“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…
Talking with Your Teens About Tech Use
Picture this: you’ve just asked your child to put away his phone before bedtime. You come back to check on him 5 minutes later and he’s still using his phone. An argument begins and both of you end up frustrated and angry. What about this? Your daughter comes home from school in tears because someone…
Teacher Spotlight: Emma Wilson
We are re-starting our ‘Teacher Spotlight‘ section with one of our new elementary teachers – Emma Wilson. Introduce yourself using three words only, please. Happy, goofy and helpful What’s something most people may not know about you? I played football (soccer) internationally when I was 13. My team won two tournaments in Sweden and Denmark….
Enjoy Your Youth!
This week was fun. For our students. For our faculty. For our parents. This week was fun. About a month ago, we came back one weekend and our campus had started changing. The mature, sophisticated, orderly halls started filling with cobwebs and spiders and bats and skeletons and all sorts of blackened decor and spooky…
‘The Greatness of a Community Is Most Accurately Measured By the Compassionate Actions of Its Members.’
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King Last week, AAS held a series of events and activities as part of Inclusion Week. Inclusion can mean many things. For AAS the most important meaning is that the School is a place where everyone–students,…
‘We Were Fortunate to Work with AAS Students’ Says Speaker Kathy Collins
Kathy Collins works in schools and presents in conferences all over the world to support teachers in developing high-quality, effective literacy instruction in the early childhood settings through middle school. She is the co-author, along with Janine Bempechat of ‘Not This But That: No More Mindless Homework’ (Heinemann, 2017). She co-authored, with Matt Glover, ‘I…
PTO President Yeser Kocabas: ‘You Can Create Many Great Projects For the Children’
Please briefly present yourself. How long have you been a part of the AAS community? Which grades are your children in? Hello. My name is Yeser and I come from Turkey. I am the new PTO president. I like to be an active person and I try to live my life with this motto. Life…
The Importance of Family and Home
The internet is a wonderful place for mining quotations. Last week, I came across this pearl of wisdom in a Rand Corporation Publication. “ … research suggests that, compared with teachers, individual and family characteristics may have four to eight times the impact on student achievement…” Mind you, the Rand Corporation is an ultra-conservative American…
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…
Through the Lens of Trust
I have to admit that when the time comes around for me to submit a blog post, I get a bit anxious. I struggle with trying to find something to write about that I think students, parents, and staff could relate to or even want to read. With the beginning of the new school year…
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…
Welcome to the 2023-2024 School Year
Dear AAS Community, My name is Pamela Della Toffola Andreoni and I am the Community Representative in the AAS Board, on behalf of which I welcome all of you to the new school year. I am sure it holds many emotions, experiences, and new friends that will build long-lasting and important memories. I can assure…
