IB Doctor partner · Darmstadt, Germany
Töchter und Söhne
Family-run boarding school consultancy
In short: Töchter und Söhne is a family-run boarding school consultancy in Darmstadt that helps families, mainly from Germany, find a school in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, the USA or Canada. Families it advises can turn to IB Doctor for online 1-to-1 tutoring in IB Diploma subjects and for English courses that prepare a child for entry tests such as UKiset.
About Töchter und Söhne
Agnes and Dr Detlef Kulessa started Töchter und Söhne in Wiesbaden in 1999, with one employee and three boarding schools in the portfolio. The firm's own history begins with their daughter, Janka Zöller, who spent nine years as a pupil at Schule Schloss Salem. She joined the management in 2015 and became sole shareholder when her father retired in 2022. Since 2024 she has led the firm with Johanna Lingenthal, and its office is now a pavilion in Darmstadt's Park Rosenhöhe.
The range grew in stages: UK boarding schools were added in 2004 and North America in 2006. Today the team places pupils in five countries: at boarding schools in Germany, international schools in Switzerland and boarding schools in the UK, the USA and Canada. It starts from a detailed profile of the child and usually proposes three to six schools from its own selection. A second consultant reviews every recommendation before it reaches the family, a rule the firm calls the Vier-Augen-Prinzip. Entrance tests can be sat at the Darmstadt office, and meetings take place on consultation days in German cities or online.
Under the name Beyond Boarding, the firm also helps as school ends and afterwards: choosing a summer school such as an Abitur preparation course, a Potenzialanalyse with psychologists, study guidance with outside specialists and advice on gap years. On its team page the firm lists the Boarding Schools' Association (BSA) certificate and ICEF agency status among its credentials, and it says many of its staff have been with it for more than ten years.
What Töchter und Söhne offers
- Boarding school advice for Germany, Switzerland, the UK, the USA and Canada
- Application support, from school visits to entrance test preparation
- Summer schools, for example for Abitur preparation
- Potenzialanalyse with psychologists, and study guidance
- Gap year advice and language course referrals
- Consultation days in German cities and online meetings
How we work together
Entrance tests can be sat at the firm's Darmstadt office, and our boarding school English course can prepare a child for UKiset and other entry tests beforehand. Once a pupil is at an IB school, a tutor who scored 40+ IB points supports HL and SL subjects, the IA, the Extended Essay and TOK online. Towards the end of school, when Beyond Boarding turns to summer schools and study plans, IB tutoring can run alongside exam preparation, and IELTS or TOEFL is there if a university abroad asks for it.
Pages for families
Other IB Doctor partners
The information about Töchter und Söhne on this page comes from their website and was last checked on 4 November 2026. Figures such as numbers of schools or years of experience are their own.
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