Rilke Schule Charter School

650 W International Airport Rd

School District

Anchorage
Grade

K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

charter

School Map for Anchorage School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on September 23, 2024

My daughter loves Rilke Schule! She’s already bilingual and now learning German as her third language. Even though we don’t speak German at home, she’s picking it up so quickly. The teachers are fantastic, and she’s excited to go to school every day!
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2024

My children love their school and they are learning so much. Staff are truly dedicated to student enrichment.
Submitted by other on December 20, 2022

Rilke Schule is a fine school! If you are looking for a school that believes in high academic standards, focus on the language and culture of Germany and a close knit community of learners, then Rilke may be perfect for you! Although there have been many changes at Rilke over the years, with each change comes new understanding of the best ways to engage students in learning. Becoming involved in the school in any way you can will bring you even closer to the staff and an understanding of their goals. Sometimes communication can be difficult but the staff at Rilke try to get the information out to parents. As a grandparent, I have enjoyed getting to know students and staff at the school. I have had the pleasure to work in several classrooms, help out on field trips and provide other support as needed. Get involved, join the RSV, open lines of communication that are positive and be an active part of your child's education! Rilke staff will support you!!
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2022

We have had two children go through Rilke; one was grades 1-8 (we were not selected for the lottery for kindergarten), the other will complete K-8. Families who get involved on any level will immediately feel more connected as we did. Most teachers have been outstanding with innovative methods and projects; like any school there are others who aren’t a good match for a kid’s learning style. Both of our kids have excelled in many academic areas and have developed wonderful friendships. We’re very pleased with Rilke Schule and look forward to continuing German language learning at Service High School.
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2022

My children attend this school and they love it! It’s so fun listening to them speak German to each other and their peers. It’s a fun place to be and learn!
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2022

My child attended Rilke from 1st through 8th grade and she is now fluent in German and an overall high achiever is most subjects. Some teachers have been a struggle while others were absolutely excellent! Overall the school was welcoming and invited parents to be involved in everything from the governing of the school to fairs & festivals to grant writing for skis or park paths. The Rilke community is strong and open to families to help make Rilke even better.
Submitted by parent on May 02, 2022

We have found the leadership highly competent, and teachers and parents to be engaged. Honestly, I don't have anything negative to say, because the community as a whole does such a fantastic job about trying to be better every single day. A person would be hard pressed to find a better atmosphere for learning. The school has a high focus on language, arts, and sciences. And Rilke kids continue to outperform the ASD standards year after year. My wife and I have had all three of our children go through Rilke's program from k-8 and we have seen excellent results. My oldest is now about to graduate high school, passed her B1, got an A in AP German, and will be continuing on to minor in German in college. My second oldest will be a junior next year, has also passed the B1 and is fluent in the language. My youngest has completed grades k-5 so far. All three of my children are better off from their time at Rilke compared to traditional brick and mortar. We've been able to host German interns, travel to Germany with the school, and each of us have made life long friends here.
Submitted by parent on April 26, 2022

Rilke has created an environment of structured learning that has yielded accelerated results for my third grader. I have kids in both neighborhood schools and Rilke. The student enrichment provided at Rilke, both during the day and with offered after school clubs, is beneficial for a complete holistic experience. My daughter’s test scores have been excellent, even through the pandemic and return to school. Rilke is my top choice once our youngest is school aged.
Submitted by parent on April 26, 2022

Our family has found a good fit with Rilke The academics are strong There is a good community. Teachers are good people and teach well. I feel my children have been supported and encouraged to be good students and good people.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2022

I currently have a 7th grader and two 3rd graders at Rilke. We have been there for over 7 years now and could not recommend the school enough. The staff and teachers care about the students. They want them to be successful, not only as a student but as a person. The class sizes are smaller and allow for more one on one attention, they have before and after school clubs if needed for work, and they have a great dress code.
Submitted by parent on September 11, 2020

I would highly recommend this school to anyone who wants their children to be immersed in German and have a different schooling experience. The teachers truly care and are committed to doing the best they can for each and every student.
Submitted by parent on February 25, 2020

We are wrapping up 8th grade at Rilke Schule. If it wasn't for the nightmare we experienced at Goldenview Middle School, we would have left Rilke long ago. The community-focused, integral school we found in kindergarten is nothing like the cold skeleton of a program 9 years later. We have stuck with it because of the social aspect, but the rigorous academics and superior education were abandoned with the APC once the new building was formed. I remember the days when kids would get notes sent home about the uniform policy. I remember when parents would be gently reminded of their volunteer hours. I remember when the APC actually cared about parent involvement. Those days are long gone. Rilke is scraping by--independent curriculum isn't even considered. Communication is zero. The middle school teachers teach via YouTube. Seriously. YouTube. As Sarah Palin eloquently said--it's like putting lipstick on a pig. It was good while it lasted, Rilke, but I don't recommend it anymore. Look elsewhere for a quality education.
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2019

After 9 years at this school, we will leave extremely disappointed and blindsided by how our child was treated in his final year. Truly disposable! Some of the teachers were great. Some have no idea how to teach. The administration seem to be a "Sentence first, verdict afterwards" group, unwilling to see the damage they do to children, for the sake of their own egos. Many do not have children themselves, which makes it difficult to respect their opinions on what is best for children. The parents have absolutely no recourse. In a school all about German culture, they should be careful as to which century they are representing.
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2018

Everyone in Anchorage is so happy about Rilke Schule. I am not, no longer at least. Here's why: I am German, my 6 year old daughter is German, too and she speaks, of course, German. However, she doesn't speak English, yet: we moved to Anchorage 2 months ago, from a non-english speaking country. So we applied to Rilke Schule - seems legit, right? The problem is that there is such a hype about Rilke Schule that we wouldn't get a seat. We spoke to them: "there are rules, you understand..." Translation: A German cannot go to the only German school in Anchorage. They said: "as soon as a seat opens up, we will call you." Translation: Never any call, ever. So my daughter goes to another school. Doing English homework is a nightmare for the whole family, as she has no magic powers and still needs time to learn English. Her German gets worse, as we cannot correct her influences from other languages all the time. But: she feels happy where she is, so even if a wonder happened and daddy wanted her to go to Rilke, she wouldn't go anymore. So as a consequence of this Rilke Schule being so praised for its pedagogic approaches, the level of German of a German native speaker, who would have had positive effects on her whole German-speaking class, goes down. A family struggles with homework, all because Rilke "is so good". So I am wondering: when you have "Arts and Sciences" in your title, when you spread your fancy reputation over a whole city or even state, why don't you remember that there is an Art of diplomacy, which perhaps allows you to work around certain rules in such rare cases as ours, in order to do the right? And as long as I don't hear a reasonable answer to this question, I will keep on speaking up against this Rilke-Hype that has infected Anchorage. And: the answer that Rilke applies the rules of ASD for the lottery is not the whole truth: the ASD School Board Policy 322.3, in particular 322.3 e (3) b) foresees the case and allows the lottery to be preempted.... They wouldn't simply do that for a German at a German school!
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2016

We withdrew our child midyearbecause on several occasions our child was hit or shoved on the rocks by another kid in the schoolyard during outside recess. We told our child to contact noon duty staff, but they did not care.Our child also visited the nurse after such encounters and we were never notified by anyone. We saw the bruises at night.They also had cases of lice on multiple occasions which was known before Christmas already. Unfortunately, the parents got one notification letter at the end of January.As with several charter schools, there are some issues with the politics. Glad we were not involved in that. It seems ridiculously dramatic. There are a few German parents who could provide great resources to this school if they hadn't been accused of having a sense of entitlement. Instead of interpreting it as entitlement, which seemed far-fetched, utilize it and appreciate the contribution!Lunch time is stressful and seems so chaotic!There is no lunch room and no library. The school was not for us and we are glad to have the freedom to choose a different school.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2016

Overall we have had a pretty good experience with Rilke Schule until they moved into the new building. The school is not adequate at all. Music class is held in the hallways which is very distracting to the students in the classrooms. Lunch takes place in the multipurpose room (aka gym). There is no lunch program so you will have to pack lunches.They are allowing special needs children that are mean / violent in the school rather than placing them in a program that is a better fit. This is not fair to the child or the rest of the children in the classroom. We had on several occasions where the special needs child was violent towards our child and had our child moved into another class. It wasn't long after this occurred that another parent asked why our child was moved and when I told him he said that child had punched his daughter in the stomach. The child is still at the school. The same year we had another issue with our other child who is in a different grade. We learned that the school was moving another special needs child whom my child told me she didn't want in her class because he was so mean and shouts hateful things. I then learned again that rather than placing the child in a more appropriate program they moved the child to our child's class. This is not fair to child or the other children in the classroom. This was the final straw for us and will be pulling our children out of the school as we feel the school is more interested in the extra funding they get for special needs children because they can't afford the building. The teacher turnover rate is high. Three teachers left mid school year. More will be leaving at the end of the year. Rilke Schule has the least amount of PE / Recess of any school in the ASD.The music and art are exceptional. Again I do not like how the music class is held in the hallway though.We do hope that the school will improve over time however we are not willing to put our children's education at risk just because we want them to learn German.
Submitted by parent on November 20, 2015

Still no language path for students beyond middle school after 8 years of promises. Some of the German teachers' proficiency (in German) is below that of 5th graders. Staff turnover is tremendous (quickly approaching 50% in less than a year), the majority of teachers seem inexperienced and are left to their own device since there is no written curriculum and little teaching materials given to the teachers. Attrition among students is high as well, especially for middle schoolers. The climate is unfriendly at best. Opinions are better not voiced openly without having to expect repercussions from the governing board. Test scores are declining steeply. This is sadly no longer a 5 star school. The biggest areas of concern are math and science proficiency - very ironic for a school of arts & science. Overall, leadership is sorely lacking and the result is chaos, lack of discipline and organization, and lack of community.
Submitted by parent on March 17, 2015

No school is perfect, so I'd never give a school 5 stars but this one merits 4. The school has strong academics, the language immersion program produces great results (and has been recognized by the German government as one of the best German immersion programs in the world!), and there's a very involved community of teachers and families. It also has very clear curricula for each grade, contra what other (former) parents here have stated perhaps they didn't know where to look (i.e., they don't seem to have asked the principal), but I've seen the documentation, so I know they exist. The main problem with the school, paradoxically, stems from its greatest strength some families get so involved with the place that they start to feel an unhealthy sense of ownership. This has led to pointless feuds (such as the fight over retaining the principal that spilled over into the television news a couple years ago), but there is now a strong governance structure in place that has managed to push much of that off stage, and ground has been broken on a new purpose-built facility that will provide things like a library space and better security, so this already solid school can improve further.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2015

CONS: No approve curriculum PROS: Great teaching skills and dedication from Music, Art, Sports, 6th grade and below German & few English teachers. You may want to think about not sending your child here for middle school.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2014

The school has been in existence for 7 years now and does not have a written curriculum. There is NO library (all those donated books are in storage) and the SPED dept is all but non-exoistent. The language immersion and front office staff is the only plus to this school. There is no full time nurse, nor there a lunch room. We were there from the doors opening and finally gave up and put our children in another program that supports them as individuals and has CURRICULUM. It's not that the teachers are new as another parent stated there is NO ASD approved written curriculum. THe teachers have no back up, and the principal has NO regard for confidentiality or even ordering enough books for core subjects. We had to buy Math books for 2 of our 3 children so they could do their homework correctly. The heart and soul used to make up for what Rilke lacked in building and supplies. That is gone and only getting worse as the APC insists on RULING rather than managing and doing what is best for the STUDENTS. As one who put 1000's of volunteer hours in, I hope it goes back to the Family and heart it once was. But we are out. My kids now thrive at a neighborhood school.