About the School

About the School

OPEN GATE is unique in many aspects, not the least of which are its philosophy, vision, campus facilities, the fact that it is a Boarding school with international ties, its students’ academic and sporting achievements, the quality of its teaching staff and the school’s student body. These and many other factors make OPEN GATE the only school of its kind in the Czech Republic.

The school’s philosophy rests on offering all young people who show sufficient academic talent and ability the possibility to fulfil their potential, regardless of their family background or personal situation, and to prepare them for Czech and International Baccalaureate leaving examinations. The path to success in life is open to our school’s graduates thanks to their outstanding education and qualifications. While studying at OPEN GATE, our students also participate in a full range of extracurricular activities, including those that are truly beneficial to the community. As a result, they become well-rounded, caring people who are well aware of their responsibility toward the society in which they live. Over the past two years, there have been a number of changes at our school which clearly demonstrate that our objectives in the area of education are being achieved. In November 2007, OPEN GATE applied for International Baccalaureate accreditation, which it received a mere 15 months later, in January 2009.

The unprecedented rapidity of the approval process is evidence that the school meets the strictest international standards and testifies to the quality of OPEN GATE’s teaching staff and students. Records of our students’ academic successes and an overview of the universities to which they have been accepted is available elsewhere on these web pages, as is an overview of the broad range of subjects taught at OPEN GATE. I believe the reader will find this information very interesting.

Furthermore on these web pages you will find information on the students’ extracurricular activities that are conducted under the umbrella of the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme . All of these activities add weight to the assertion that OPEN GATE is a truly exceptional school that is firmly convinced of the value of its mission to send out into the world young people who are able and willing to change society for the better.

What is OPEN GATE’S approach to achieving these ambitious goals? It is necessary to encourage students to be open-minded so that they can learn to find original solutions to current and future problems. Traditional teaching methods and rote learning are far from sufficient for this task, and there is no place for them in the OPEN GATE curriculum. Our students are encouraged to work with the information that is available to them and to never stop examining the causes and effects of events. Though this is not a simple matter, even in these enlightened times, OPEN GATE has unreservedly set forth on this path. However, a developed intellect capable of using available information is not enough: for the future, our society needs young people who are able to combine intelligence with empathy, compassion and tolerance. This combination of qualities does not come about spontaneously; rather, it requires inspiration to take root in an individual. Practically every day, OPEN GATE students are faced with a range of complex ethical questions to which they actively seek answers. They learn to comprehend their fellows’ point of view on matters pertaining to daily life in the boarding-school environment, to find within themselves solutions to philosophical and moral issues, and to cope with academic demands in the Theory of Knowledge course. Within the context of mandatory community-service projects, students must also come to terms with the reality of interacting with people who are less fortunate than themselves. This experience teaches our students to respect all people, whether they are young or old, rich or poor.

OPEN GATE has experienced a lot during its short time in existence; it has been emboldened by successes that it has received with humility and has overcome problems with courage and grace. These qualities have given rise to opportunities that the school has grasped and exploited. OPEN GATE owes much to its founders, teachers, non-academic personnel and administrators. Thanks to these people, whose daily lives are guided by the school’s mission and vision, we have been able to successfully deal with all tasks and problems that we have encountered. These people have made it possible for our school to turn out young people who will make our world a better place and who always challenge themselves by taking the road less travelled. In life there are two possible paths: one is the commonplace, the other the less travelled. The latter is more difficult, but far more rewarding. We encourage our students to look at problems from all angles so that they are able to find new and original ways of approaching tasks. Of course, this ability has as its foundation a solid academic education. OPEN GATE is a school that unreservedly supports the International Baccalaureate mission: to change the world with exceptional students seeking out and implementing unique solutions.

 

 

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Robert Frost

Peter Nitsche

Director, OPEN GATE Boarding School