linkola (7 December 1932 – 5 April 2020) was a prominent Finnish deep ecologist, ornithologist, polemicist, naturalist, writer, and fisherman. He wrote widely about his ideas and in Finland was a prominent thinker.George C. ...

(philosopher, activist and author) * Saima Harmaja (poet) * Minna Lindgren (writer) *

Suvi-Anne Siimes Sini Maaria Suvi-Anne Siimes (born 1 June 1963, in Helsinki) is a former chair of the Finnish Left Alliance. She quit the party in 2006 because she did not want to support the party's former taistoists (orthodox pro-Soviet communists). Before h ...

(politician) * Juhana Vartiainen (politician) * Mauri Ryömä (politician) *

Tuomari Nurmio Judge Bone, Tuomari Nurmio, is the artist name of Hannu Juhani Nurmio (b. 1950 in Helsinki), a Finnish rock singer and songwriter. Work Since his debut album, Nurmio has been regarded one of the most original Finnish singer-songwriters. His l ...

(musician) *

Pyhimys Mikko Kuoppala (born 28 October 1981), professionally known as Pyhimys (in English ''The Saint''), is a Finnish rapper, songwriter and founder of the record company Yellowmic Records. He has gained success both as a solo artist and as a member o ...

(musician) *

Kim Borg Kim Borg (August 7, 1919April 28, 2000) was a Finnish bass, teacher and composer. He had a wide-ranging, resonant, warm voice. Biography Kim Borg was born in Helsinki. He studied voice with Heikki Teittinen at the Sibelius Academy (1936–1941 ...

(musician) *

Antti Siirala Antti Aleksi Siirala (born 16 May 1979 in Helsinki) is a Finnish pianist. Antti Siirala's international career was launched when he won First Prize in the 10th Vienna Beethoven competition as the youngest contestant, receiving the special awar ...

(musician) *

Ari Angervo Mauri Arijoutsi Angervo (born July 11, 1944 in Mikkeli, Finland) is a Finnish classical violinist and conductor. Education Angervo studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, but also in Stockholm and Saint Petersburg. He studied the violin un ...

(musician) *

Nina Tapio Nina Tapio (born February 24, 1972) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, musical actor, and session musician. Her singing career started at the age of five, when she sang on a children's record. Tapio studied at Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory whe ...

(musician) *

Markku Luolajan-Mikkola Markku Luolajan-Mikkola is a Finnish baroque cellist and viol player. Born in Helsinki, he studied cello with Arto Noras at the Sibelius Academy, where he received his diploma in 1983. Later, an interest in baroque music led him to summer courses ...

(musician) * Erik W. Tawaststjerna (musicologist) *

Petteri Salomaa Juha Petteri Salomaa (born 26 August 1961, Helsinki) is a Finnish operatic bass-baritone who has had an active international singing career in operas and concerts since the late 1970s. He has performed on more than 30 recordings with a variety of r ...

(operatic bass-baritone) *

Aino Kallas Aino Krohn Kallas (2 August 1878 – 9 November 1956) was a Finnish-Estonian author. Her novellas are considered to be prominent pieces of Finnish literature.Rolf Nevanlinna Rolf Herman Nevanlinna (né Neovius; 22 October 1895 – 28 May 1980) was a Finnish mathematician who made significant contributions to complex analysis. Background Nevanlinna was born Rolf Herman Neovius, becoming Nevanlinna in 1906 when his fa ...

(mathematician) *

Olli Lehto Olli Erkki Lehto (30 May 1925 in Helsinki — 31 December 2020) was a Finnish mathematician, specializing in geometric function theory, and a chancellor of the University of Helsinki. Lehto earned his PhD in 1949 from the University of Helsinki ...

(mathematician) * Yrjö Soini (novelist) *

Kimmo Koskenniemi Kimmo Matti Koskenniemi (born 7 September 1945) is the inventor of finite-state two-level models for computational phonology and morphology. He was a professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In the early 1980 ...

(inventor of finite-state two-level models for computational

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

) * Aarne Ervi (architect) *

Heikki Siren Heikki Siren (5 October 1918 in Helsinki – 25 February 2013 in Helsinki) was a Finnish architect. He graduated from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1946 as a student of his father J. S. Sirén. Heikki Siren designed most of his works ...

(architect) *

Pentti Sammallahti Pentti Sammallahti (born 1950 in Helsinki) is a Finnish photographer. He is the only brother of Finnish linguist Pekka Sammallahti Pekka Lars Kalervo Sammallahti ( smn, Sevtil-Piäkká, May 21, 1947 in Helsinki) is a professor of Sami languages ...

(photographer) *

Erik Bruun Erik Bruun (born 7 April 1926) is a Finnish graphic designer. Biography Bruun was born in Viipuri on 7 April 1926. He spent his childhood in village of Säiniö on the Karelian isthmus. In the war years his family was forced to move to Helsinki, ...

(graphic designer) * Ari Lohenoja (businessperson) *

Antti Herlin Antti Herlin (born 14 November 1956) is a Finnish billionaire businessman, and the chairman of the Finnish KONE Corporation. He is the son of Pekka Herlin, former chairman of KONE. He is the former chairman of the Confederation of Finnish Indust ...

(businessperson) *

Mika Tiivola Carl Mikael Augustinus ”Mika” Tiivola (30 November 1922 – 13 April 1994) was a Finnish businessman. He was the former CEO of the former Finnish bank Union Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Yhdyspankki, or ''SYP''). He was the Chairman of Nokia Cor ...

(businessperson) *

Juuso Walden Juuso Walfrid Walden (5 April 1907 – 19 November 1972) was a Finnish industrial leader and entrepreneur, long term CEO of Yhtyneet Paperitehtaat, the predecessor of United Paper Mills. Early life and upbringing Juuso Walden was born in St. P ...

(industrial leader) * Aatos Erkko (main owner of Sanoma Corporation and the ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'' newspaper) * Eero Erkko (journalist and politician) *

Elina Salo Aino Elina Salo (born 9 March 1936 in Sipoo, Finland) is a Finnish film, theatre and television actress who has also done work in radio as a voice actor in children’s programming. In her career that began in 1956, Salo has appeared in over 50 fi ...

(actress) *

Elina Pohjanpää Armi Elina Annikki Pohjanpää (8 April 1933, in Helsinki – 13 January 1996) was a Finnish actress. Her theatrical career lasted for 40 years, and in addition, she appeared in several Finnish films by directors such as Ilmari Unho, Aarne Tarkas ...

(actress) *

Rauha Rentola Rauha Olivia Elisabet Rentola (4 February 1919, Kuhmoinen − 20 July 2005) was a Finnish actress. During her career, she appeared in close to a hundred films while also working for Finnish National Theatre for half a century. Selected filmography ...

(actress) *

Ritva Arvelo Ritva Helinä Arvelo (11 March 1921 – 26 October 2013) was a Finnish actress, director, screenwriter and a pioneer in modern dance. She was one of the first four Finnish women film directors. Life and career Arvelo was born in Helsinki. Arvel ...

(actress) * Helena Vierikko (actress) *

Matti Oravisto Matti Kustavi Oravisto (23 October 1921 – 15 November 2001) was a Finnish actor who appeared in theatre, film and television. Oravisto started to work as an actor in the Finnish National Theatre immediately after graduating from theatre school ...

(actor) *

Paavo Jännes Paavo Klaus Emil Jännes (formerly Genetz, 20 March 1892 − 19 December 1970) was a Finnish theatre and film actor. He appeared in over 70 films between 1913−1969. Selected filmography *''Sylvi'' (1913) *''Miehen kylkiluu'' (1937) *''Dynamii ...

(actor) *

Laura Ruohonen Laura Ruohonen (born October 9, 1960, in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish playwright and theatre director. She works also as Professor of Dramaturgy in Theatre Academy of Finland. Some works *Olga (1995, Finnish National Theatre) *The Greatest of ...

(theatre director) * Iiro Seppänen (producer and director) *

Mauno Manninen Erkki Mauno Gustaf Manninen (June 26, 1915 – September 14, 1969) was a Finnish poet, painter and theatre director. He was the son of poet Otto Manninen and writer Anni Swan. Manninen is best known as the founder of Intimiteatteri, which was ...

(producer and director) *

Mika Taanila Mika Taanila (born 1965 in Helsinki) is a Finnish film director and visual artist. His films can be categorized somewhere between the traditions of classic documentary film-making, avant-garde and video art. His most notable films are ''Tectonic P ...

(film director) * Heikki Aho (filmmaker) *

Niilo Jääskinen Niilo Jääskinen (born 16 September 1958) is a Finnish lawyer and he served as an Advocate General at the European Court of Justice from October 2009 to October 2015 and as a judge as of October 2019. Career In 1990, Jääskinen was appointed ...

(lawyer) *

Helena Salonius Helena Salonius (17 March 1930 — 24 September 2012) was a Finnish operatic soprano and actress. Early life and education Salonius was born into a musical family: her mother was the singer Helmi Frilander-Salonius, a close friend of the opera ...

(actress and opera singer) * Juhana Vartiainen (mayor of Helsinki, economist) *

Eeva Jalavisto Eeva Jalavisto (until 1934 Elmgren; 21 March 1909 – 12 June 1966) was a Finnish Professor of physiology and an influential researcher and policy maker in the areas of health and social care of the elderly as well as wider gerontology. Ear ...

(professor of physiology, gerontologist)

References

External links

SYK homepage (also in English)
{{Authority control Schools in Helsinki Educational institutions established in 1886 International Baccalaureate schools in Finland Secondary schools in Finland Haaga 1886 establishments in the Russian Empire