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The first day of the 2023-2024 school year is
September 16th, 2023.
Our School
Christ Lutheran Church & School
760 Victoria Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Directions
School Director E-mails:
Zoi.Gatzaki@gasaschool.org
Welcome to the German-American School Association of Southern California, (GASA) Costa Mesa.
Our school prepares the students for the DSD (Deutsches Sprachdiplom) for levels:
A1, A2, B1 and B2/C1, and the AP high school test.
Our classes are from 9 am to 12 pm on 30 Saturdays. Our school year coincides with the public school calendar.
Our Costa Mesa school has 5 class levels. 4 class levels for kids and 1 class level for adult (beginners) class:
Level 1: Vorschule | Kindergarten (4-6 years old)
German language and culture introduction through games, songs, arts crafts and fun activities.
Children under 4 years old are welcome to enroll after a 4 week trial period.
Level 2: Unterstufe I & II
I. Beginners in German as well as German speakers. The focus is on developing verbal language skills as well as writing and very basic grammar skills. Vocabulary building is one of the main points. Culture and skills are introduced through songs, crafts, games and fun activities. DSD-A1 Testing is slowly introduced.
II. Basic knowledge of German as well as German speakers. Focus on vocabulary building, writing and grammar skills and preparation for A1 Testing. Cultural and language skills are taught through crafts, games, stories and crafts and music.
Level 3: Mittelstufe I (A1 Level) & II (A2 Level)
I. A class with German speakers and with medium knowledge of German. DSD A1 testing. Our focus is on written use of German as well as vocabulary enrichment and improvement of oral German.
II. A class with German speakers and with medium knowledge of German. DSD A2 testing and AATG-2 testing. Our focus is on written use of German as well as vocabulary enrichment and improvement of oral German.
Level 4: Oberstufe I (B1 Level) & II (B2/C1 Level)
I. Students who practice and speak German at home. Our focus is on perfecting written and oral use of German. Individual preparation for a variety of exams including DSD1/B1 and DSD2/C1
II. Students who speak German at home. The focus is on perfecting written and oral use of German. Individual preparation for a variety of exams including DSD2/C1 as well as AATG-3 and AATG-4 and AP-German.
Our school offers the AATG test and also prepares the students for the DSD (Deutsches Sprachdiplom) for levels A1, A2, B1 and B2/C1.
Level 5: Adult class (Online ONLY)
Enrollment Forms:
Enroll before July 15th and save $25.00 !!!
The tuition includes a $50.00 tax deductible membership fee for the entire family. The German-American School Association of Southern California is directed by its members through an elected Board of Directors.
Online Enrollment will be available after July 15th, 2023
Our Teachers
Zoi Gatzaki (Director and Teacher)
Teaches: Vorschule|Kindergarten
Zoi is a native to Greece but was born and grew up in Germany. She is fluent in German and Greek. Zoi has completed her “Mittlere Reife” degree in Sozialpädagogik in Bensheim, Germany. She started at our school in 2010 as a teachers assistant and is teaching at our school since 2011.
She is the Director of our Costa Mesa school since 2014.
Zoi currently works at the Irvine School District as an Instructional Assistant for Special Education.
Ilona Yim (Teacher)
Teaches: Unterstufe I & II
Ilona was born in Schwelm (near the Ruhrgebiet), Germany. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Trier, Germany. She is now a professor at the University of California, Irvine. She has an eight-year-old English-proficient, German-learning daughter who has attended German school in Costa Mesa for the past three years and is excited to teach the Unterstufe at our Costa Mesa school this year.
Anke Secrest (Teacher)
Teaches: Mittelstufe I & II and Oberstufe I & II
Anke is a native of Germany and used to work at the American Air Force Police force in Germany. Anke is teaching at our Costa Mesa school since 2008.
Bettina Kanno-Muñoz (Online Teacher)
Teaches: Adults (Online)
Bettina is a native of Germany and grew up near Munich, Bavaria. She earned her Masters Degrees in Business Economics with emphasis on International Marketing as well as Business English, French and Spanish from the University of Passau.
Bettina started teaching German as a foreign language in 2009 and has taught all levels at our school as a substitute teacher from 2015 to 2018. Now she is teaching our Adult class.
