by Carla Tanas

Chapman University Comes All The Way From California To Learn From ACS Athens

by Carla Tanas, Dean of the Institute

Building alignment between K-12 and higher education institutions is a pathway to encourage constructive collaboration and address the current nature of our fragmented learning ecosystem.

K-12 and higher education cannot avoid the fact that they need one another to meet the changing workforce requirements while serving all students’ educational needs. The pandemic has created new possibilities for reform and institutional transformation.

The Institute at ACS Athens is proud to announce that it has successfully completed its first collaborative partnership for graduate students with Chapman University, which took place on June 20th – 22nd, 2022.

Fifteen Master of Arts students completing their degree at the Donna Ford Attallah College of Educational Studies (a dual credential general education + special education degree at Chapman University) came to visit ACS Athens. While also having finished a year of student teaching, they came to learn firsthand about international schools, action research, and inclusivity from administrators, staff, faculty, students, parents, and friends of ACS Athens. In an increasingly globalized world, international-mindedness and the need for intercultural understanding have seen unprecedented growth in the number of international schools worldwide in recent years. Chapman Master of Arts students enjoyed insights about the opportunities of international schools and how the curriculum is shaped internationally vs. a state-based approach.

In addition, with an institutionalized action research culture at ACS Athens, which has built the pathway for MSA’s Sustaining Excellence protocol , which is now being conducted in a number of leading schools across the globe, Chapman University Master of Arts students learned first-hand about processes, and experiences from both administrators and faculty members.

Finally, with a diversity of programs for inclusivity across the school, ACS Athens highlighted its Youth 2 Youth program, an innovative educational and social integration program that was devel-

oped in the midst of a crisis to meet the needs of an ever-growing refugee population.

An exchange of information and knowledge was the focal point of all the sessions, and our guests, as well as our administration, staff, and faculty, left the sessions enriched through new perspectives.

We wholeheartedly enjoy these collaborative opportunities because they always leave behind food for thought and allow us to reflect on how we can upgrade and further enhance our educational system. Education and knowledge have no end and are always ongoing processes fueled by inquisition and curiosity.

We look forward to continuing our ongoing partnership with Chapman University.

ACS Athens is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. ACS Athens has received a “Sustaining Excellence” stamp of approval and was one of seven schools worldwide, and the only international school to have achieved this level of accreditation. In November 2012, ACS Athens was approved to use the Sustaining Excellence Protocol, making it the first -and only- international school considered for re-accreditation with this top level protocol. Our school has thus become a de-facto model school for international education. Furthermore, οur school initiated, implemented and presented the Action-Research component for the Sustaining Excellence protocol. The Sustaining Excellence Protocol is now offered to leading schools that have a demonstrated commitment to excellence and have demonstrated that the systems and structures necessary to support the Middle States Association standards are securely in place. This is a mark of distinction. Sustaining Excellence has schools commit to an action research project focused on a single, overarching area of learning.