About Anatolia A Historical Perspective

about anatolia college

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

a historical perspective

Anatolia College is an educational nonprofit institution with a history extending over 130 years, with modern, well-equipped buildings sitting on an expansive campus in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Anatolia provides students with a strong academic foundation and prepares them for the challenges of professional life and beyond as one of the very few institutions in the world that offers education spanning from pre-K all the way to graduate studies, through its various academic divisions. More specifically, today Anatolia College comprises:

• Anatolia Elementary School, serving primary education from pre-K to grade 6

• Anatolia High School, which consists of two Middle and two

High Schools, alongside the IB program that prepares students for university study worldwide

• Pinewood American International School, which serves as a bridge with the international community and offers primary and secondary education (from pre-K to grade 12) in an exclusively English-speaking environment

• ACT, its US-NECHE accredited and EU validated tertiary division, an institution of higher learning offering Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in a variety of fields, alongside an Entrepreneurship Hub and a

Lifelong Learning Center.

• CTΥ Greece (Center for Talented Youth), which provides enhanced educational opportunities to bright students from Greece and the

Southeastern European region, and is the result of the strategic partnership of Anatolia College, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Johns Hopkins University.

As an integrated academic community, we are committed to developing students’ talents through innovative educational approaches and open inquiry within a culture of academic excellence. We instill a heightened sense of social responsibility, in an environment that nurtures ethical, creative and physical development. Anatolia College was incorporated in 1886 by American missionaries on its first campus in Merzifon, Asia Minor. At that time, it principally enrolled Greek and Armenian students. The school took its name from Anatolia, the region where it was established.

The name Anatolia, which refers to the east and the rising sun, captures the spirit of its founders who believed that even in the most difficult of times, the dawn of a new day brings forth a new beginning. After war brought change to the region, the school was forced to close. It reopened in 1924 in Thessaloniki at the invitation of then Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. In 1934, Anatolia established itself on the site where it sits today in the northeast suburb of Thessaloniki known as Pylea.