“If you only read the books everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

-Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)

European School has become the first school in Georgia accredited by the Council or International School. The school hosted CIS evaluation team, that observed all types of learning situation. CIS award indicates that European School has reached high standards of professional performance in international education and has a commitment to incessant improvement.

On 2nd of April American High School at European School received a congratulatory email from Vice President of Cognia Accreditation Commission about being accredited. Index of Education Quality (IEQ) of American High School was 345 out of possible 400, which is far above the average.

In spring 2020 European School faced new challenges. Due to the complicated situation in Georgia concerning the pandemic, European School has moved to online mode of learning since March 2020. The school rapidly organized productive and fruitful online lessons, because of which there were practically no complications concerning the learning process. Initially, the online learning process was slightly difficult for the students due to having to spends more time in front of computer screens than usual. However, European School rapidly resolved the problem. The school was very quick to provide students with blue-light and UV blocking glasses, which turned out to be very functional for children due to its ability to reduce exposure to blue light waves. Regardless of distance learning, the students and teachers were able to cover the program successfully. European School has started new 2020/2021 academic year with new regulations, beginnings, and ideas. The digital transformation of the school contributed to its ability to effectively respond to challenges. New technology resources in classrooms promote and ease online learning process for both - pupils and teachers. The school came up with new conference cameras and interactive whiteboards, which made online learning more similar to face-to- face learning. Due to organized lessons and productive advancement in technology, the school will successfully continue the online learning process before the improvement of pandemic situation in the country.

- 1) Do you think our school is faring better with distanced learning than other schools, and why?

- In my opinion, European School in general and specifically AHS has always been more oriented towards digitalization of education than most schools in Georgia. The 21st century brought so many inventions as everyday tools for people, that educators must inevitably adapt their teaching methods as well. So, we have always worked with these ideas, which made it easier for teachers to work digitally. Most of our materials were already digitalized. Our students also have skills and tools necessary to get engaged into the lessons, which makes the process smooth and productive.

- 2) Have you noticed any change in the academic performance of students due to online learning?

- I don't think there have been any academic changes with student performance. If anything, they are better online, due to less distractions. On the other hand, socially, I think the change is more noticeable. They seem more restrained and less enthusiastic at times. Teachers, staff, and school personnel are involved actively in making sure our students don't feel isolated and believe that the school will be there for them.

- 3) What kind of extra-curricular opportunities can students pursue while in lockdown?

- With the social distancing rules in place, it is hard to plan activities for students. We have come up with several ways to engage them in school life. They've also had many ideas, such as this newspaper for example. Some of the activities involve online lectures and conferences, which students can attend from home

- 4) As a follow up to the last question, do you have any suggestions for students who would like to start clubs in our school? (This can be any club you've wanted to see or think would be unique)

- The only thing a student with such idea needs is to talk to the administration. If they want teacher engagement, they can find a sponsor teacher, who will help them with organizing other students, finding a classroom, etc. Our school employs an extracurricular activity coordinator, who is always eager to help students realize their ideas into life. She will be glad to help anybody with their plans. I have always wanted to see a psychology club in our school but sadly, students who have already had the subject are 12th graders and don't have time for managing such activities. If anybody finds it interesting, I will be happy to help them personally. Other ideas might include literature clubs, movie clubs, etc.

- 5) Do you have any advice for students struggling to keep up with the school curriculum due to distanced learning?

- Our school has a comprehensive and well-organized study hall system, so students who are having difficulties in certain subjects can catch up to the material. The only thing they need to do is email the study hall organizer or their homeroom teacher that they are having certain problems and they will have scheduled catch-up sessions with teachers or peers. I think peer mentoring program will work very well within our school, because most of the students are very eager to help others.

- 6) In your opinion, how does our school equip its students for the college admission process?

- I think that European School has a very good college counseling system. We have specialists hired who follow students' paths from grade 9 to the end of school, advise them along the way and play active role in university acceptance process. This is a great opportunity because it is very difficult to navigate the system of admissions alone. I think the system works very well too and our acceptances prove that from year to year. The students also are very supportive of each other. They've founded a club Unicoaches, where graduated students help our juniors and seniors with their applications, expectations of college life, etc.

- 7) With the introduction of the Art History AP, the American High School now supports a whole new branch of study that may have been difficult to pursue before. Are there other future career paths or opportunities we can expect to be introduced in the upcoming years?

- As a member of AHS I am proud to say that our AP program and in general our curriculum has always been geared towards introducing students with different, university level classes. This helps them in choosing their future profession with more awareness. Our AP subjects cover lot of different disciplines, from Computer Science to Politics, economics, psychology, statistics, etc. We will continue expanding these subjects in future, adding those which seem interesting to our students at the time and hoping that it will help them in their daily lives and not only academic careers.

-Interviewed by Mariam Chakhnashvili

In spring 2020 European School faced new challenges. Due to the complicated situation in Georgia concerning the pandemic, European School has moved to online mode of learning since March 2020. The school rapidly organized productive and fruitful online lessons, because of which there were practically no complications concerning the learning process. Initially, the online learning process was slightly difficult for the students due to having to spends more time in front of computer screens than usual. However, European School rapidly resolved the problem. The school was very quick to provide students with blue-light and UV blocking glasses, which turned out to be very functional for children due to its ability to reduce exposure to blue light waves. Regardless of distance learning, the students and teachers were able to cover the program successfully. European School has started new 2020/2021 academic year with new regulations, beginnings, and ideas. The digital transformation of the school contributed to its ability to effectively respond to challenges. New technology resources in classrooms promote and ease online learning process for both - pupils and teachers. The school came up with new conference cameras and interactive whiteboards, which made online learning more similar to face-to- face learning. Due to organized lessons and productive advancement in technology, the school will successfully continue the online learning process before the improvement of pandemic situation in the country

The European school is well-known for its wide-variety and very engaging school activities and extra curriculars. American high especially exceeds all limitations, and provides students with several different teams, clubs, and events which they may take part in. Due to Covid-19 and our at-home program, most of the sports and physical clubs were unfortunately not able to continue. But that does not mean that our school gave up. Instead we worked around our newly risen problem and made sure that students still got to participate in fun, fulfilling, and academic activities. The extracurriculars which will be announced shortly, are the ones which we are expecting to open in the month of October. They include a guest speaker, an online masterclass, a debate club, conferences between juniors and seniors, a yearbook club, and a journal/newspaper club. These upcoming events will all be open for students in AHS. The guest speaker is coming on the first week of October. This meeting is strictly for fun. Both teachers and students may participate. The online masterclass will last for 90 minutes and will be in the second week of October. Debates between students starts the third week of October. The conferences between juniors and seniors starts the fourth week of October. As for the newspaper and yearbook club, they are already put at work. Students, join these clubs, participate in extracurriculars, take part in school activities. Not only are they benevolent for your future, but also entertaining. These are the places where we get to interact with one another and build up the student-teacher community which we love and cherish. Be sure not to miss out.

Over the years our school has competed in many tournaments. Some we have lost, but most we have won. We excel in fields such as basketball, football, and rugby. Many talented teenagers have brought success to our school by showing off their skills, and inspiring future generations. American Highschool has had many students skilled in various sports. One of our strongest point is basketball. This year the ES basketball team took won first place at Tbilisi Basketball Classic 2020. They qualified for the quarterfinals and there they won matches against the QSI team and the team of Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy.

Even though this year we won’t be able to compete in the sports competitions due to our circumstances, we still want everyone to know that; as soon as school starts up, we will have trophies piling up.

We want to now acknowledge some of our leading athletes who have sadly left our school. They include Dati Davitaia (graduated 2020), Luka Lekveishvili (graduated 2020), and Tega Cheishvili (graduated in 2018). Tega now goes to UCLA, he got in there as a water polo player. We expect and know that future boys and girls from our school will soon be able to show off their skills and talents.