Munich districts with decent grundschules

Public schools in Germany are purposely kept at a very similar level, in terms of teaching quality, curriculum, funding, etc., so as to give all students the same chances. Thus there is no "good schools are in expensive districts" rule. Differences depend on personal input of individual teachers, of which there are of course better and less good ones (but again, not correlated to the price level of the area around the school).
Sorry, I don't know enough about Munich to tell you the detailed situation there. Hopefully other forum members will chime in?

beppi wrote:

Public schools in Germany are purposely kept at a very similar level, in terms of teaching quality, curriculum, funding, etc., so as to give all students the same chances. Thus there is no "good schools are in expensive districts" rule. Differences depend on personal input of individual teachers, of which there are of course better and less good ones (but again, not correlated to the price level of the area around the school).

Beppi, thanks for your comment, without you this site as well may shut down
But I also have some observations.
I guess educated and well-off parents tend to give their children more attention and knowledge at home. And they also tend to live in better districts.
As I see in Moscow, where we are starting to have "gettos", the poorer, cheaper and far-off is the district, the more people with different problems (drinking, low qualufication jobs) live there and they put very little effort into their childrens' upbringing. Feels like all they teach them is swearing from the age of 5.
So the funding of schools in Moscow is also equal between schools, but level of knowledge, literacy and discipline in classroom differs between areas, so the teachers with the same salary and education will have to solve different problems.
So hopefully someone will suggest districts "in between" gettos and snobs maybe where one can find many qualified migrants who care about their childrens' education, like us.

I think your worries are unfounded, or at least of much less importance in Germany than elsewhere.
Munich does of course have more expensive (e.g. Nymphenburg) and less expensive areas (e.g. Hasenbergl), but the differences are far less than in many other countries (incl. Russia, from what I heard in the media). Most areas are mixed, meaning people of all walks of life live near to each other.
Also, all parents want to give their kids the best start in life, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, well educated or not. Factors that generally prevent this, like alcoholism, drug abuse, crime, destitution, are thankfully rare in Germany. Outright poverty does not exist, thanks to our excellent social system.
I personally believe money does not make someone a better parent (or a better person in any other respect).

Beppi is correct. The phenomenon of good schools being limited to richer areas is not common in Germany as in many other countries. Unless one would specifically look to live in the most run down, poor neighborhood then it won't likely be a factor at all. Munich is not Moscow, New York or Delhi.

TominStuttgart wrote:

Unless one would specifically look to live in the most run down, poor neighborhood then it won't likely be a factor at all. Munich is not Moscow, New York or Delhi.

Thanks, sounds good
I also noticed that more Gymnasiums with higher rating (on google maps) are located in the eastern part. Wonder if students who live nearby and qualify have priority getting into Gymnasiums, as happens with Grundschules.
Proximity of top Gymnasiums was a big deal for me while choosing location in Moscow, but here officials don't care if the child would travel more 1,5 hour one way, only good test results matter.
But it was easier here as top Gymnasiums in Moscow are highly concentrated in south-western part.

Google ratings are not representative or objective, and there are no other ratings of schools against each other in Germany (this is not wanted by the system and those in charge).
Education is administered by the individual states, so things might be slightly different in Bavaria. But here is Baden-Württemberg, no priority for secondary school admission is given by proximity (the only advantages given are for socially disadvantaged). Some schools set minimum achievement standards for those coming from primary school (which, at graduation, gives each kid a non-binding recommendation as to which type of secondary school it should attend) and when changing from another type of secondary school, or coming from abroad, an aptitude test might be required. Check with the school you are interested in for exact requirements in your case - they do have some freedom to set their own rules here (and you should also ask if spaces are available at all!).
In addition, don't fret if your kid doesn't make it into Gymnasium at first (which is likely when coming from a foreign country):  The system is permeable in all directions and the able students have many ways to switch to a higher stream later. If you consider your kid's self-esteem, the philosophy should be "Better excel at Realschule than fail in Gymnasium" - especially if he/she is not fluent in German.

beppi wrote:

In addition, don't fret if your kid doesn't make it into Gymnasium at first (which is likely when coming from a foreign country):  The system is permeable in all directions and the able students have many ways to switch to a higher stream later. If you consider your kid's self-esteem, the philosophy should be "Better excel at Realschule than fail in Gymnasium" - especially if he/she is not fluent in German.

Thanks, I see.
My son is just 5 yo but I don't consider options other then Gymnasium and university degree for him at this stage we are not that relaxed about degrees and both have one and our parents do.

beppi wrote:

Google ratings are not representative or objective, and there are no other ratings of schools against each other in Germany (this is not wanted by the system and those in charge).
.

I've found (maybe even you wrote it) there's a vergleichsarbeiten (vera) rating of schools, so may be I'll dig in that direction later.
Google reviews of course are not representative, but if they are all bad and rating is 2,9 it will not be the first choice.
Gymnasiums of the eastern part in comparison are more like 4 stars.

Your son hasn't even started primary school and you are already worrying about which secondary school he should attend?
Now my suspicion that you are an over-worrying tiger mum has been confirmed!
You don't even know whether you will still be living in Munich at all in five years (when he starts secondary school), right?
Please let him be himself first - and support (rather than worry about) his unique skills and abilities, even if they are different from what you or the schools expect!