Roswell High School Earns German Language Credential

Roswell High School was recently named a PASCH School, one of just a few schools across Georgia with German language programs and the ability to administer to DSD1 exam in public high schools. PASCH stands for the "Schools: Partners for the Future" initiative.

PASCH is an initiative of the government of Germany that encourages non-native German-speaking students at schools outside Germany to gain a deep understanding of and a high level of fluency in the German language.

In 2019, 40 schools worldwide applied to be part of this program, and 18 were accepted, including Roswell High School. This program is active in 65 countries and for 70,000 students around the world.

“This is a great honor for RHS and also a huge opportunity, as we are able to tap into resources for materials such as books, teaching materials, training opportunities for the German teachers at the school, exchange teachers and programs, networking with schools in many countries around the globe, and much more,” explained RHS German language teacher Angelika Otte.

Last year, 12 RHS German students took the exam and were honored at a ceremony in the fall.

“I know first-hand how beneficial this status is for a school,” explained Otte. “It also makes the German program highly attractive in the community as it opens opportunities for the students to study and work in Germany or for German/Austrian/Swiss companies worldwide. In combination with the strong overall academics and higher-level classes at RHS.”

Germany is one of the top two economic partners in Georgia.

“We have a great opportunity,” said Otte. “We are the only school in Fulton County to offer this distinction. The DSD1 is well respected by a few hundred German companies that are invested in Georgia. DSD1-passing [students] gain access to the tuition-free university system in Germany.

“We are also listed on the PASCH website where German-speaking families who move to the Atlanta area look to see if a local school offers a DSD program.”

For students with a high proficiency in the German language, there are possibilities for dual enrollment at Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia, or entering German language programs at Kennesaw State University or Georgia Tech.

At RHS, 90 students are taking coursework in the German language, and many of them began taking German at sixth graders at Crabapple Middle School with teacher Jennifer Davy. Twenty level four RHS German language students are signed up to take the DSD1 exam in March, the first RHS cohort to be eligible to take the exam at their own high school.

There are currently two high schools and two middle schools in the Fulton County School System that offer a German language program: Haynes Bridge Middle School, which feeds into Centennial High School, Northview High School, which does not have a feeder middle school, and Crabapple Middle School, which feeds into RHS.

For more information about the PASCH-School program, visit https://www.pasch-net.de/en/udi.html.