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The school is in fact an old institution dating from 1787, in the days of the Enlightenment, when ideas of educating the broader public, hereby the middle classes, flourished all through most of the Western World. It soon got the name “Borgerdydsskolen”, meaning “The School of Civil Virtue”, thereby referring to the dedication to the education of the public. But times and circumstances change and on the 19th January the school applied the new name Copenhagen open Gymnasium, incorporating the ideas of education in an environment that is open to the world and its surroundings, sporting the values of a committed sense of community, individual diversity and democratic responsibility among and between students, teachers and administration.
A committed sense of community means to be open to new challenges. The goal is that the students are committed to the development of society both on a national and an international level, and to create a study environment that transcends the walls of the classroom and the school building in itself.
Individual diversity speaks to tolerance and openness towards others both individuals and different cultures. The aim is that the students can act out their individuality in an international diversity enabling them to engage in constructive dialogue pointing forward, participating in creating a foundation from which to act in a more and more international and globalized scene.
Democratic responsibility means to be open to both influence and responsibility. The aim is that the students have virtual influence on the tuition and on the decision-making at the school. In return we expect independence and a great deal of both curricular and social commitment.
Openness at KG also implies an open dialogue. Together we shape the place and its substance. Openness means that we are constantly moving forward, towards the new and the untested. We have set the grand scope and want to be part of what is just outside our doorstep and beyond the broader horizon. We are part of the city of Copenhagen and part of the international community – locally and globally.
The Gymnasium (Sixth Form College) is a three-year course for young people between the ages of 16 and 19, leading to the "studentereksamen", which is the most common qualification for admission to further and higher education.
The Higher Preparatory Examination (hf) is a two- year course for young people between the ages of 18 and 21+.
The curricula of both courses are centrally prescribed. All students study a common core of social studies and humanities as well as the natural sciences and have a choice of various elective subjects at two levels.
Of course there are also extra-curricular activities, which to a high degree are instigated by the students: Music and sports, art and the annual musical, counting student renditions of international blockbusters such as Grease, Hair and Rent.
The students' society arranges 4 or 5 parties for the students during the year, and a variety of themed cafés.
Field trips and study tours are arranged for the students in Denmark or abroad and make up part of the students' syllabus. KG has contacts with schools in many European countries, counting Sweden, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany among its international friends, and is currently working at expanding this network to other parts of the world. The school also collaborates with various domestic institutions.
So all in all, Copenhagen open Gymnasium (KG) is still strongly dedicated to the education of the public under the guise of civil virtues, although these have changed a great deal since the birth of the school, and the broader public is now a great deal broader – encompassing the whole world. We are still on the cutting edge of the changes in society and circumstances.
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