A new district report details the shortage of school capacity in Berlin-Pankow. According to the report, more than 4,000 places are lacking in the secondary school sector alone. Thousands of pupils have to attend schools in neighbouring districts. Although demand is expected to decline in some areas in the future, the shortage will remain significant for the time being.

For this reason, the Senate and the district want to build 18 new schools. In addition, some schools will open extra classes, allowing them to admit more first- and seventh-grade pupils every year. At the same time, some primary schools will reduce the number of classes they admit.

Here is an overview of the new schools and the most important changes.

Six new primary schools for Pankow

There is currently a shortage of almost 800 places in the primary school sector. For this reason, six new primary schools are to be built in the district. The 51st Primary School in Niederschönhausen is scheduled to open in the 2027/28 school year. Three classes per year group are planned – Classes A to C – allowing more than 430 pupils to attend the school in the future.

Five additional sites are in the planning stage but have not yet been fully financed. As a result, no information is currently available on capacity or opening dates. Some new school buildings, such as the primary school at Pankower Tor, are closely linked to the construction of new residential neighbourhoods. The district expects the school at this site to open for the 2035/36 school year.

Three grammar schools, but funding is still pending

Funding has not yet been secured for the three planned grammar schools. For the grammar school on Hansastraße, the district aims to revive the site of the former children‘s hospital in Weißensee. The size of the school has not yet been determined.

New grammar schools with four classes per year are planned at the Sommerbad Pankow site and on Friedrich-Engels-Straße. In the long term, this could create places for at least 1,200 children. According to the report, however, the schools are likely to take more than ten years to open.

Pankow expands integrated secondary schools

The district also plans a major expansion of integrated secondary schools (ISS) in the north. A new lower secondary building with four classes per year group is planned on Rosenthaler Weg (100 regular school places). It is scheduled to open in the 2029/30 school year. Upper secondary education is to follow one year later, with three classes and 75 places planned. The same applies to the Falkenberger Straße site, which is to be brought back into use.

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Funding has not yet been secured for four additional schools: Karower Chaussee (Brunnengalerie), Heinersdorfer Straße, Straße vor Schönholz, and Pistoriusstraße. The district has also not yet provided information on their size or opening dates.

Two community schools to open next year

Two community schools are due to open soon. In the 2027/28 school year, each of the community schools „Unter den Bäumen“ and „An der Rennbahn“ will open three parallel lower-secondary classes. This will create 150 regular school places per year in Pankow.

Three further new construction projects are planned for the long term in Karow Süd, at Alte Schäferei and on Michelangelostraße.

Primary schools cut classes while secondary schools expand

It will still take several years before most of the school construction projects are completed. The shortage of school places is expected to worsen for the time being. To ensure sufficient capacity for pupils in the district, some schools are therefore expanding their provision. Three primary schools will add extra classes over the coming years. Others are reducing their provision because sufficient primary school places are already available in most parts of Pankow.

Three secondary schools will add new parallel classes. The popular Heinz Brandt School (ISS up to lower secondary level) will expand from four to five classes per year starting in the 2027/28 school year. At the same time, Reinhold Burger School will increase from four to four and a half classes, although only for eight years. Rosa Luxemburg Grammar School will add one more class per year group from the 2035/36 school year.

This article was originally written and published on the 24th of June in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.