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• Uniqueness: The entire school (ALL students, faculty, and staff) participates in the immersion into the German language and culture and the program spans elementary and middle school.
• Learning a foreign language develops basic skills such as communication, listening, and memory, which are beneficial for your child’s English language development.
• Rilke Schule hosts intern teachers from German-speaking countries during the school year. The intern teachers assist in our German immersion classrooms and are hosted by the Rilke families. Our community of teachers, students, staff, and families greatly benefit from this cultural exchange. For more information, visit our Internship page.
• We celebrate major German holidays and traditions both during school and after school events.  
• Rilke Schule has two partner schools in Germany: the Schiller Schule in Sachsenhausen (Frankfurt), and the Rabanus-Maurus Gymnasium in Fulda. Rilke students have the opportunity to develop friendships with pen/e-mail pals and the upper grades can participate in an exchange program.
• SamstagsSchule - Saturday German Classes are offered in the evenings and weekends for parents and community members who want to learn or are interested in the German language.
• We made the grade!  Rilke Schule has passed its AYP testing every year, and for the past two years has been rated five out of five stars with the new rating system.
• Rilke Schule is officially recognized by, and has received financial support from the German government.

Interested in Rilke Schule? You are welcome to come and have a tour of our school. Please call the school at 742-0900 and set up an appointment. Individual tours are preferred as large groups disrupt students and teachers. To find more information about tours, go to Visit Your School.

To apply to Rilke Schule via lottery, you must use the Anchorage School District online lottery application process.

The purpose of the lottery is to provide an equal opportunity for all students who request participation in one of the Anchorage School District’s schools other than their assigned District school, and to provide for grade level and gender balance. No student shall be denied participation because of a physical, mental, or learning disability, or special need.

Two lotteries are conducted annually. One is held during the last two weeks of March, and the other in late summer, the week prior to fall registration.

If more children apply than there are spaces for at the school, a waiting list is formed. The only standard prioritization in the lottery is for siblings. With special permission, the principal is also permitted to preempt the process to allow for Documented Hardship (extenuating circumstances, medical, safety, psychological, or curriculum considerations), or to achieve gender balance if more than 2/3rds of the class is one gender.

Here’s what happens:

When a student’s name is drawn, they are put on the acceptance list in numerical order, and will be enrolled at the school from that list in numerical order. Siblings’ names are drawn first, followed by all other names. Admission continues down the list until all available spaces are taken. Remaining names are wait-listed. If a student’s name is withdrawn from the list, the next available waiting list name is admitted. Parents must annually acknowledge their interest in remaining on the waiting list by notifying the school. Students remaining on the list will keep their place and the grade level list will move up a grade annually. Pre-kindergarten students are eligible for the lottery only in the March preceding eligibility for school entrance. First grade students with no German background are eligible for admittance through the first quarter only. After that, they must have equivalent German knowledge to be admitted.

Parents of students who have entered the lottery and been chosen for Rilke Schule must accept or reject the school within two (2) school days after notification. For pre-kindergarten students, they will notify the school within the two-day period of their acceptance, but actual registration will take place during the normal kindergarten registration period in August. Those students who do not enroll within the designated period will be withdrawn from the waiting list and they must reapply if they wish to attend. If an attempt to contact a parent/guardian to offer a space to a waiting list student isn’t successful, the student will remain on the list through the next lottery period. If an attempt to contact the parent/guardian is again unsuccessful during the next lottery period, the student will be removed from the waiting list. If students are already in the program and are withdrawn for any reason, they must follow the lottery procedures if there is a waiting list. No student will be allowed to accept a place in more than one program at the same time. All schools turn in their waiting lists to the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction within five (5) days of each lottery.

As openings occur in a particular grade level, the parents of the next student on the waiting list will be notified of the opening and must accept or reject the school within two (2) school days. Registration should occur as soon as possible after that date, but no later than five (5) days after acceptance.

Proof of Residency (utility bill, phone bill, etc.) will be verified for all students in any school involved in a boundary change; any new to school/new to district student (including kindergarten) throughout the school year; and all zone exemptions.

Families who are out of town on these dates may register at school upon their return.  Students who have not registered will not be placed on a class list.

NEW-TO-DISTRICT STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS AT THE TIME OF REGISTRATION:

• Birth Certificate (copy acceptable)
• Current immunization records
• Physical examination (for kindergartners)
• Current physical and mailing address and phone numbers of students and parents
• Names and phone numbers of emergency contacts and individuals who may pick up the child from school
• Name and address of previous school attended
• Copies of legal papers if there is a custody situation 

Rilke Schule, Inc (RSI) is our non-profit that operates Rilke Clubs, our before and after school program. For more information visit Clubs - RSI.

The Rilke Schule Verein is the parent, teacher, and community organization (PTO). They host many cultural events throughout the year and more activities. You can find additional information and how to become involved at RSV | PTO.