New Campus Center Opens Its Doors
One of the ways we celebrate the quarter century of ACS renaissance is the completion of the first new construction on its historic campus.
The remarkable new America for Bulgaria Campus Center officially opened its doors with an all-school ceremony on May 18.
When construction started in the fall of 2016, the Chairman of the ACS Board of Trustees Dr. Roger Whitaker said, "Our goal is not to win architectural awards. Our commitment, instead, is based on the realization that space use affects education! For example, there is a significant link between natural light from windows with views, quiet places, green spaces, flexible space options, and student achievement. As Winston Churchill wrote: We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."
The first new construction of this size since the classical New-England-style campus was built in the 1930's, the project carried the cost of $10.8 million. 80% of this investment was provided by the America for Bulgaria Foundation, as always committed to education and strategic advancement. Additional contributions to the budget came from the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program of USAID, as well as friends and supporters of the school's mission.
Acknowledging the role of ABF's Nancy Schiller and Lynn Daft, Dr. Whitaker said at the ground breaking ceremony, "They share our view that the new facility will have an impact beyond the campus as we strive to work with other schools to continuously improve educational excellence in Bulgaria."
On May 18, ACS hosted the opening ceremony for the Board of Trustees, the US Ambassador Eric Rubin, the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova, ABF Chair Nancy Schiller, Deputy Minister of Education Tanya Mihaylova, the Chief of the Sofia Inspectorate Vanya Kastreva, two former ACS Presidents, and other dignitaries, friends and guests of the school, media outlets, but most of all the persons who will be calling the Campus Center home: the ACS students.
In his welcoming remarks Dr. Richard T. Ewing, Jr. said, "Values as well as scholarship are at the core of what we do at ACS: we want to produce strong people and good leaders as well as excellent students. This has been true throughout our long and also brutally interrupted history. What kept the ACS flame alive during 50 years of exile and what has enabled ACS to revive and once more to thrive have been powerful forces at work that one can find at the heart of the ACS community, forces that have always shaped human destiny in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. I speak of love, courage, faith, and hope."
Then the ACS choir sang the Cyril and Methodius hymn.
