I. Preamble

The private Kurpfalz boarding school was founded in 1961 with the aim of helping students who are in a critical phase of their academic career out of crisis and restoring their confidence in their abilities. In a strong community, they are to obtain their school diploma, be prepared for life, and lay a solid foundation for their professional future.

The foundation for the success of this idea is a vibrant and active community of teachers and learners, where one enjoys living, teaching, and learning. Respect and trust should have enough room to flourish, and it should provide structures while simultaneously allowing the freedom to develop one’s own personality.

Driven by this idea, students, teachers, mentors, and the management team have developed this guiding principle in a year-long discussion process, which is intended to serve as a benchmark for our actions. In order for our future guiding principle to endure under changing conditions, we have agreed on a solid foundation of shared values and developed a vision for the future of the Kurpfalz Boarding School.

II. Vision and Values

Social learning

We believe that personal development can only succeed when the individual is integrated into a social framework in which they experience appreciation and respect, acknowledgment and acceptance, which they, in turn, also extend to others.

Orientation towards strengths

We want to bring out the potential of each individual and focus on their individual abilities and strengths. In this way, we promote their self-esteem, their willingness to perform, and their joy in success.

Trust, openness, self-responsibility

We are confident that in an atmosphere of mutual trust and personal openness, the individual’s ability to take responsibility for themselves and others grows.

Relationship Development in the Community

The prerequisite for this is that we respect each other and consider one another, so that our relationships are experienced as reliable. Those who experience the solidarity of the community are, in our belief, more willing to exercise tolerance towards others in return. That is our stated goal!

Mutual understanding and conflict culture

We support everyone in finding their own goals and confidently standing up for them, but we also demand empathy and understanding for others. We see conflicts as an integral part of our community. From our responsible handling of them, we learn to find sustainable solutions with fairness and respect.

Rules in the community

From these visions and values, rules for our shared life and work emerge, whose acceptance is the foundation of our community. We commit to being fair to others and to making decisions transparent. We uphold the personal freedom of the individual and accept its limits for the benefit of our community.

III. Education through Relationship: Unity of Education and Upbringing

Empowerment for lifelong learning

As a school, we see our mission as providing our students with a solid general education and enabling them for lifelong learning. We want to guide them not only to a successful graduation but also aim to prepare them to enter life as responsible members of society.

We ensure that they learn to question critically and think independently in class, that they can develop their creativity, discover their individual strengths, and overcome their weaknesses. On this journey, we meet them where they are!

Individual support

By limiting the class size to ten students, we ensure that each individual is recognized for their unique strengths and weaknesses.

Our goal is to support and challenge every student, to provide assistance, and to offer additional support courses and individual lessons if needed. In addition, we provide them with the foundation for a qualified study and career choice through career counseling, internships, and vocational preparatory seminars.

Holistic educational approach

As a boarding school, our goal is to promote the personal development of our students even outside of school operations.

In doing so, we pursue a holistic educational approach that is meant to help our students discover their abilities and skills, shape their lives, and develop themselves.

Education for autonomy

At the Kurpfalz Boarding School, we want to support students.

to become independent personalities; to act confidently and self-assuredly; to make decisions responsibly;
to approach their environment and the world in general with curiosity.

Social competence

Therefore, we promote the acquisition of social skills and empower our students to

to be able to perceive oneself; to see and respect the other as an independent person;
to react tolerantly in conflict situations, to make compromises, but also to stand firmly for one’s own cause;
to commit oneself to others and the community; to be able to form a team and to recognize that there are less privileged people who need their help.

Fit for the 21st century

We want to provide our students with an education that enables them to

to face the diverse challenges of the future; to demonstrate flexibility, independence, and team spirit; to be competent in dealing with media;
to act health-conscious and environmentally conscious.

Together, we want to work on these challenges with our students and grow from them.

IV. Our Expectations

At the Kurpfalz Internat, learners and educators form an active, vibrant community. We all take responsibility and continuously strive to justify the trust placed in us and to meet the expectations set upon us.

As part of our guiding principle process, we discussed and defined these expectations for ourselves as students, teachers, mentors, and as a leadership team. With the implementation of this guiding principle, we want to make the expectations comprehensible and achievable for everyone.

Expectations of our students

At the Kurpfalz boarding school, we would like to welcome students who are eager to join us and are willing to accept the support we offer them.

We expect them to commit to the set goals, collaborate with their classmates, teachers, mentors, and the leadership team, and take advantage of the opportunities provided by individual support. They take responsibility for their personal future and learn to work independently.

As part of the boarding school community, our students act responsibly in school and dormitory, actively participate in school life, and consider the Kurpfalz Boarding School as their school. They are granted rights that provide them with freedoms and take on responsibilities that they take seriously.

We expect our students to maintain honest interactions with each other and with others, to engage with others, and to show a willingness to develop into responsible individuals. Their growth into adulthood within the community of the boarding school should enable them to resolve conflicts appropriately and cooperatively and to respect the interests of others.

Expectations of our teachers

At the Kurpfalz boarding school, teachers view their profession as a calling. This positive attitude towards their students and the high motivation they bring enable them to perceive each student individually in their strengths and weaknesses.

Everyone sees it as their responsibility to individually support and challenge each student by emphasizing their strengths and progress. Their behavior towards the student is characterized by respect, consideration, and empathy for their personal situation.

At the same time, our teachers know the value of their work for the personal future of their students. In their assessments, they point out areas for improvement and acknowledge the visible progress. The community of teachers and learners at the Kurpfalz Boarding School thrives on the special commitment of its teachers, which goes far beyond the scope of teaching.

Therefore, we expect our teachers to engage in extracurricular projects, at events, or in the boarding school. The contacts they have with their students during celebrations, boarding activities, or trips are important to them because they allow them to perceive the young people holistically.

As part of the team, our teachers work closely with their colleagues, regularly seizing the opportunity to further their education in order to deliver high-quality instruction.

They are furthermore willing to provide their students with value-oriented education. As communication partners of the mentors, they coordinate with them and provide feedback on the academic development of the young people entrusted to them.

Expectations of our mentors

The mentors guide the students as responsible partners in the boarding school. They advise them on problems, serve as a trustworthy contact person, and take on the educational role of parents in the boarding school. We expect them to have understanding for the individual, to perceive him as a person with strengths and weaknesses, and to be consistent in enforcing rules in the interest of the community while being flexible in individual cases. The student should experience the mentor as a reliable partner whose interest in him goes beyond the professional. In return, the student should receive the help he needs from the mentor to navigate the structured daily routine of the boarding school.

We expect our mentors to view their profession as a vocation, to be willing to explore new pedagogical paths, and to strengthen their educational qualifications through regular training. As communication partners of the teachers, the mentors participate in the school development of their mentee students and report back to the teachers about developments in the boarding school or at home. The mentor collaboratively sets personal goals with the student, offers support in their implementation, and connects this with the effort to empower the student to become independent and take responsibility for their personal future.

Expectations for our management team

We expect the members of the management team of the Kurpfalz boarding school to coordinate the work of everyone involved in the process, motivate them to give their best, and provide them with the necessary resources for successful work.
They recognize employees and students for their commitment, point out deficiencies where necessary, and demonstrate consistency in the implementation of the educational goals of the school and the boarding school.

In everyday life, they provide sufficient room for decision-making to strengthen everyone’s initiative and offer clear guidelines to define the educational framework for all. If necessary, management intervenes as a mediator and helps to resolve the conflict appropriately.

As part of the community of educators and learners, the members of the management team are directly involved in school and boarding life and use school-related and extracurricular interactions to maintain close contact with students, staff, and parents.

They have an open ear for everyone, for their problems and their suggestions, and are always striving to ensure the transparency of their decisions as well as to involve and inform the stakeholders.

Expectations of the Parents

We see the parents of our students at the Kurpfalz boarding school as partners in the development process.

We expect them to accept and support the rules that apply to their children at the Kurpfalz boarding school and to collaborate trustfully with the school and the boarding house.

Alongside the boarding school visit, they support the school and the boarding house by positively acknowledging their children’s successes and encouraging them to actively accept the support provided by teachers, mentors, and management. In the case of failures, they help them find solutions.

The intensive exchange of information through regular assessments, parent-teacher conferences, and personal conversations is an important part of our cooperative educational concept. Parental involvement in their children’s development is crucial for their academic and personal success.

V. Concluding Remarks

All groups (students, teachers, mentors, and leadership) of the Kurpfalz boarding school were involved in the process of creating this mission statement. We all see it as our duty to act in this spirit and to adapt the jointly agreed mission statement to future challenges.

Our educational mission statement