The old cantonal school of

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

(in German: AKSA, Alte Kantonsschule Aarau or Alte Kanti) was founded in 1802 and is the oldest non-church

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

From 1802 to 1896, the cantonal school was housed in what is now the Amthaus (today home of the cantonal police) on Laurenzenvorstadt. Johann Samuel von Gruner, the factory owner Johann Rudolf Meyer and the writer Andreas Moser, who created also Switzerland's first gymnasium here, were involved in its foundation. The founders were strongly influenced by the ideas of

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (; ; ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...

. The school was

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

and saw itself as a reform school. The first director was Georg Franz Hofmann, the secretary of the Helvetic government. Until 1813 the school was private. Around 1896 the present Einstein House was inaugurated, it was later named after a former pupil of the school, the physicist

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

. In 1917 the extension to the Einstein House which now included an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

was built. For a long time the school has had the reputation of being one of the best educational institutions in Switzerland. In 1969 the Karrerhaus was completed. In 2006 the rebuilt Karl-Moser-Haus was inaugurated. in 2008 the new Cafeteria was opened in the Frank building, where the library is also located. In 2014, 2020 and 2021 the Alte Kantonsschule Aarau received the School Prize of the Science Olympiad.

Curriculum

Courses

The Old cantonal school of Aarau is a public

. Next to the high school there's also a school for economics (WMS) and a school for computer science (IMS). Each year there is a separate sports curriculum for professional athletes and an immersion class, in which the pupils are taught in German and English. Since 2006 there's also a NAWIMAT class, which prepares students for a job in science for example at the

ETH Eth ( , uppercase: ⟨Ð⟩, lowercase: ⟨ð⟩; also spelled edh or eð), known as in Old English, is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called ), and Elfdalian. It was also used in Sca ...

. These classes are separate from the normal classes.

Languages

In addition to the mandatory languages

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, English and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, students can also choose other languages to learn like

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and, since 2006, even

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Since 2014, students can also take courses in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. At the school the small and large Latinum, the Graecum, the Hebraicum as well as the Cambridge

Advanced The Advanced Party (), otherwise known as the Advanced Association () was a liberal and centrist Zionist political association in Mandatory Palestine founded by several urban liberal Zionists. The party was founded in order to represent the voice ...

and the Proficiency can be taken.

Music

In addition to the option of taking lessons on various musical instruments, there is also a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

and numerous ensembles. In addition to the basic subject, a main subject in third grade and a supplementary subject in fourth grade are also offered.

Theatre

There is a drama course. The rehearsed plays are performed publicly roughly every six months.

Computer Science

Since 2003, keyboard writing was a compulsory subject at the high school as well as at the WMS, although the exams at the Gymnasium were less strict than at the WMS. Since 2010, the school has been offering a computer science course (IMS) with a commercial vocational baccalaureate and a federal certificate of proficiency in "Computer Science / Application Development". The course consists of a three-year period of study in Aarau with a 5-week internship in the second year and a 4-week language course in the third year. The fourth year is intended as a practical year. Since 2005 the school has been an authorised ECDL test centre, whereby ECDL diplomas can be acquired voluntarily at the high school, while the acquisition in the WMS is part of the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

. Since 2017, computer science is also a compulsory subject for all high school students. In addition to the basics of programming in several

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...

s, media competence is also taught.

Sports

Sports lessons are held at the Telli sports center, which is approximately 950 meters away by foot from the school. There are many elective courses for example

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, Trampolin/ Air-track and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

References

External links

Homepage of the SchoolAssociation of former students of the old cantonal school of aarauGuide for exchange students, provides much information on the school.Map of the Campus
{{Coord, 47.3933, 8.0528, type:edu_region:CH, display=title Secondary schools in Switzerland Aarau 1802 establishments in Switzerland Educational institutions established in 1802