AAS News

From the School Director, who considers life’s milestones and in particular that of high school graduation as AAS celebrates its Class of 2020 today.

Extrovert or introvert? There is nothing better about being one or the other. Each simply exhibits different preferences. Read our Director's thoughts on the balance between these two personality types

Some ideas on how to make moving to another country and school smoother for your family.

A simple family activity to put you in a more positive mindset during the times of uncertainty.

Some ideas on how to show our appreciation to teachers, who are working hard during these challenging times. 

AAS offers a number of after-school activities to Elementary students off-campus.

See some artwork created by Elementary school students from home.

Our Director of Learning and Curriculum Fanny Passeport summarizes the most important factors to support learning during this distance learning time

Grade 12 student, Adam L. was awarded a Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

In honor of April 22, Earth Day, we have prepared some activities to celebrate Earth Week.

Sitting in my office, I can hear birds chirping and I have music playing, but I miss the noise of school. Director Dr. Fries shares his thoughts on what he misses about being on the AAS Campus

Our Director of Learning and Curriculum Fanny Passeport talks about reducing stress around children.

Part 2 of the Mental Health Wellness tips by New York psychologist Eileen Feliciano.

Some ideas on how to stay mentally stable during these difficult times from New York psychologist Eileen Feliciano.

Some tips on how to spend valuable time with children at home more efficiently.

Some tips on how to make your time with children at home more efficient.

Since we are not able to be together in our building, we thought it would be fun to do a Virtual Spirit Week.

Some ideas how to be independent learners in Middle and High School.

Read about our Director's hobbies and his general thoughts on spending more time at home.

As we are all going to have to learn, work and live together with our families at home, we need to adapt to the new dynamics of the situation.

Some tips suggested by our counselors on how to build your own resilience and help your children cope with a crisis.

A 3D printing project, executed in the AAS ‘Design & Technology’ class was featured as a case study at the PrintLab website.

In the week, leading to the Bulgarian Liberation Day - March 3rd, we celebrate Bulgarian Culture. The teachers from the Bulgarian Language department have worked hard to make the week exciting for everyone.

Grades 7 and 8 students created some electrical circuits during Design and Technology class. 

AAS celebrated Black History Month through a variety of readings, discussions, and raising the awareness of movements such as #BlackLivesMatter.

Last week the Elementary School Student Council organized ‘Spirit Week’.

We already introduced our Transition Counselor & ES Counselor, now it is time present you the Middle and High School Counselors.

Once again, AAS writers have received recognition in the international section of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, receiving 9 awards between them for their poetry, personal memoirs and short stories.

This week we are celebrating International Counseling Week by presenting you our counselors team. Meet Transition Counselor & Bulgarian Family Liaison and Elementary School Counselor.

On 5th February we held the first Open House in our history for families interested to see the school in action and learn more about education at AAS.

The AAS Literary magazine LUX has received the highest honour of a REALM First Class Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

This week we hosted Canadian author and illustrator Elly MacKay. 

For the past two years, AAS and ACS students have participated in the DeLux Poetry competition, an opportunity for students to demonstrate their creative writing abilities.

This week at High School Assembly the newly elected leaders of the HS Student Council were announced. 

With continuing reminders of violence and disasters in the media, I often get asked how to address these difficult topics with children. 

Just before the winter break we were visited by some of our recent graduates - from Class of 2015 and 2019.

Parents who encourage reading and make books available can help improve their children's literacy.

How to make holiday travel with kids safer and more enjoyable for everyone.

The HS Students paid their traditional visit to their elderly friends.

Key things to know about celebrating Christmas and New Year's eve the Bulgarian way.

AAS' newly launched website received a Gold Distinction at the 2019 MarCom Awards.

Last week, our IB Theatre students performed in front of the High School Audience some short pieces in the ‘Duck Variations’.

The Rila Renaissance Centre was awarded the Special Audience Award in the educational buildings category.

Last week our graduating Class of 2020 submitted their Extended Essays in a special ceremony in the Rila Theatre.

Grade 10 students went on a trip to downtown Sofia to explore Bulgaria's Communist past.

BHP partner Mr. Barnard and his associate, Ms. Mateeva, visited the IB Business Management (BM) class.

Julia met with students, teachers and parents and discussed various topics of interest.

Both HS Speech & Debate and MUN teams represented AAS successfully at the respective CEESA tournaments in Baku and Berlin.

Parents danced together with their children  in pre-school today.

Grade 2A have created Christmas cards to help fund-raise money for sports equipment.

This week our Middle Schools students had their first MS Arts showcase for the year in the Rila Renaissance Centre.

Last week AAS hosted the CEESA MS Boys and MS Girls football tournaments.

During the weekend AAS welcomed Security managers of schools across the CEESA region.

This year the AAS Library focuses on paper folding and illustration. As a part of this students recreated the portraits of famous artists in origami.

On November 1 Bulgarians celebrate Enlighteners Day - to honor the memory of everyone who brought knowledge and enlightenement to the nation.

Students, teachers and parents joined the run last Friday to support "Angelia" foundation. 

Halloween is always so much fun at AAS - with pumpkin-carving, scary costumes and "Trunk or Treating".

This October AAS is launching its Scholarship campaign for the 14th time. The first information evening will be held on October 24 and 6 PM in the American Corner of Sofia Library.

While October break was a time to relax for the majority of students and AAS staff, there were some people who were busy with organizing an international conference on campus. 

When the first soil was turned over at the Breaking Ground Ceremony for what is now the Rila Renaissance Centre in October 2017, our special guests were invited to sign a granite foundation stone.

This week AAS hosted a College Fair for the 8th consecutive year.
However it was the first time that the event was held in the spacious Rila theatre in the new Rila Renaissance Centre. 

This week AAS hosted what has become a regular annual event, the "No 4th Wall" theatre festival. This is three days of workshops with international guests to create an original piece of theatre based on a theme, which this year was "The Little Things". 

Every year, the International Baccalaureate holds a global conference in each of its three regions. This year, the Africa Europe Middle East (AEM) region's conference is hosted in the Arab world for the first time.

"Over the summer, I had my privilege to have an internship at the United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) bank for 2 weeks. I worked in the sector of European Projects & Financial Institutions Directorate where they provide funds for businesses that might need financial support."

AAS hosted the CEESA Healthy Assessment Summit this week (Oct 3-5) in our brand new Rila Renaissance Building.

Last  week was Cultural Trips week for Middle and High School Students. They went around the country to learn more about Bulgaria and its culture and history. 

“What was the Roman Forum in Plovdiv used for?” 
“ Where was the Roman library situated?”
“What was the Roman name of the city?”

Fanny Passeport is the new Director of Learning and Curriculum at AAS. She spent the last eight years in India working in international schools as a French Foreign Language Teacher and Digital Literacy Coach. 

Our Grade 12 students had a busy day today - they had to work in teams on a science project, assigned by their teachers (IB Group 4 project).

The students may be getting a day off as Bulgaria marks the Declaration of Independence Day, but all the staff at AAS are hard at work!

September was a busy month for the Bulgarian Mother Tongue students in Middle and High School.

Today our Parent - teacher Organization (PTO) held their first PTO chat for the school year.
It was well attended by the PTO and school leadership, as well as by many parents.

At AAS we have always encouraged reading for pleasure. So, it was only logical to start the second full week of school with a “DEAR” day.
Wondering what does “DEAR” stand for? 

After a busy Back to school week everyone needed to unwind a bit and the Welcome Back BBQ organized by the PTO was a good chance to do so. 

We had a short, but rather busy first week of school!
A special surprise was awaiting Middle School students - teachers had prepared some fun activities for them to ensure a smooth start of the year.

Today was the First Day of School of AAS for the 2019-2020 School Year.
It was great to see so many familiar faces and say "Hello" to new ones.

With less than 2 weeks until the beginning of the school year, AAS is getting ready to welcome students and their families.
All teams are working hard to prepare the school for your arrival on August 21 - maintenance making last repairs on the building, the gardeners tending to our vast green spaces with special care.

On Wednesday the school held a special, all school assembly to formally say thank you, goodbye and send all our good wishes to our outgoing School Director Jim Urquhart and his wife Andie who has served both as the Athletics and Activities Director and as a Middle School counsellor. After eight years at AAS, the Urquharts are leaving this summer and the school marked the occasion with a school-wide celebration. 

The third annual AAS High School Career Fair took place this Tuesday and featured a variety of careers that have not been presented in the past. We are grateful for the support of our AAS patrons who represented 10 of the 11 careers that were showcased in the fields of Business Consulting, Public Policy, Social Entrepreneurship, IT, Healthcare, Social Inclusion, Commerce, Architecture, Catering, Acting and Finance.

Last week was a pretty busy one for the AAS Athletics department - we hosted not one, but two CEESA tournaments back to back - HS Girls & Boys volleyball (May 16 - 19) and HS Boys Softball (May 19 - 21).

During Bulgarian Culture Week, we hosted the contemporary Bulgarian writer Alexander Shpatov, winner of the National Best Fiction Debut and the Sofia Award for Literature in 2005 and 2015, respectively.

After Mr. Shpatov’s presentation, it was time for the audience to ask him some questions. It was then that Mr. Reynolds, the AAS HS history and business teacher, stood and asked Mr. Shpatov:

The DeLux Short Story Competition, begun in 2013, seeks to encourage budding writers from AAS and the American College of Sofia in their creative endeavours, providing an opportunity to recognize their talent beyond the classroom.
On Monday, five AAS students from Grades 10 and 11 travelled to ACS to attend the prize-giving ceremony.

Our ES Instructional coach, Mrs Haske has recently published her second book - "Worry moves on".Her first book ""When Worry Takes Hold" was published in November 2017 and captured the hearts of readers of all ages

Last Sunday a group of 10 IB students gathered to clean the cross-country track around the AAS campus. They did a great job, collecting 6 big bags of garbage and making the area more pleasant for the community.

Just before Spring Break the whole school got together in the Balkan Gym to share some Bulgarian Easter traditions.

A recent art exhibition by a budding AAS artist has raised over 1,500lv for a local children's cancer charity

Our 8th High School Musical production of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' featured over 38 students on stage!

In the past 4 months our High School students Adi S. and Elena D. organized the collection of plastic bottle caps at school. 

In the past 4 months our High School students Adi S. and Elena D. organized the collection of plastic bottle caps at school. 

On the symbolic 19 February (the date when the Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski died), AAS held a "Capping" ceremony for the new Art Centre.

For this Alumni reunion on February 16th in London, we decided to ditch the standard restaurant setting and go for something more adventurous and floatacious -->  a boat!

AAS' Literary Magazine wins a worldwide competition award for the 7th year in a row!

Оne of our 11th grade students, Atanas K. received an "Honorable Mention" award from the New York Times for their editorial cartoon contest.

This week we had the opening of the "Shrub's Soul" art exhibition at the "San Stefano" Gallery. The grade 4 & 5 students were very happy and proud to share their work with their families. 

On Monday, November 5th students, teachers and parents ran and walked to collect funds for the Angelia Foundation, which AAS has continuously supported through the years.