The planned start of construction for a learning building for the Dresden University School (USD) has been postponed once again. A new building is to enable the school experiment by TU Dresden and the City of Dresden to test and research the school of the future in appropriate premises. The school space plays a central role in the USD concept and its design, as it has a significant influence on learning and the organization of the school.
The current situation has prompted a public statement from the Dresden University School's Structure and Evaluation Commission. The committee of renowned educational scientists and experienced practitioners is clearly concerned about the stagnation with regard to the announced new school building. In addition to the tense space situation, it is also concerned about the lack of specialist rooms for biology, physics and chemistry, as well as a sports hall appropriate for the number of pupils, the rooms required for the tied all-day program and work rooms for the learning guides.
Planned expansion has already led to cramped conditions
The container building (left) houses the classrooms for grades 1 to 6 and the canteen. The rooms for grades 7 to 10 are located in the old GDR building. Growth up to grade 12 is planned.
The school opened its doors in August 2019 at the Cämmerswalder Straße site for 200 children in grades 1, 2, 3 and 5 in a building from the 1980s. In the following years, it grew to three classes as planned. When it became one of the first two public community schools in Saxony in the 2022 school year, 650 children and young people were already studying here. Even then, the old GDR building had already reached its capacity limits, but the new building had not yet started with the design planning already completed. In the 2022/23 school year, the primary and middle school with grades 1 to 6 moved into a container building instead, which had to make way for the school garden and areas for break times. Since then, the higher grades have been studying in the GDR school building, which is in serious need of renovation, together with the Ukrainian groups.
In a high-profile fundraising campaign in 2021, the school community drew attention to the precarious situation and was able to raise a double-digit million amount. In the coming 2025/26 school year, the old GDR building and the container building will once again become too cramped for around 900 students. By the time students graduate from high school for the first time in the 2027/28 school year, the student body will have grown to up to 1,100 children and young people. In addition, there will be around 90 learning assistants.
New building not in sight until 2029/30 - research and learning under precarious conditions
The current deadline for the future school building is summer 2029/2030. On the one hand, this means unfavorable learning conditions for the students and staff, and on the other hand, it makes it impossible to research the conditions for successful learning and the role of space as a "third educator". The investigation of this factor, a declared goal of the public school experiment, is therefore hardly possible for the first 10 years of the 15 years of scientific monitoring by the ForUS University School Research Center at the TU Dresden. The current surveys can only show that learning can succeed despite unfavorable conditions.
Since the commission began its work, the committee has repeatedly appealed to the "Dresden University School Community of Responsibility" to secure the necessary resources for the future, always in the hope of finding amicable solutions and a corresponding commitment. In view of the very precarious situation, which significantly impairs school life and hinders the further growth of the school community, the Structure and Evaluation Commission urges that "appropriate construction measures should finally be started and planning security established."
Comprehensive overview of the new school building in the statement and reports of the Structure and Evaluation Commission, specialist articles and media review
- The statement is available for download:
Herausforderungen Schulgebäude Universitätsschule Dresden - Die aktuelle Situation als Anlass für ein öffentliches Statement der Struktur- und Evaluationskommission der Universitätsschule Dresden,
Cologne, 17.01.2025 - The reports of the Structure and Evaluation Commission since 2020 can be found on the website about the research at the University School Dresden.
- On the school website "A Learning House for the University School" an overview of the media coverage of the new school building traces developments since 2019.
- In the specialist article Raum schafft Struktur und Strukturen schaffen Raum: Schulraum aus Sicht der Universitätsschule Dresden, the initiator of the school trial, Prof. Anke Langner, and the project team member Dr. Matthias Ritter describe the development of the University School Dresden in more detail along the struggle for the school building. It was published in December 2024 in the WE_OS Yearbook, an online series of the scientific institution Oberstufen-Kolleg at Bielefeld University. The Bielefeld University school has been conducting practice-oriented research in close collaboration between teachers and academics for over 50 years.
About the University School Dresden
The University School Dresden is a joint project of the state capital Dresden and the Technical University. It is a public and free community school run by the city, where innovative forms of teaching and learning are tested under academic supervision. In addition, it is a training school for future teachers and, in the future, a further education school for teachers. The school trial is being scientifically supported by the ForUS research center at TU Dresden.
Information on the research project at TU Dresden: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/unischule
Information on the Dresden University School: https://universitaetsschule.org
On various social media channels you can find insights into the research project and everyday school life under @unischuleTUD: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. You can also regularly read news from the Dresden University School project in the Newsletter of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division.
