“I’ve always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings” – Jenny Han Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at AAS-Sofia! I hope that you had a pleasant summer with family and friends. The start of a new school year is a…
What Is Your Song For the Summer?
“So often you find that the students you’re trying to inspire are the ones that end up inspiring you.” – Sean Jenkins Over the summer, the main administration office will have some improvements done. In preparation for that work, I cleaned out my office and moved to a temporary office space. While cleaning out my…
Thank You For Volunteering Your Time
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” -Elizabeth Andrew As we approach the final 9 school days of the 2023-24 school year, I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize two vital parts of the AAS community, the PTO Board and the AAS Board of Directors. Both the PTO Board…
The Busiest Time of the Year
“You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block.” -John Rogers At some point in my education, a teacher told me that when you face a writing block, the best thing to do is to just keep writing. That is what I am doing…
Some Days Are Simply Meant for Playing
“This place is so pretty. I feel like I’m at a resort.” -Student-musician visiting from American School of Warsaw The weather. It has been a topic in most conversations I’ve had over the past few weeks. You might think, “Dr. Fries, you really need to work on your conversation skills,” and that is true. However,…
On Educating the Whole Child
“By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man; body, mind and spirit.” -Mahatma Gandhi On Friday, February 16, I had the pleasure of going to Patches Blues Bar to see/hear the AAS staff band, the Edumacators. I don’t get out much, so it was a treat to…
Fathers: We Impact the Future for Our Sons & Daughters
By Dr. Matt Horne, Elementary School Principal There are many different approaches to being a man in 2024, and many different ways to be a father. Some of us men follow traditional models of masculinity that we learned, such as endorsing risky behavior and asserting dominance. Others of us follow more progressive approaches, such…
Success Is a Journey, Not a Destination
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” – Maya Angelou Happy New Year! I hope that you had a pleasant holiday with plenty of warm family time. As we begin 2024, I have been thinking about success. Success can take many forms. On Monday, January 8,…
Happy Thanksgiving!
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus As a kid, Thanksgiving was not one of my favourite holidays. I did not dislike it, but it was not a holiday that I looked forward to. I’m not sure…
Give the students something to do, not something to learn.
“Give the students something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.” – John Dewey Today, the Middle and High School students will return from the Cultural Trips. While they have been away, half of the campus has been quiet. The other…
Welcome to the 2023-2024 School Year
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year at AAS-Sofia! Today marks the end of the first full week of school. Many students (and quite a few staff) get used to sleeping in a bit later (or a…
I Hope You Feel A Lot of Summer
“A dark night, lightened up by thousands of glowing fireflies. It is magical.” – Ama H. Vanniarchchy To me, lightning bugs mean summer. Growing up in the Seattle area, I didn’t see fireflies as a child, but somehow the luminescent beetles (lightning bugs are beetles not flies) epitomize summer. Our kids first saw lantern flies…
