Fairview German Bilingual School

The Fairview German Bilingual School opened as an alternative (now called magnet) school in Cincinnati in 1974. The Cincinnati Public Schools created this and other alternative schools in an effort to combat segregation in the city's schools. The alternative schools were open to students of any race and from any neighborhood in the city. The German-English Bilingual Alternative School, as the program was originally called, was first housed in two elementary schools near the University of Cincinnati. Louis M. Schiel Elementary and Fairview Elementary each held two first and second grade classes. The school had three major goals: "to achieve racial balance through bringing in children from various local schools all over the city; to have the children become truly bilingual as they progress in the Program through nine grades; and to emphasize academic achievement in the regular curriculum." (Stern, Margith and Larry Stevenson, "Year End Report, 1974-1975: The German-English Bilingual Alternative School," Fairview German Bilingual School records, folder 2) During the next few years, the program expanded and in 1978, the Fairview School became a bilingual school only.