Elementary School

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We provide our students with a firm, solid and comprehensive foundation of knowledge. Through a holistic educational approach, the Elementary School focuses on academic excellence tailored to the needs and skills of each student, as well as personality development towards empathy and collective responsibility.

Educational Program

The School aims to mold students into individuals with an acute environmental perception, critical thinking, sensitivity and responsibility, and an enhanced knowledge of the English language.

 

The implementation of student-centered, interdisciplinary, and experiential teaching methods, lays the foundations of our environmental and innovative programs. Our experienced teaching staff, utilize our unique facilities creating optimal conditions for a modern educational framework of high standards.

 

The principles of experiential learning have been at the core of the School’s educational programs since its founding, drawing on the rich and long-standing tradition of the American Farm School. Students observe, think, experiment, create, imagine, reflect, collaborate, solve problems, gather experiences, and learn. Embedding experiential activities into projects enhances the experiential approach on all subject areas, while fully utilizing the rich natural environment and the Educational Farm.

Educational Pillars

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Innovative Teaching Approaches

Contemporary teaching methods, innovative pedagogical and learning approaches, Project-Based Learning approach

 

 

Experiential and Collaborative Learning

Proactive, collaborative, and exploratory-investigative approach on all cognitive subjects, aimed at developing critical thinking and supporting collective effort, and experiential action

 

Technology in Education – Enhancing Computer Science

Enhanced teaching of Computer Science – Computer Literacy and Communication Technology

 

Literacy and Culture

Fostering reading habits, culture, social and voluntary engagement, and social skills

Dogs in Learning Program

Interaction with animals enhances social behavior, emotional comfort, reduces feelings of loneliness and anxiety, and boosts self-esteem

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Educational Farm

The School’s Educational Farm offers unique opportunities for experiential learning.

Our students witness nature’s cycles first hand, while actively engaging in activities related to the environment and its conservation.

 

All Grade levels incorporate environmental programs with special thematic units and target outcomes linked to students’ cognitive and emotional development. Across the board, our students share in the community effort to maintain a green campus, by recycling composting, measuring energy consumption, and more. They also take field trips to state parks, lakes, wetlands, etc.

 

By creating a progressive and interdisciplinary program, students build an environmental consciousness and adopt the values which will allow them to think, act and design their lives with environmental sensibility.

English Language

English language acquisition is one of the main priorities of our program.

Our teaching plan for English includes:

 

• A unified educational design and curriculum with specific learning and cognitive goals for each grade, with an emphasis on Literacy

• Additional educational activities for the English subject in each grade

• Small language class sizes (12–13 students) for grades 3–6

• Experienced and continuously trained teaching staff

• Experiential, cultural, and environmental projects that align with the school’s philosophy, using the Communicative Approach

• A comprehensive series of books, an annually evaluated and updated writing program, and abundant online resources that promote Literacy skills

• Teaching the Civics subject in grades 5 and 6 entirely in English

• American University (native speakers) graduates support staff in the classroom

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Digital Literacy - Technology

Our school is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment in its classrooms. Great emphasis is placed on the utilization of technological tools, software programs, and other IT services to ensure digital literacy for our students.

 

 

STEM Program

The term refers to an education model linking four academic disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). While traditional systems of education approach the instruction of these subjects separately, STEM learning integrates these topics into a coherent learning model, based on their real-world applications. The program encourages students to systematically deal with scientific and environmental issues from an early age. For this purpose, the educational philosophy of STEM is linked to both the official program of our school, through interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary activities, and the supplementary environmental and innovative experiential programs, of which it is the core axis.

The school curriculum provides children with an environment where they can experience math and science as an integral part of their daily lives. Students are encouraged to use scientific methods to solve problems, to experiment, create, communicate and collaborate.

The program is designed and implemented by the class instructors taking into account the needs and interests of the students, with the participation and support of specialists in various disciplines who are involved in the process. Extensive collaboration with teachers in the High School, as well as with external scientific partners is included in the educational planning, especially in the science and robotics programs.

For the STEM activities we make use of the Elementary School facilities and unique campus, which provides an ideal backdrop for a variety of experiential activities and projects. Specifically, STEM is conducted in the school’s modern classrooms, where we make use of the state-of-the-art equipment and furnishings (smart board, iPads, Wi-Fi) which facilitate teamwork. Furthermore, the material used (Lego, robots, etc.) is selected for its appropriate support of STEM projects.

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Services

The school collaborates with a child psychologist who attends, alongside the class teachers, experiential programs related to school and social life. The psychologist also provides advice to parents and teachers when there is a need, always in collaboration with the school’s administration and under its coordination. The school also organizes seminars and workshops on topics related to development, behavior, and upbringing.

Aiming to address potential learning difficulties, the school’s Special Education Teacher advises parents on the timely and accurate interdisciplinary assessment and diagnosis and suggests ways to support students in the classroom and at home. The goal is to ensure continuous learning improvement and the smooth integration of students in the school environment.

All the personnel are trained in first aid, and there is a nurse on call. A pediatrician visits the school weekly, and each student is individually examined in a specially designed care and supervision area. In case of an accident, the school provides our students with private insurance at any private hospital.

Students are transported to and from the School in the AFS school buses. Experienced drivers and attendants are responsible for the safe and timely transfer of the students to and from the Elementary School throughout the school year.

 

The bus routes are studied carefully and are always designed to provide the best possible service, while ensuring the safe transportation of our students.

Students can opt to have lunch, prepared with AFS and selected suppliers’ organic products, provided by the school cafeteria.

 

Students wear the school uniform, featuring the AFS logo and colors, both for practical reasons and comfort.

 

After completion of the school’s educational program (Grades 1 and 2), students have the opportunity to raise and resolve any questions they may have on the material they were taught, as well as complete part or all of their homework for the following day, within the pre-study time, with the supervision and assistance of their class teacher. For Grades 3 through 6, students can attend the Study Program, which is offered during the school’s Extra-Curricular Program (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM).

The school, aiming to promote and nurture various skills, natural inclinations, and student talent, offers Clubs from Monday to Friday (2:30-4:30 pm).

 

For the 2024-25 school year, the following clubs are offered: Football, Basketball, Track and Field, Cycling, Gymnastics, Judo, Children’s Architecture, Robotics, Theater, Entrepreneurship(Grades 5 & 6), and Bumblebees (Greek/English language).

The American Farm School places a premium on the security of our students, staff and families. Security guards are stationed at all the entrances and exit points in order to ensure the safety of our students.

 

The security of the campus, including staff, students, resident students and visitors, is ensured by the Campus Security Office. The department’s personnel conduct patrols throughout the day covering all areas within the School and those surrounding the premises.

 

In the same vein, the Elementary School adheres to regulations that ensure the safe transportation of our students, within or outside the school, during the school program, and during outings and field trips.

 

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The Elementary School is housed in a cluster of buildings on the East end of campus, fully renovated to include state-of-the-art facilities, and in keeping with the latest eco-friendly standards. It is surrounded by green areas and gardens, in the unique natural environment of the American Farm School.

 

 

Admissions

For complete registration the following are necessary:

 

• Student’s introduction to the School’s facilities

• Child’s photo (“identity photo”)

• Child’s birth certificate, issued within 3 months of registration, and indicates the birth date in both words and numerals

• Kindergarten certificate of attendance

• Copy of the child’s health booklet or other medical forms, which identify all required vaccinations

• Completion and submission of the “PERSONAL HEALTH FORM” (provided during registration) and the “MEDICAL EXAMINATION FORM” which is issued by a pediatrician. The pediatrician retains the Medical Examination Sheet and a copy of the Individual Health Card; only the original Personal Health Form is submitted to the School

• Submission of complete “Registration form” (completed at Admission Office)

• Confirmation of parent’s or guardian’s address or other legal document stating the student’s home address

• Advance deposit as indicated on the annual tuition and fees form

All necessary forms and documents must be submitted in the Admissions Office (2310 494 848, admissions@afs.edu.gr)