Dear Students and Parents,
I welcome you to the new 2023-2024 school year at the Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi.
Last June, as we were coming out of a year that had been dominated by online lessons, we decided to restore the tradition of holding Juries at the end of each academic year. With the lifting of the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic, we were able to start this academic year with full normalcy. We resumed our regular schedule of classes, sports practices, club meetings, field trips, and all the other activities that have come to define our school over the years.
Furthermore, we have expanded the opportunities for our students by offering more mathematics courses in their final year; we have also introduced new electives in robotics and programming for students of all grade levels.
These novelties are pilots for a more substantial expansion of our curricular offerings that will be implemented in the coming years. The American Academy will invest in having more choices within our classical disciplines, from foreign languages to sports.
This is also the inaugural year of our new teacher training program. The American Academy has devised a one-year program for teachers beginning their careers in education. Each trainee has a mentor to shadow, a full schedule of classes to observe, academic lectures to attend, and other activities to perform throughout the school year. This September, we launched the program with two trainee teachers of history, one of Georgian, and one of biology. We expect that the program will serve in the future as a model for teachers' practicum in Georgia and a pool of well-qualified candidates for future openings at the academy. I am quite pleased with the effort and caliber of our prospects.
In addition, as I write these lines, the new auditorium building is entering its final construction phase. Hopefully, we will be able to begin the 2023 school year with a space to have assemblies and other events that are essential for reinforcing our sense of community, something we hope to reignite after these years of physical separation due to the pandemic.
It has been a difficult two years for all. As the school director, I have felt the challenges like anybody else. However, I remain very proud of how students and teachers handled this challenge together. As of now, I am absolutely enjoying the energy and joy of their physical presence again. They confirm every day what I believed to be true: that the American Academy becomes stronger each year and will continue on this path due to the efforts of all of you.
Andrés J. Cruz
Director
