Duties of the Parent Council (PC)

At the beginning of every school year, the elected parent representatives elect the PC Board. The first PC meeting of the year is held soon after the first parent evenings and is scheduled by the school administration. The current PC Board may be reached by email:

The current members of the PC Board for the 2012-2013 school year are:

Kimberley Schneidereit (American Chairperson)
Katja Hippler-Gromis (German Chairperson)
Leah Hecker (German Board Member)
Iris Kallin (German Board Member)
Marion Patt (German Board Member)
Vanessa Hansen (American Board Member)
Janda Kuhnert (American Board Member)
Susan Mangan (American Board Member)

The bilingual structure of the Kennedy School is reflected in the composition of the Board membership, with equal numbers of both German and American (or third national) members.

The duties of the Board include:

1. to prepare, call, and conduct PC meetings,
2. to regularly meet with the principals of the elementary school and high school;
3. to create and maintain email lists of parent representatives;
4. to send parent representatives information, including PC meeting agendas and minutes;
5. to represent the parents' interests in dealings with the school administration;
6. to promote communication between other school committees, especially the Educational Directorate (ED), the School Conference (SC) and the Verein;
7. to organize special events at school;
8. to oversee the collection of the Book Fund (Lehr- und Lernmittefond);
9. overseeing the Parent Newsletter.

Scheduled Meetings 2012-2013:

Thursday 09/27/2012
Tuesday 11/06/2012
Thursday 12/13/2012
Tuesday 01/29/2013
Tuesday 03/12/2013
Tuesday 05/07/2013
Tuesday 06/11/2013

7 p.m. large aula

Seven PC meetings are held at the Kennedy School each year. The PC is involved with themes ranging from daycare (the Hort) and the Entrance Classes to the German Abitur. The elected parent representatives from all classes attend the PC meetings, two teacher representatives, two Student Council (SC) representatives, the school principals and guests, when applicable. The purpose of the meetings is to share information and to provide a forum for discussion. According to the Berlin School Law, the PC cannot make any binding resolutions, however, it can and does provide a way of expressing the opinion of the parent body and communicates this to the ED and SK, which do have the ability to take binding decisions. The ED, SK, and the school administration regularly report on their work at the PC meetings. Parent representatives can ask the PC Board either by telephone or by email to include particular points in the meeting agendas. The PC Board (also through suggestions of parent representatives) may invite guests to speak on specific relevant themes. The PC Board sends the invitation, agenda, and minutes from the previous meeting approximately one week before the next meeting to all parent representatives by email. The minutes are also published in the monthly Parent Newsletter in English and in German.

The current Parent Representatives on the School Conference, for school years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 are:
Astrid Diederichs (German Main),  Gabi Bühler (German Main), Sarah Gross (American Main), Sam Peek (American Main), Barbara Fichter (German Alt), Gertrud Kreuz-Brand      (German Alt),  Paul Morgan (American Alt), Marchelle White-Stein (American Alt)

The current Parent Representatives on the Educational Directorate, for the calendar years 2012 and 2013 are:
Sonja Fietz (German Main), Jane Williams-Boock (American Main), Klaus Hentges (German Alt), Brian Smith (American Alt)

The current Parent Representatives elected to attend the Berliner Eltern Ausschuss (BEA) (District Parent Council), for the 2012-2013 school year are:
Pia Kaiser, Dagmar Hoppe, Verena Blechinger-Talcott

Further information on the PC is available (in German) in the Berlin School Law, Part VI, under School Constitution, Paragraph V, Section 90 (Berliner Schulgesetz, Teil VI, unter Schulverfassung, Abschnitt V, § 90). The German version is available at: www.berlin.de/sen/bildung/rechtsvorschriften