The Institute of ACS Athens

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The Institute of ACS Athens - founded in 2006 under its first Dean, Steve Medeiros - aims to develop innovative programs that offer unique educational experiences as well as personal and professional growth opportunities for students, faculty, and school leaders within ACS Athens as well as across the world.  The programs, drawing on the expertise of ACS Athens’ own faculty, alumni, students , and community members, are enhanced by high quality and meaningful collaboration with university partners, outside experts, and other schools. 

The Institute has been established to serve as a generator of innovative programs, creative teaching practices and new knowledge that will enrich school programs, stimulate the intellectual development of students, staff, and community, and provide a bridge between ACS Athens and the world of ideas and practice outside of ACS. The Institute, known previously as the Institute for Innovation and Creativity (IIC) exists to foster and promote innovation and creativity.

To date, the Institute has cultivated a range of programs, including the Summer Academic Institute (in collaboration with higher education institutions such as Williams College, Bentley College, Tufts University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Richmond, Saint Louis University, Widener University, etc ); the Summer Pre-IB/College Prep Academy; the Summer Leadership Institute (in collaboration with the University of Richmond); the Arts Academy (offering programs in the visual arts, theater, music and dance to students from ACS Athens and the Athens community), the Adult Education Program; the ACS Athens Writing Center and Writing Project; a university teaching intern program; a teacher grant-writing program; and an on-line Humanities program involving field study in Greece and Paris. The Summer Leadership Institute was recognized by the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) as a model of innovative practice and received an award in 2009. In 2010, the Institute hosted its first TEDxYouth@ACSAthens Program; by 2011, the IIC developed articulation agreements with a number of United States universities and colleges, as a prelude to establishing university partnerships to promote bringing US university courses to the ACS Athens campus during the school year of 2015.

Furthermore, since 2009, the Institute’s mission expanded to embrace the operation of a theater to fulfill the cultural mission of the Theater at ACS Athens to the school and the larger Athens community

The Institute houses Fellows from premier universities and companies all over the world who come to work individually or in collaboration with other Fellows to foster and promote innovation and creativity.  

Today, more than ever before, the Institute is on the edge of creativity and innovation by offering authentic and mainstream courses for high school credit to qualified students around the world. These courses are offered by outstanding content experts and innovative educators based on the Institute’s unique i²Flex delivery methodology. These courses include S.T.E.A.M., Humanities, Mathematics, Languages, and Arts.

For efficient and effective delivery of these courses, the Institute has established the ACS Athens Virtual School.