My first Publication Alumni Magazine21-online | Page 4

FROM
THE
PRESIDENT
our students, including a library that rivals a US University
facility, a state-of the art performance center in Whitaker
Auditorium, and the SCIFI Makerspace equipped with
(laser) cutting-edge advances in design and engineering.
With these dramatically enhanced facilities, we have
attracted a number of high-profile and important events
including Founders Day for ACS sister schools from Greece,
Turkey, and Lebanon; the Third Tikkun Olam Makers
Makeathon in Bulgaria; the International Association
for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) European
Regional Conference & College Fair; and the Bulgarian
National Spelling Bee Finals to name a few. Events like these
add depth and resonance to ACS’s presence in the national
and international educational sphere and to our enduring
legacy as a place of innovation, engagement, and community.
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Salutations to the Class of 2019 – a dynamic and highly
accomplished group of writers, physicists, mathematicians,
programmers, engineers, singers, scholars, athletes, poets,
orators and debaters, emerging leaders, and fine young
people – who have become the newest alumni of ACS.
Even as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of
2019, we are enrolling the Class of 2024. We had an increase
of over 60% in the number of attendees at our open houses
and the largest number of exam takers in well over a decade.
The number of students applying from outside of Sofia also
increased significantly over last year. We are so pleased to see
such healthy interest in ACS and appreciation for the value
of an ACS education throughout Sofia and across Bulgaria.
Reunion classes of 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 are returning
to ACS for this year’s Arts Fest. A lot has changed since the
most recent of these alums graduated and continues to evolve
even since the previous issue of this magazine. Improving
the campus facilities with the new America for Bulgaria
Campus Center has significantly enhanced opportunities for
So many of you have given generously to make these campus
improvements and other enhancements possible. On behalf
of the entire ACS community, I want to thank you for all the
many ways you support the mission and work of our school.
The gifts we receive from alumni, parents, trustees, friends,
and grants organizations such as ABF and ASHA (American
Schools and Hospitals Abroad) enable us to attract and retain
top faculty and staff, to develop and maintain our unique and
historic campus, and to sustain the values and traditions of
excellence that have characterized ACS over the years.
It is also very inspiring for current students to meet you, our
alumni, and see you active within your own communities and
here at ACS. They benefit from these interactions, and many
of you who have gotten involved in this way have shared with
me how rewarding it has been for you as well. So, I invite
and encourage you not just to follow the news at ACS, but to
help make it as well. Find the way that works for you to get
involved and be an active part of life at our school. Through
your philanthropic support and active participation, you
can help us continue to prepare the talented young students
we have today to join your ranks as distinguished ACS
graduates, just as others before helped you.
With appreciation and best wishes,
Dr. Richard Tucker Ewing, Jr.
President