We had an absolutely horrific experience with Platanus. Our child was a student there for two…read moreyears. At first we assumed that a lot of the differences were cultural, considering that we were coming with a North American perspective. Teachers and staff yell (scream) at the children. It is ran in a very militaristic manner. When we first signed up for the school, they assured us that they had just hired a 'German as a second language' tutor since it is a bi-lingual school. They did not hire one until the second year of our child's time there. When we enquired about it, the principal responded "by law we are not required to have one". And that's fine, but a pretty low response if you told us there would be one a year prior. To make things worse, we had two incidents with two(!) different teachers at the school PHYSICALLY HURTING our child. The first teacher grabbed our child's arm so hard he left bruises. At first, the school showed concern, but there was no punishment from the administration for the teacher's actions. A few months later, another teacher pushed our child against a pillar in front of the whole class. We were fed up and (rightfully) outraged. We contacted the administration and they ignored our complaints. We didn't even get a response! Our child's psychologist took us to the equivalent of 'Children's Services for Schools' in Berlin, but unfortunately since it is a private school their hands were tied and were unable to do anything about it. They advised us to go to the police or hire an attorney. Since we were planning on leaving Germany after that school year, they suggested talking to a doctor. When we did, the doctor saw how terrified our child was and wrote a note to excuse them from the rest of the year. It was an absolute nightmare. I am sure Platanus is well aware of their power in being a private school. Many other parents had similar stories as well and when we left this past school year so were many other families. I tell you this to warn you and protect your children. There are many other schools available in Berlin, please, avoid Platanus at all costs.

I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised with the Kita! My kids' teacher is not only pleasant,…read morebut she involves the kids in fun experiments and projects. They have fun and play while learning at the same time! They have music class and sports class. And the garten is lovely.