Gymnázium Jana Keplera

About The School

Johannes Kepler Grammar School is a leading co-educational school located in the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. The school was founded in 1932 and offers a full and balanced curriculum, in which key subjects, such as Mathematics and languages, remain compulsory until the penultimate year of study covering both sciences and humanities. Our school has achieved a reputation as one of the most outstanding schools in the Czech Republic, and our students continue to study at world’s most prestigious universities.

Mission

“Per aspera ad astra”

“Through hardships to the stars”. Our aim is to provide a high quality education within an encouraging environment, supporting every student’s individual needs and developing their natural talents to make sure they succeed in their further life.

Accreditation

Johannes Kepler Grammar School is fully accredited by the Czech Ministry of Education and recognized as part of the state school network.

Student Body

In each academic year the school opens one class of an eight-year programme (where pupils begin at the age of eleven) and three classes of a four-year programme (for fifteen-year-old entrants). In total, there are 591 students across 20 classes with four classes of lower level (equivalent to a four-year junior high school) and twelve classes of upper level (equivalent to a four-year senior high school).

Admission

Johannes Kepler Grammar School is highly selective. Students are admitted based on their previous academic performance, as well as their performance in state and school-specific entrance exams. The state-wide exam consists of standardized tests in mathematics and Czech language.The school further requires another exam, consisting of verbal and quantitative parts. Each year, approximately 190 students apply to our four-year programme, out of which approximately 90 are selected, and around 190 students apply to our eight-year programme to which around 30 are selected.

Faculty

There are around sixty members of permanent pedagogical staff and around fifteen external teachers for special seminars to nearly six hundred pupils, thanks to which the teacher student ratio is exceptionally generous.

Curriculum

Students at Johannes Kepler Grammar School follow the General Education Programme for Czech grammar schools and they are awarded a Czech high school leaving qualification (Maturita). The scope and content of study in the first year of our four-year programme (or first five years of our eight-year programme) is identical in all classes and corresponds to the regular curriculum of Czech high schools. From the second year (or the sixth year, respectively), our school offers an exceptionally wide variety of optional and elective courses. This freedom of choice is one of the many features that distinguish us from other Czech schools.

Grading

Johannes Kepler Grammar School does not rank students. Instead, we use an exact numerical grading system which is common across Czech state schools. The grading scale is from 1, being the best, to 5. Our grading standards are exceptionally high, placing a strong demand on academic performance of our students.

Mark	1	2	3	4	5
Assessment	Excellent	Very good	Good	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory

Final Examination Results

Students from our school traditionally achieve the highest scores in standardized final examinations (Maturita exam) of all schools across the Czech Republic. Below are the results from mathematics and English language standardized exams.

Advanced Placement

Johannes Kepler Grammar School works together with the Center for Talented Minds, an academy providing educational programs in English language. Our students take part in international courses and sit international standardized tests which the Center offers. Each year, around 20 students take AP exams with the Center – for instance in the previous year, 17 of our students took part in 24 courses, out of which 9 were Advanced Placement exams. 10 of the students completed their course with A*.

College Admission 2016-2021

The absolute majority of our students continue to study at higher education institutions. Each year, about 97% of students are admitted to top universities both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Our students study at world’s leading institutions including:

United Kingdom	Netherlands	USA	Other
University of Oxford      University of Cambridge  Imperial College London  LSE  University of Edinburgh University College London University of Warwick University of St Andrews University of Glasgow Durham University King’s College London University of Bristol Swansea University Newcastle University	Delft University of Technology   University of Amsterdam Utrecht University Leiden University Maastricht University University of Groningen Tilburg University University of Twente	Brown UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityUniversity University of Miami    University of Hawaiʻi Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University	University ETH Zürich   Yale-NUS College NYU Abu Dhabi Copenhagen Business School Stockholm School of Economics

Extracurriculars

Our school offers a wide variety of extra curricular activities. Students with musical talent may join any of three ensembles, such as Harmcore Jazzband, whose activities included a tour to New York. Students interested in international simulations can take part in organizing Model European Parliament – KeplerEP. Our significant event is The Symposion – a four day lecture/music festival in which students invite distinguished guests from Czech science, politics, and culture. Students also take part in various state-wide competitions, such as olympiads in mathematics, physics, or  natural sciences, in which they traditionally score with excellent results.