The Ruetli School in the tough southeastern Berlin neighborhood of Neukoelln was a symbol of classroom chaos, playground violence and an apparently insurmountable clash of civilizations just two years ago.

Now the school, where a majority of pupils are of either Arab or Turkish origin, has become a model of how to tackle the problems of multicultural urban schools.

"A paradigm of integration," Neukoelln Mayor Heinz Buschkowsky said while launching "Campus Ruetli," an association of schools in the area that will cater for 850 pupils.

The patron is Christina Rau, widow of the highly respected Johannes Rau, German president from 1999-2004, who expressed her pleasure at "the completely new drive" she saw in the previously embattled area.

From the autumn of 2005 to the spring of the following year, teachers at the school went to class with their mobile phones ready to call colleagues or the police in the event of trouble.

The pupils did as they pleased, as discipline collapsed, and many teachers reported sick for long spells to evade the classroom stress.

In March 2006, a teacher issued a cry for help in the form of a letter that garnered international headlines. The school should be closed down as teachers had lost all authority, she wrote.

"The mood ... is dominated by aggression, lack of respect and ignorance," said the letter. "We have reached a dead end and there is no way to turn around."

The school was the subject of a debate in the German parliament, sitting just a few kilometers away.

Times have changed. The pupils have created their own fashion label, Ruetli Wear, using their design and production skills to make T-shirts and other gear.

New sports and cultural extramural activities have been established under the eye of a new school head.

Pupils at the school rescued the victim of a violent attack and were honored for their courage.

The change has been far-reaching. Whereas before it was everyone for themselves, now the motto is "Togetherness."

The core is Campus Ruetli that begins with the 2008-09 academic year, a community project joining the forces of several schools, at which some 80 per cent of pupils are from a non-German background.

The "quarter square kilometer of education" contains workshops and child daycare centers, youth clubs and adult education facilities, alongside the child and youth services of the local authority.

"We want to show that every child is important for us along Ruetli Street," said Rau. "I'm very enthusiastic." 

DPA with Expatica