European School of Luxembourg I

The European School of Luxembourg was the first of the European Schools. It was founded in October 1953 on the initiative of officials of the European Coal and Steel Community, with the support of the Community's institutions and the government of Luxembourg. In April 1957, it formally became the first of the European Schools. Today it is located on the Kirchberg-Plateau in Luxembourg (city).

As of October 12 2003, the student population of the European School, Luxembourg was 3802 — of which 440 were in the nursery school, 1414 in the primary school and 1948 in the secondary school. It is currently the largest school in Luxembourg and the single largest of all the European Schools.

History of the campus

Boulevard de la Foire

When the school was founded it was located in a premises of a former furniture shop in the Limpertsberg quarter of Luxembourg city. In 1956 construction began on a new building on Boulevard de la Foire, just outside the centre of town. The building was opened on 11 December 1957. Later, the school moved to a new site on the Kirchberg plateau, another quarter of Luxembourg city. During the late 80s, the school re-used the building at Boulevard de la Foire, as an overflow school for three age groups of the primary school. Since the end of the 1990s, the old building at Boulevard de la Foire has no longer been used by the European School.

Kirchberg

At the end of the 1990s, the campus on Kirchberg was completely redesigned. Old buildings were demolished and new ones, e.g. a new primary school building, an extension of the secondary school building and a new theatre building, were erected, though 3 blocks of the old Secondary school were left standing; A, B and C block. More recently, as proof of the school's struggle to keep up with high demand, several temporary steel-framed structures were erected and will remain in use until the completion of Luxembourg II (the planned second European School in Luxembourg).

Luxembourg II

A second European School will be built on the border of the neighbouring communes of Bertrange and Mamer. The primary department of Luxembourg II has already formally established and is located in temporary buildings next to the Luxembourg I on the Kirchberg Plateau (in the "Village Pédagogique").

Current Headmaster

The current head of the European School of Luxembourg is Antonia Ruiz Esturla, from Spain.

Criticisms

The European school is widely regarded as providing an excellent educational service, though in the past, it has been criticised for its large size. It is thought that the Luxembourg II extension will help this and hence it is desperately needed. However, confusion between both the European Commission and the Luxembourg government has led this project to be delayed for some 25 years, considering the first plans for Luxembourg II were thought up during the mid 70's. Some more realistic people predict that even Lux II won't have enough resources to cope with the influx of students due to the expansion of the European Union. The recent plans for a fourth Brussels European School offer some evidence to this proposal.

The Arts at school

The school has produced many actors and other artists over the years and there are always those who stand out as born performers. There are different opportunities to prove talent, including the drama groups and musical groups of different kinds which take place after school hours.The English drama comes in 4 separate groups: 1st and 2nd years (Junior Drama Group); 3rd and 4th years (Middle School Drama Group); 5th and 6th years (Senior Drama Group); and 7th year (Alternative Drama Group). Each academic year, there is a performance of a play by each of the separate drama groups.The Alternative Drama Group performs independently of any teachers and elect a director (or more usually two) themselves. Over the past years they have done productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Catch 22", and "Romeo & Juliet" and "The Three Sisters".As for music, there are many forms in which to show the world what your skill is. There is the New Basement Orchestra under the musical direction of Dafydd Bullock for those who like Jazz, or the Gospel Choir directed by Mr Kreb for people who prefer something more spiritual. For lovers of classical music the School Orchestra would be more fitting. Of course if you want you can start your own group and enter for the Battle of the Bands (organised by Tilman Pods) which this year happened for the third time.

tudent Newspapers

Over the past few years, several newspapers have been started with variable success by students. The intention is usually to propose an independent alternative to previous staff-run newspapers, such as "The French Cancan" or Element 63 and its many previous incarnations all of which were affiliated with the Pupil's Committee.

A series of fledgling publications created controversy in the school among staff and students under the directorship of Mr. Harald Feix (now in a new post). The first of these was "The Truth" which was edited by Thomas Wickens and Nicholas Swetenham, which discontinued publication after 2 issues at the request of Mr. Feix. The editors had a policy of publishing any article submitted, however extreme, and one of the articles in the second issue, written by a third party, compared Mr. Feix with Kim Jong-Il, known for his autocratic and eccentric rule. This and other remarks in the article could be considered libel and the tone of the paper was generally anti-establishment. This formula proved popular with students but justified the closure of the newspaper.

The second publication to face problems with the headmaster was "The Whole" (a play on the title of the "The Truth") edited by Chris Swithinbank. The first and only issue of "The Whole" featured a picture of the headmaster with a speech-bubble (in the style of the satirical newspaper "Private Eye") saying "Wir wollen Ihr Geld," a direct translation of which is "We want your money." Much like "The Truth" before it, it was closed at Mr. Feix's request.

The next paper to enter the scene is Le Faux, backed by the Pupils' Committee in an attempt to create a regular, reliable, unbiased and official school paper which would not risk forced closure. The name is a deliberate satire of The Truth and shows its creators' determination that it should not share the same fate as previous newspapers.

The most successful school paper was without doubt "The Eccentri(;" run by several enterprising students, known collectively under the term Eccentric Productions (; or Eccentric Enterprises (; as its project management teams are collectively known. Asides from the publication of local and international news, Eccentric also produces dvds of school events, manages the advertising and marketing strategies of school events, designs t-shirts for those in need of t-shirts, and hats among many other things... Its motto has always been "To be slightly mad for the greater benefit of the school's student population, catering to their every need and desire." There are rumours that Eccentric Industries (; will shortly be producing the raw materials used in the many products produced by the Eccentric Corporation. What is certainly fact is that the Eccentri(; newspaper is being either replaced or complimented by the Eccentric Broadcasting Corporation (;, or the EB(; Sadly, like the other papers published in the school, the Eccentri(; has had more than it's fair share of difficulties, however despite the odds it survived to produce 12 fantastic issues, each one increasing in sales by at least 50%.

At this moment debates are ongoing into the possibility of Eccentric Productions (; merging with the Pupils' Committee in order to further benefit the school student population and to ensure smooth advertising, running and functionality of school events. They would be in charge of the Pupils' Committee advertising, marketing and propaganda, recruitment and training, and finally in the immortalising of school events. They would become a sector of the Pupils' Committee, which is about to undergo a major Reformation (the Reformation Transformation of the European School of Luxembourg's Pupils' Committee, September 2008). See the future for more details.

External links

* [http://www.euroschool.lu Official website of the European School, Luxembourg]
* [http://www.restena.lu/ecole_europ/ Another webpage for the European School, Luxembourg]
*Details of the European Baccalaureate examination
* [http://www.apeee.lu/ Website of the APEEE (Parents' Association of the European Schools, Luxembourg)]