First Day of School at BCS: One Day. Two Campuses. Three New Grade 1 Classes.
Saturday, 5 September 2026 was a long day for BCS – and an even longer one for 60 excited new first graders.
The celebrations began in the morning at the City Campus with Classes 1A and 1B, before continuing in the afternoon at the Nature Campus with Class 1C. Each campus had its own programme – and its own share of first-day excitement.
A Special Start to a New Chapter
The tradition was the same at both campuses: one by one, each child stepped onto the stage and rang the school bell, marking the official beginning of this new chapter in their lives.
Afterwards, each student received a large sunflower and posed for a first-day-of-school photo before joining their classmates again.
At the City Campus, the City Campus Singers, led by Ben Salisbury, provided the festive musical setting. At the Nature Campus, Alexander Pavlovic and the Nature Campus Singers took over the musical programme and brought everyone together with a three-part round that filled the celebration with joy.
Courage for the First Day of School
School owner and founder Yvonne Wende and Head of Primary School Katharina Ehrenfried shared warm and personal words with the new students and their families.
And of course, the new first graders also made their very first appearance on the BCS stage: with a poem and a song about courage, both carefully rehearsed during Prep Week.
The message was the same at both campuses – for the children and their families:
Welcome to the BCS community – a place where learning, joy, and togetherness belong together.
Welcome, 1A, 1B and 1C!
Dear 1A, 1B and 1C: We wish you a wonderful start at BCS!
We are delighted to have you with us and look forward to hearing soon how you are settling into Primary School.
About the Berlin Cosmopolitan School, Preschool and Kindergarten
The Berlin Cosmopolitan School is changing the traditional way schools and kindergartens work with different approaches to learning in the areas of nature and environmental protection, sports, new work, culture, dance, music and art and much more. The aim of the independent school, preschool and kindergarten is to bring all students along according to their abilities.
“When school motivates, everyone learns more” is the conviction of the Berlin Cosmopolitan School. Regular outdoor learning, sports activities and competitions, digital projects such as robotics, internships from grade 6, music-making from kindergarten age, dance clubs, bilingual education and much more help the children to discover and develop their own preferences and abilities.
Important concerns of the Berlin Cosmopolitan School, Kindergarten and Preschool are social justice, equal opportunities in education and a balanced community. The school regularly awards scholarships to students and accepts refugees. Through its established network and internationally trained staff, the educational institution has the opportunity to explore new educational paths for every age group.
The Berlin Cosmopolitan School was founded in 2003 as a non-profit organisation by Yvonne Wende. In 2004, the first bilingual (English-German) kindergarten and preschool opened for Berlin-Mitte with 18 children. Shortly after, the primary school started and most recently, in 2009, the accredited bilingual Gymnasium of Berlin Cosmopolitan School 01P22. Since then, the number of students has steadily increased. Approximately 1,000 students from all over the world are now being taught on the Rückerstraße and Invalidenstraße campuses. The kindergarten has grown to a number of more than 300 children between the ages of 1 and 6.
In 2013, Berlin Cosmopolitan School was accredited as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, first for primary school and also for the Gymnasium. The IB Learner Profile is about developing children and young people into lifelong learners. The school and kindergarten use primary experiences to design lessons.
