For seven years now Teach For Bulgaria has been organising a special Summer Academy where children can have fun and learn how to be successful. This summer the academy starts on July 31, 2017 and it will take place in Sofia. The official opening will gather over 1300 students, parents, teachers, public figures, and guests. The opening starts at 10 a.m. on Monday with special ceremonies at both of the schools that are this year’s academy hosts- 90 Secondary School “General Hose De San Martin” in Liulin neighborhood and 144 Secondary School “Narodni Buditeli” in Mladost neighborhood. All registered students should be at the schools at 8 a.m. in order to meet their teachers and prepare for the opening ceremony.

The Minister of Education and Science- Krasimir Valchev, the Vice Minister – Tanya Mihailova, the Mayor of Sofia – Yordanka Fandakova, the Head of the Regional Management of Education of Sofia Region – Vanya Kastreva, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, and representatives of Sofia Municipality are cordially invited.

Some of the goals behind the summer academy organised by Teach For Bulgaria are to fill the academic gap during the long summer break, to raise the students’ motivation for learning, and to improve their subject matter knowledge. The academy is also the final part of the intensive preliminary training of the new participants in the program. The new teachers will start teaching at different schools in 12 regions of Bulgaria in September.

“For many students the summer academy which offers free tuition is one of the few options that allows them to do something meaningful with their free time during summer break. Some of the parents who enroll their children in the academy cannot afford to pay for summer camps or other types of additional training and extracurricular activities. This turns the academy into a socially valuable enterprise,” Ivan Petrov, Teacher Induction Training Specialist at Teach For Bulgaria, comments.

Hundreds of students have participated in the academy in the past seven years and the interest has grown with each summer. A record number of elementary, middle school, and high school students have signed up this year – 1311. They are going to spend the next three weeks with their new motivated teachers who are Teach For Bulgaria participants. The teachers are professionals with various backgrounds which makes it possible for them to teach a variety of school subjects. They have all been trained to follow the internationally recognised Teaching As Leadership model which has been developed to ensure the success of every student in the classroom.

The academy is tuition-free and this is possible thanks to the America for Bulgaria Foundation, Lidl, Bankya, Questers, Dundee Precious Metals, International Women’s Club-Sofia, Nova Television, Net Info, and other sponsors. The summer academy is also supported by a number of NGO partners of Teach For Bulgaria- Center for Inclusive Education, Children’s Books Foundation, Kids with Developmental Problems Foundation, Parents Association, Dechitsa (Children) Foundation, Multi Kulti Collective, Reachout.BG, Caritas Bulgaria, Bulgarian Red Cross, and others.

You can find additional information about the academy on our website, if you click here.
Teach For Bulgaria is a non-governmental organization which has been working towards providing equal access to high quality education to every child in Bulgaria, regardless of where they live, which school they go to, their ethnic background, and their family’s socioeconomic status since 2011. To achieve its mission, Teach For Bulgaria recruits and carefully selects motivated, high-achieving professionals with various backgrounds to teach for a period of two years in the schools where they are most needed. Within this two-year professional development and leadership program all participants go through intensive training and are directly supported in the classroom and in all aspects of their work with students from vulnerable communities in regions all over Bulgaria. The organization has built a strong community of current teachers and alumni, as well as key partners from all sectors in order to ensure a long-term, sustainable access to high-quality education to every child in Bulgaria.

163 people have completed the program so far and its scope includes schools in the following regions of Bulgaria: Vratsa, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofia Province, Sofia City Province and Stara Zagora.

Teach For Bulgaria is initiated and financially supported by the America for Bulgaria Foundation, and is part of the international global network for equal access to high-quality education- Teach For All.