Suddenly, a bell rings. It is a familiar sound to students of Gymnasium Grootmoor. This gymnasium in Hamburg stands on the border to Wellingsbüttel. Founded in 1970, Gymnasium Grootmoor has grown into Hamburg’s third-largest gymnasium. Over 1200 students attend. Around 100 teachers work here.
Gymnasium Grootmoor emphasizes music, science, and languages. It is also an environment-conscious school since 2002. In 2009, it became a UNESCO school. The main building includes the lobby and administration. The music wing is nearby. In the 2000s, the lobby was expanded. It now provides lunch and hosts events. The city funded two-thirds of the expansion. The school’s alumni association funded the rest.
The music wing gained a classroom in 2013/2014. The school needed more space. Since 2018, the alumni association has been raising funds for another building. This building is east of the sports hall. It opened in 2022 as a cafeteria and event hall. During the groundbreaking, they placed a time capsule in the foundation. It held a yearbook, letters, and a USB stick. The stick contained school photos and films. A face mask was also included.
The central building is a three-story classroom block. It was built in the 1970s. This building type is called Type 68 or Double-H. Hamburg has over 50 of these serial school buildings. This building houses lower and middle school classes. It was expanded by 2005. A two-story addition was built in the courtyard. A three-story addition was built at the south entrance. These additions provided more classrooms. They also created a small library.
Another building houses the upper-level classes. A specialized building contains science, computer, and art classrooms. This building also has a small lecture hall. They call it the Studio Stage. Every year, the theater club performs plays here. For sports, the school has a large triple sports hall. It also has athletic facilities. There is a soccer field and a beach volleyball court.
Gymnasium Grootmoor offers classes from 5th grade to Abitur. The last 13th-grade class graduated in 2010. The first 12th-grade class graduated that same year. The school designed the profile upper school for the shortened school path. They introduced it in 2009. One long-running project is the Springer Classes. Each year, one class skips the 8th grade.
Grootmoor offers a profile upper school. Students can choose from eight profiles. These include art, music, and political science. Bilingual studies are available too. Students can study philosophy, earth science, chemistry, or physics. Each profile includes a seminar. Here, students deepen their knowledge. Grootmoor also partners with other schools. Students can study sports, psychology, or computer science at those schools.
In the first year of the profile upper school, every profile was offered. The physics profile was even offered twice. Classes have a maximum of 27 students. The largest profile is art. The smallest are the physics profiles. Gymnasium Grootmoor offers many extracurricular activities.
The school has exchange programs. These connect students with Switzerland, France, Spain, Australia, and Senegal. The school supports competitions. These include math Olympiads and science contests. Several famous people attended Gymnasium Grootmoor. Jan Fleischhauer is a journalist. Marco Carini is also a journalist. Madeleine Göhring is a politician. Katja Studt and Fabian Hinrichs are actors. Tim Knauer is an actor and voice actor. Marcel Glauche is an actor. Shirin David is an entrepreneur, singer, and web video producer. Gymnasium Grootmoor has shaped many successful lives. It continues to educate future generations.