The Laboratory School in Bielefeld, Germany, is an experimental school that is part of the University of Bielefeld. The Laboratory School is an integrated comprehensive school for children aged 5-16 years. Pupils are not separated by streaming and do not receive letter grades until their 10th year of school. The Laboratory School makes extensive use of the possibilities to learn and experience the environment outside the school to promote a concept of lifelong learning based on the following types of learning: (1) learning to acquire knowledge; (2) learning to act; (3) learning to live together; and (4) learning for life. The Laboratory School defines its philosophy of "opening of school" as transcending a school's traditional borders to forge closer links with the surrounding communities and using the opportunities there to learn and experience. Examples of the school's implementation of this philosophy include the Labyrinth Project (a cross-subject project in which art, language, and math lessons are focused on labyrinths) and the German-French Intercultural Encounter Projekt (a cultural exchange and foreign language program during which primary-grade students spend 10-14 days at a partner school in Paris). The school's teachers' are encouraged to pursue lifelong learning by pursuing professional development opportunities and trying new methods in their practice. (Contains 13 references.) (MN)