FAQ

The school's operating body is the GALEMO association, in which all families are members and pay an annual membership fee. All parents elect the board, which is made up exclusively of parents, at the general assembly. The board is responsible for financing and maintaining school operations and for hiring the educators. Operations are financed mainly through school fees and, to a lesser extent, through federal and state subsidies as well as sponsors and revenue from events.

All pedagogical and school-organizational decisions are made by a school leadership committee made up of the pedagogical director and representatives of the board. The educators are responsible for the learning framework and its pedagogical implementation.

Yes. Public status means that the school is legally equivalent to public schools. Its assessment of student performance (progress record, information on the learning process, grade reports) is officially recognized.

GALEMO is based on a didactic concept designed to span nine years. Three school years each are grouped together into one unit (Primaria 1, Primaria 2, Sekundaria).

Yes, currently Monday to Thursday until 5:00 pm and also Friday until 3:00 pm. Depending on demand and subject to a separate financial arrangement, Friday until 5:00 pm is also possible.

The main school holidays (Christmas, semester, Easter, and summer holidays) coincide with those of the public schools, as do the public holidays. In addition, there are "school-autonomous days off." Two of these are set by the Lower Austrian State School Board, and two more are jointly decided at the first parents' evening of the school year.

There is an educator-to-student ratio that provides for one educator for a maximum of 15 students. The educators of a group always look after all the children together as a team.

Our educators are required to have Montessori training from the ÖMG (Austrian Montessori Society) or AMI. In addition, all of them are either trained primary school, middle school (Hauptschule), or academic secondary school (AHS) teachers, or hold a comparable qualification.

1. Gather information via the homepage (www.galemo.at)
2. Attend an "Open Day" (fill out a pre-registration form there)
3. Attend the "Info Evening" for parents and a detailed information meeting
4. Promptly return the completed enrollment documents (school place reserved)
5. Wait for a written invitation for the child to a trial day at the school (during the trial day, the educators assess the child's school readiness and finalize the child's admission)

In principle, yes. Parent conversations and trial days give our educators the opportunity to assess whether changing schools would be beneficial for the child.

In principle, yes, however GALEMO is designed as a nine-year school. Changing schools during this time should only be an exception (e.g. relocation, financial difficulties, etc.). Should it nevertheless be necessary, a transfer is possible. So that the child and the educators can prepare for the change, it is sensible and necessary to announce this at least one year before the event.

At the start of each semester, parents pay an amount of EUR 100 into an expense account. This covers excursions, admission fees, arts and crafts materials, etc. Parents regularly receive account statements for their records.

Once per semester, a closing conversation takes place between parents and the educators. In addition, the child's progress is documented in the progress record ("success passport"). Upon leaving our school, grade reports are issued. Report cards are likewise issued after the 4th and 8th school years, which students later take with them when they change schools.

In the Primaria, there is no mandatory rule about which work must be done on which day. However, the educators pay close attention to ensuring that the children work equally across all subject areas (mathematics, German, cosmic education). In the Sekundaria, there is then a timetable that includes fixed, subject-specific learning units as well as free work periods.

A direct comparison with the performance of a child from a mainstream school does not make sense, since the curriculum of a mainstream school prescribes the transfer of knowledge according to a fixed schedule and tests the children's performance accordingly. In contrast, at GALEMO we accompany each child individually and according to their own development, and offer them the environment in which they can acquire knowledge for themselves. This is documented by the educators. Beyond that, the teaching of social skills and key competencies in work behavior form essential pillars of instruction.

Before the child's admission, parents are invited to an "Info Evening." There, the basic principles of the pedagogy are presented in more detail and open questions are answered by the educators. Beyond that, further engagement with the pedagogy is worthwhile in order to better understand the child's developmental steps. The school's educators are available for this at any time. Our school offers free continuing education as part of the Parent Academy, which deals with topics in Montessori education.

Montessori education is suitable for every child. It only makes sense to send your child to our school if the principles of Montessori education are also lived out at home. The child's development is a process that is accompanied by parents at home and professionally supported at school. In order to be able to support the children's development efficiently, a constructive exchange between the family and the school is needed, based on a deep understanding of the Montessori method.

As a general principle, we have no mandatory homework. However, there is the option - if the child wants to - of taking homework along. For older children, there can occasionally be tasks that are meant to be completed at home (projects, interviews, etc.).

Every child is respected as a unique person and human being. We take their wellbeing and their needs seriously. As a member of a community, they must respect and follow the generally applicable rules of living together. In the event of a conflict, students have the opportunity to resolve the conflict together with the educators. The aim is to make the children sensitive to the different perceptions of each individual involved (everyone experienced the conflict somewhat differently), to help them accept this, and to find ways to handle similar situations differently in the future.

English is taught from the first school year onward; French/Spanish (elective) is added as a mandatory subject starting in the seventh school year.

The development of each of these skills has three phases: sensitization, becoming aware, and perfection. Each child has their own pace in this development and therefore needs individual space and time to reach the phase of perfection. A prerequisite for moving up into the Sekundaria is that the child has a good command of these cultural techniques. The developmental processes are documented in the progress record.

Currently, the school ends after the ninth school year. As part of the Erdkinder Plan, the children mature into independent personalities. Once the learning goals of our progress record have been achieved, all further educational paths are open to the child. A transfer to a continuing school (AHS, BMHS) is just as possible as entry into working life (apprenticeship) or, for example, attending the upper secondary level at the Montessori Campus in Hütteldorf.