School

Unfortunately we all have to go to school. In Athens, we have some pretty nice ones, such as ACS, Tasis and St. Catherines.

ACS

ACS is the American Community School of Athens, Greece. It is a great school considering we go there. We have a wonderful sports program including soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, wrestling, cross-country, track and softball. There's a lovely astro-turf soccer field that was built a few years back. Our gym, while by no means new, is the best of any of the schools. As a result, all the basketball championships are played there. Our varsity teams compete in the International School leagues in Europe, as well. For instance, Athens hosted both the Varsity Girls and Boys Basketball championships here. That is a really fun aspect of being on a team - when the championships are here, your family has the chance to host girls/boys from the other countries, in your home. You learn a lot about other countries that way. Plus, you don't have to be on a team to host somebody - we hosted Forensic kids from Kuwait, for instance, and we do not do forensics. The same is true for international championships in Debate and other pursuits. Model United Nations is also really big at ACS - our team competes against Greek schools and the German school here in Athens, and then, goes off to The Hague every year for an international competition against high schools from the U.S. and more than a hundred other countries. Lots of fun, if you are inclined to "pretend" to be the UN team from a country. ACS also does an annual play - it's nota huge production as the theatre is small - but they do really great stuff. We also have a band. Right now, ACS is involved in a huge fundraising effort to build a Community Arts Center. Should be nice but that's a few years in the future. Classes at ACS are small to medium in size - my whole 9th grade is just 50 students.

ACS has the oldest International Baccalaureate (IB) program in Athens at the high school and middle school level. Our school was the first school in Greece to be a full MYP (middle years program) school. Representatives from the MYP organization in Spain came to our school to evaluate us on the MYP policy. They gave ACS incredibly high marks! It's a real tough academic program that looks great on college applications. The school offers a regular high school diploma as well but doesn't offer advanced placement. Generally, kids take select IB courses that are about the same as AP (only a bit tougher). ACS does have honor courses in every grade. The High School also offers some unusual classes as well, like Humanities (where you study ancient Greece and Rome, etc). And then you get to travel there! Do not worry - you will do fine! And, oh yes, our graduates do very well at university - going to top schools in the US (Harvard, Boston, Princeton, UVA, lots of state universities, etc) and in England (Oxford and University of London). We think the teachers are okay as well - about half of the High School staff is hired from the United States. Right now, our superintendent is an American who has some 30 years of teaching and administrative experience in the US. And our student body, about 500 in the MS and HS, is about 70% Greek American who live fulltime in Greece. So, you get a great chance to get to know Greek culture from kids who understand your US culture as well. The biggest negative of the school is the campus - it just isn't as beautiful as some other schools, yet it sure has character! Plus, lots of landscaping and painting is underway this year. And, really, who cares - it is what is inside the classroom that counts. Also, we have a real active PTA that's open to all parents.

TASIS and St. Catherine's

We don't know any American high school kids that go to TASIS - a few have started and then transferred to ACS because TASIS offers few sports and few extra-curricular activities. However, it has a lovely campus and smaller classes. St. Catherine's also has a beautiful campus, and a swimming pool - but the pool is not competition regulation size so they do not have a swim team. They also wear uniforms there. The school is smaller than ACS and only goes through 10th grade. Both Tasis and St. Cats are located way north of ACS so not a good choice for people in central or southern Athens. Believe me, you don't want to spend too much time on the bus!

We really hope you have a great school experience in Athens. A couple of embassy high school kids go to the French high school (they say it's great but they are native French speakers) and every once in a while, someone tries a Greek school (not recommended!). The CLO office at the Embassy has lots of info on all these schools.

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This survival guide was created by Erin and Caitlin O’Grady, Foreign Service Teens in Greece. If Athens is your next post or may be your next post and you have questions, email Erin and Caitlin FSTeenAthens@fsyf.org.