Yesterday was "Back to School" day for everyone at ACS Athens, and we were excited to see and welcome everyone on campus!

Besides our treasured students, we were also excited to welcome a special visitor, HuffPost, who spent the day on campus to witness and chronicle the first day of school at ACS Athens through a journalistic perspective.

Here is an excerpt from the HuffPost article:

"The school year 2020-2021 started yesterday, Monday 14 September. A new school year that everyone wants to carry on - despite the dystopian environment of the pandemic - differently from last year.

The COVID19 pandemic is global, and the measures to limit the transmission of the virus - the masks, the distances-  all this is necessary if we want the pandemic to disappear at some point and the bad science fiction scenario we live in 2020 to end.

But until today, I could not help but think with some sorrow, especially the students, the children. I stepped into their place and felt a bitterness; I felt uncomfortable.

So will this be an uncomfortable,  joyless year for the kids?

My visit to ACS Athens (American Community Schools) in Chalandri disproved me. 

Not a mask, not even a few inches of distancing, can deprive children of joy. If the school environment is what it should be, children will laugh and play, learn, and interact creatively.

And they do wear their mask! And they do (try to) keep their distance, even during breaks and after the reminders of their teachers.

During the three hours that I stayed at ACS Athens, I only saw one small group of students of the Lyceum (Academy) without a mask in the patio area of the yard - the deputy principal also saw them, made a gentle remark, and the "problem" was solved immediately. 

No voices, no negativity - in a compassionate manner, befitting an educational institution."

Read the full story here!