The students participated in various activities to raise environmental awareness.
AAS News
Life is certainly never dull at AAS! From sports tournaments to musicals, field trips to art competitions there is always something happening!
Check out the latest news from around the school...
Graduates presented their Extended Essays in front of a small audience of parents.
Roza K. turned her love for horses into a CAS project.
Seeing the art, created by high schoolers, the students decided to create their own.
Some captured moments from the week of in-person learning.
Students learned to extract DNA from fruit.
Nora and Kate helped MS Girls team become better players.
The Grade 9 Musicianship class perform a virtual concert.
The students organized a winter clothing drive.
Students interpret the famous 'Starry Night'.
See what Bulgarians celebrate in April.
The team aims at educating the community about pollution.
Six students presented their artwork at the Rila Centre.
Last week on the eve of St. Patrick's Day, Grade 2A students made leprechaun traps.
AAS seniors created an Instagram account dedicated to sharing useful information about the Coronavirus.
Our literary magazine got the REALM First Class rank in the US.
Lola W.'s project brought HS students together during distance learning.
Recently the AAS librarian Ms. Ardea Smith published a children's picture book 'Baba Marta'.
The students performed live music and theatre in front of their classmates.
IB student Anna R. talks about her passion for hiking.
Recently AAS earned LEED Gold Certification for the Rila Renaissance Centre (RRC).
Today 1A and 1B went to The Bells Monument near the AAS campus.
Students hold a hybrid Performance Technology meeting.
The 11-th grader plans to donate the shields to the Bulgarian Red Cross.
After a long time Grade 10 students did some hands-on experiments in class.
March is a time when we honor Baba Marta in hopes for good weather.
A few weeks ago during recess, KGA students decided they wanted to put on a rock show for AAS.
As a part of their CAS project, seniors Vanda D. and Ori P. have created a Mental health website.
It is a tradition at AAS to mark the occasion with showing various collections.
It was great to enjoy a dance/movement class and have fun without screens!
'Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.' Pablo Picasso is often quoted saying.
Kincaid & Kate share about coaching the AAS middle school basketball teams.
The month of February is also known in Bulgaria as Malak Sechko (Little Sechko - from сека - cut, chop - because of the cold
Last week Grade 3 had a very interesting guest - Mr. Sam Edwards, who talked to them about Antarctica.
Yoana Y., who won the first prize in the competition, talking about her experience.
Have you ever wondered why the word FRIEND has a letter 'i' in the spelling?
Blagovesta M. was recognized for her academic and personal excellence among over 30 candidates in Bulgaria.
Among all other academic responsibilities and assignments, our Student Council (StuCo) have found the time to start publishing a monthly newsletter.
We are happy to share our new sustainability resource site 'Go Green Wolves'.
Recently our HS English Teacher Nellie Bridge participated in an International Poetry Festival.
Take a look at Grade 4's artworks experimenting with Edgar Degas's style.
Elementary Students are excited to be on campus after distance learning through December.
Noa and Brayden, who have been on the AAS Basketball team for several years, have created, as part of their CAS project, a series of basketball workout videos.
The January issue of the Bulgarian Culture Corner which features the Dirty Days in Bulgarian beliefs and the water rituals happening in January.
We are happy to share, that our students have once again received awards in the DeLux Writing Competitions between American College of Sofia and AAS.
During distance learning with Grade 2 we made Holiday cards and crafts with recycled materials and we want to share some for you to give you ideas for your own activities at home!
As part of their IB CAS project, seniors Rebecca and Floria put together a website with yoga, strengthening, and flexibility videos for the community.
With Christmas and New Years Celebrations approaching, we decided to ask some teachers about their favorite holiday recipe. Here is Ms. Lindsey's 'St.Lucia Buns' Recipe.
We are launching a new rubric dedicated to the Bulgarian Culture. Our Bulgarian Culture Corner will come out once a month and will highlight the holidays and celebrations for the month. Stay tuned for interesting facts, yummy recipes, music and more!
The Elementary Art department has a visiting artist - Astrid Vlasman!
Last week she met in person with Grade 4A and this week and the next she will meet online with students from Grades 2-5.
Last week Boryana Dzhambazova, a Bulgarian freelance journalist who's worked for Politico, The Economist, and The New York Times, spoke with 9th and 10th grade students.
It was a rather low-key affair, but performance returned to the Rila on Wednesday (Nov 25th) for the first time since... gosh... can anyone remember?
In the past months mask are a necessity, but can they also be cool?
Apparently - they can, according to 5-th Grade students Sophia S. and Vicky I.
This week Grade 2 students had a lot of fun in Music class with Ms. Zlati. She showed them how to hold the mallets properly and play the xylophone.
This time last year, the children from the 2-A class decided that they would like to raise money for charity by creating Holiday cards.
Social distancing restrictions didn't stop Grade 11 English Language and Literature students from meeting author David Shields, whom they have been studying.
Three of our Grade 11 students are organizing this year's AAS Movember Campaign, encouraging everyone to spread awareness for men's health issues throughout the month
The G10 science class started on the Electricity unit while online. They learned that an insulator (materials made of e.g. plastic or rubber) can be charged by friction.
As COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Bulgaria, we wanted to share with you some recommendations on how to help combat the stigma surrounding COVID.
This week was Spirit Week in Elementary School.
Students and teachers had a lot of fun dressing up to support favorite sports teams on Monday...
This week, during the IB Business Management (BM) seniors participated as a focus group for a variety of chocolate products made by an AAS sole proprietor.
During the summer holidays, Matteo worked on several experiments with two physicists at the Georgi Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics.
Taking advantage of the great October weather, yesterday Grade 4 went on a little forest hike in the woods behind school.
Our senior IB Theatre students reached a significant milestone this week with the completion of their externally assessed Research Presentations.
Over the summer, a IB year 2 student of the Business Management (BM) here at AAS, undertook an internship at (BHP), the company responsible for the coordination of most of our campus’ development.
Our Transitions Counselor Ms. Giosh-Markov spoke to Grade 1 students about welcoming newcomers in the community.
See what students did in Elementary Art class.
Last week Grade 4 students had fun walking in the woods around school
This week’s MS Advisory Challenge each group tried identifying 50 country flags without the aid of the internet!
The Design & Tech Classes promise to be a lot of fun this year, offering a variety of hands-on challenges to the students.
This week saw the first round of the all new Advisory Challenge Cup. Advisory groups in grades 6-10 had to solve a puzzle in 10 minutes and submit their answer.
AAS Art Teacher Ms. Anastassova invites you to her exhibition in a livestream event on September 10, starting at 5:30 pm
Thank you for the commitment in following the rules and keeping yours smiles even under masks.
ES Art teacher Ms. Mariangela found a creative way to teach Art while practicing social distancing.
The Scholarship committee is happy to announce that two new Scholarship students were selected in June and they will both join grade 8.
The AAS HS Student Council played a key role in founding a new CEESA Schools organization.
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.
The last pre-service training session has been held, the final painting of walls has been done, the classrooms have been prepared and timetables drawn up, and we are all waiting to welcome our students for the new school year at AAS which starts tomorrow, Wednesday 21st August.
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.
Our new foreign national faculty were so delighted to be on campus for the first time today that they were quite literally jumping with excitement!
From playing with water to playing in water. From learning to use flour to nature walks and discovering another type of flower. From performing arts to creative art and craft to… just playing. Aged from five to 12 years, the children who came to the summer school 2019 at AAS had a wonderful time.
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.
Five years after its initial conception, The Rila Renaissance Centre was finally declared officially open with a Grand Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday 5th June with ambassadors, dignitaries, guests, students and television cameras in attendance.
Last Friday saw a last and a first at AAS. For the 35 graduates of the class of 2019, it was their last official event at AAS as students as they received their diplomas and celebrated the end of their 13 years in compulsory education. For AAS, the Graduation Ceremony was the first event ever to be held in the Rila Renaissance Centre.
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.
For the fourth year in a row, AAS writers and artists acquitted themselves extremely well in the international section of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
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.
From the AAS Blog
After reading last week’s column about relationships, I reflected on one of the most critical relationships for a child’s success: the relationship between a child’s family and their school. When the relationship is a partnership, we see the child grow and thrive so much more in their school life; unfortunately, when the relationship is fractured, the opposite is true. Often we are tempted to see school as school and home as home, but the two are intertwined for our kids. They do not shut off one part of their life when they get into the other setting. Many parents have likely seen the impact of a conflict or a bad day at school carry over into the child’s attitude at home. Similarly, at school, we often see behaviors and learning habits impacted by things happening outside of school that are on the child’s mind, their health, or their eating and sleeping habits.
Some 25 year ago, in my first few days of teaching, I stood at my classroom door to nervously welcome 10S4. They were a small group of 14-year old boys, whose love of mathematics was questionable! It quickly became clear that it didn’t matter how ‘whizzy-whizzy-bang-bang’ my lesson was going to be, if I couldn’t connect with them, the next two years were going to be an uphill struggle.
Since then, teaching to me has always been about relationships. In the classroom, kids need to feel happy and safe, they need to feel part of a team, all working together to achieve a shared goal. They need to know that we want to all celebrate their successes, and that they feel comfortable enough to share their mistakes, or as my twin daughters frequently remind me, “we celebrate mistakes, because they make our brains grow!”
“I don’t see the value in joining PTO.”
“Another bake sale… What for? I don’t see where all the money goes.”
“I don’t like to fundraise, that’s all they do.”
“Too much drama and politics, disguised under the mantra of “supporting our school”…”
“They’re not of much help. When I needed them, I got no support.”
Everyone of us has once heard, thought or said aloud such words about PTO. One could spend hours debating the whys and the wherefores, and I know for sure everyone of us has a different reason or story behind those lines, a singular perception of what this enigmatic organization could do for our community. We all have assumptions, and I had mine, quite well established.
One day, not long ago, I was invited to be part of the organization.
According to the internet (so it must be true), there are 273,000 English words in the Oxford English Dictionary; there are 470,000 English words in Webster’s Dictionary. The Oxford dictionary is from the United Kingdom and Webster’s Dictionary is from the United States. The United States is larger than the United Kingdom, so it makes sense that the Webster’s Dictionary would have more words. (Somehow that makes sense, right?).
Each year, about a 1000 words are added to the Webster’s Dictionary: in my life over 50,000 new English words have been born. There are other dictionaries as well. One of my favorite words recently added to Dictionary.com is “sharent” which means “to frequently use social media to share photos or other details and information about one’s child”. In English, all it takes to become an official new word is making it into print many times. A friend recently used the word “psychologied”, which means to have psychology used on you. It is not actually a word, but it should be a word. I’m hoping that by putting it in print here it will be added to a dictionary next year. If Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words, it is fair that my friend can invent 1.
In the first few weeks of COVID reaching the USA, the citizens of some states had their first lockdowns. After six days at home in Los Angeles, the actress Gal Gadot was inspired to enlist celebrity friends to join her in a sing-along of “Imagine” by John Lennon, with the intention to acknowledge the suffering of the people and to boost the spirits of those similarly unable to commute to work, eat out at restaurants, etc. The video was met with scorn, as many questioned the extent of our “suffering”, especially as experienced by celebrity millionaires, comfortably ensconced in their posh and spacious houses with swimming pools and other amenities.
Around the same time, my high school English teacher, a wonderful writer and published author, wrote an article for her city’s newspaper that sought to put our “suffering” under restrictive COVID regulations into perspective.