Tartu Jaan Poska Gymnasium

Tartu Jaan Poska Gymnasium is a secondary school that was established only in 2011. However, the schoolhouse has a long and important history. Jaan Poska Gymnasium is housed in a historical building where on 2 February 1920 the Tartu Peace Treaty between Estonia and Soviet Russia was signed, ending the Estonian War of Independence. Jaan Poska, the leader of the Estonian delegation, was among those who signed the Tartu Peace Treaty, which has also been called the birth certificate of the Republic of Estonia. The room where the treaty was signed is located on the second floor of the schoolhouse and is also known as the Peace Room. The schoolhouse is located in a street where there are several other cultural institutions – the Grand Building and the Small Building of Theatre Vanemuine, the Estonian Literary Museum, the building of the Tartu branch of the Estonian Writers’ Union and the Natural History Museum of the University of Tartu.

In Tartu Jaan Poska Gymnasium there are about 530 students who, in addition to the compulsory subjects set by the national curriculum, can choose from 100 elective courses. The students can also pick between three fields of studies: humanities and art, science and nature, civic studies and environment. During one cycle of 7 weeks, students concentrate on 5-7 subjects, each cycle ends with a test week.

Information technology and being innovative are highly valued, students use digital devices to help them study. Once a cycle a special online study day takes place, when students stay at home and complete online assignments that combine different subjects. The school’s priority is working together with many different museums and schools like the Estonian Printing Museum, Tartu Children’s Art school, the University of Tartu, the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu Health Care College, Estonian National Defence College and many more. All in all, our school’s main priority is offering each student individual learning experience that helps them make connections between subjects and use their creativity to the fullest.

The school’s slogan “We determine our own future!” comes from the famous sentence Jaan Poska said after signing the Tartu Peace Treaty, “Today is the most important day for Estonia in its 700 years of history; because today, for the first time, Estonia determines its own fate.”

Since 2014, Tartu Jaan Poska Gymnasium has held an academic conference called Poska Academy for high school students with the aim of popularising science and young people’s role in it. The conference is held in an academic and friendly environment and offers students an opportunity to present research papers in the form of short presentations, exchange experience, and receive feedback, as well as inspiration. The conference is not a competition; all kinds of thought-provoking presentations are welcome. Poska Academy creates beneficial opportunities for supervisors and teachers for personal development and sharing experience regarding the supervision of students.

The conference booklet of the 5rd Poska Academy can be found HERE.

For additional information please contact lembi.loigu@jpg.tartu.ee