About the school
The school was founded in 1945. The main school building was built in 1955, and several extensions have been added during the years. The language laboratory was renewed in 1995. Especially we are proud of the auditorium, which is equipped with modern theatre equipment. The school is actively keeping abreast of the development in computer technology. A major renovation concerning the school buildings is in sight within a few years.
Educational profile
The upper secondary school of Mäntyharju aims to provide its students with a good general education so that they have a readiness for their future studies with a positive attitude towards acquiring further knowledge and skills. Being a small school, we can guarantee a safe educational environment, in which the atmosphere is friendly and supportive.
Since the year 1995 studying has been non-graded and course-based. After comprehensive school, this educational stage prepares young people aged 16- 18 for universities, polytechnics and other institutions of higher education . It takes 2-4 years to complete the studies. At the end of this time students take part in the nation-wide Matriculation Examination, part of which they can even take earlier.
Curricular facts
The old curriculum was based on the guiding principles given by of the Ministry of Education in 1994 , including the set number of compulsory and specialization courses confirmed by the Government in 1993. The new curriculum will be taken into use in the autumn of 2005 and the students starting then will follow that. The biggest change brought about by the new national core curriculum is the much stricter guidelines given by the Ministry of Education, the purpose of which is to uniform the standards of achievement nationwide. But on the other hand, it leaves a lot of space for local options and lays emphasis on courses available regionally.
Partners
The wide selection of courses allows students lots of choice to weight their study programs as they want. Beside the set curriculum, students can choose courses provided by Mikkeli School of Music and the Civic College of Mäntyharju. Our partners in co-operation are also the municipal youth department, the Mäntyharju parish, Arts Centre Salmela and sports clubs. As a speciality, it is possible to get expert instruction in judo.
Extra-curricular activities:
The students take part in various extra-curricular activities, arranged by the student body and the classes. The events include the ”porridge evening” before Christmas, ”kicking the seniors out”, to name but a few. Also, international friendship contacts are becoming more and more prominent.