Schools
German School Founder Applauded at 50th Anniversary Celebration
Anne Marie Chretien, founder of the German School Washington D.C., was told it wasn't time. She proved them wrong.
At the 50th anniversary celebration of the this weekend, the loudest and longest applause went to Anne Marie Chrétien, founder of the school. Eighty-five years old and retired from teaching,
According to Katrina Strohecker Garland, a former student and the first American to attend the school, Chrétien is a visionary. A World War II orphan who moved to the US and obtained a master’s of education degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s of arts degree from American University, Chrétien recognized the need for a school to serve the children of Germany's diplomats and business leaders. Chrétien also saw this as a chance to help foster relations between the United States and Germany.
The German School offers a bi-lingual education in German and English for students in pre-school through 12th grade. Students, who include children of German diplomats, business people and anyone living in the D.C.-area wanting to immerse their children in German culture, graduate with a German Abitur and a Maryland High School diploma.
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In the book "Forty Years of German School Washington D.C." Chrétien writes about her trials convincing the German government to approve plans and help with funding. She was told, “It is not time.” But after a few years of dedication and hard work, she was able to secure funding from parents groups to rent a private residence on MacArthur Boulevard to house the first school and 33 students in 1961. By 1962 attendance had tripled.
The school soon out grew the MacArthur Boulevard property. After several years of relocation around the area the school settled on a large spacious piece of property in Potomac on Logan Drive. But even that property proved to be too small to support the growing school. In 1969 the German government approved the purchase of 20 acres on Chateau Drive.
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Some neighbors were concerned about the effect the school would have on the neighborhood and protested the necessary change in zoning. Chrétien went door to door collecting signatures from neighbors to show that there was enough community support to permit an exemption to the zoning law and in 1975 a new school was opened.
Today there are more than 600 students and 32 countries are represented, according to Waldemar Gries, current headmaster of the school. The German School Washington is the largest of the German Schools the United States.
