AMERICAN ACADEMY IN Bratislava
6TH - 12TH GRADE
A network of American schools, we are inspired by the best educational concepts from around the world: freedom to choose subjects, individual approach, subjects divided according to competences, emphasis on practical learning, project-based learning and theme weeks. All classes are taught in English and led by a team of teachers from all over the world.
American Academy in Bratislava has opened with a fresh and unique approach to acquiring knowledge. Although it is a new school, we continue the tradition of experience and success of the American Academy brand. We strive to create a student-centered, international environment where students can build their curriculum utilizing project-based learning methodology. Our students have the opportunity to acquire true life skills in a wide range of activities and assessments.
Our teaching faculty focuses on individuals while simultaneously inviting students to work in groups. This helps students creative significant solutions to real problems they face every day. Students here grow academically by exploiting their talents. Furthermore, we're excited to present this year's Theme Weeks, where the whole student body and staff will be cooperating in one project. Every trimester, the school will step away from regular classes for a week and work on Fear, Cultures Around the world, and Films on Life and Death.
American Academy is a network of American schools with campuses in Prague, Brno and Bratislava. The whole network has a unified educational concept. It is important that American Academy keeps moving forward and satisfies the parents’ and students’ needs. At the end of each trimester, there is a school-wide anonymous survey investigating overall satisfaction with the school.
We put emphasis on individual approach, professionalism and openness. That is why we are happy that the majority of parents perceive our teachers as very open and helpful. They perceive American Academy as a quality educational institution and all of them agree that their child feels safe at school.
The utmost priority of American Academy is to lead the students towards great academic achievements through a quality program that prepares them for studying at universities all around the globe. Our students achieve above average results compared to their American peers in the HSGE tests, with an average of 70 points.
Our curriculum is inspired by the best of world’s educational programs, notably American and Finnish systems.
Our students have the freedom to choose the subjects they want to study so they can focus on what really interests them and develop necessary social and practical skills during high school.
Much like the International Baccalaureate Diploma or British high school diploma, our students must get their diploma validated if they want to apply for a Czech university. It is a process which we are familiar with, and we are happy to help the students go through it. American Academy also offers Advanced Placement courses, which are equivalent to university courses in the American and Canadian systems. Students take exams in these subjects, which are comparable to the IB exams and accepted by universities around the world.
Our unique concept gives the students the freedom to choose courses they want to study at the level that best fits their needs and competencies. The classes are not necessarily divided according to grade level, but rather academic ability. This allows for an academic atmosphere where the differences in ability level between students are not so large, ultimately allowing our teachers to approach teaching more individually, and therefore, more effectively.
We believe it is crucial that our students had easy access to knowledge that is not usually taught at schools. We offer a wide variety of choices, which allows students to focus on what really interests them and what they enjoy.
Theme week
In addition to our American based curriculum, American Academy offers theme weeks inspired by Finnish academic traditions. During theme weeks, there is a school-wide project that develops skills and competencies such as communication, team work, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, critical thinking or project management.
Fear and Escape Rooms were the focuses of the first Theme Week in the American Academy in Bratislava. Even though this was held from October 21st – 26th, much planning and preparation came beforehand. We split the school into 3 main groups: Business, Bunker, and Hospital. The Business group was in charge of advertising, sales, finances and customer service. The other two groups focused on their specific escape rooms. Students and faculty worked together to learn about fear, handling a business and presenting an excellent product to the public. We had dozens of satisfied customers coming in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday trying to get out of locked rooms under a certain amount of time.
Our third Theme Week this last year was: Films - What does it mean to be alive? The student body was split into seven groups with a specified movie genre each, and their goal was to create a short film answering the question about the meaning of life. Weeks before Theme Week officially began, students had already started preparing some ideas. They came up with names for their groups, genres, plot outlines, and some elements of their scripts. Some groups met to record their scenes while others did everything from home. Monday through Thursday, students filmed, edited, and uploaded their films.
Then we met virtually as a school several times to see the films that the students had created and give feedback to each other. We also held an awards ceremony recognizing the best parts of each film, the best films, and the best actor/performance.
Students learned some technical skills such as recording with a camera, acting, and editing. But the week also helped improve some of our soft skills such as time and resource management, communication, and accountability. Further , taking a more philosophical and personal approach meant students were able to ponder and discuss “what it means to be alive”.
Don’t expect long tests; we are mostly interested in the student’s character and enthusiasm. That is why we focus on a personal interview and written essays. For the academic year 2020/21, we have spots for 65 students.
An American Academy graduate is a confident young person who is engaged in the immediate world around them and will be mindful of those that exist around them. They have developed confidence, solve problems actively, and always take full ownership of their actions. They have discovered what their main values are and are able to act upon them.
Graduating from an international school, the students are ready to begin higher education anywhere in the world, including the highest ranking universities.
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