Holistic Education

Dilijan Central School is a school of the “Ayb” system.

“Ayb” is a holistic educational environment. Combining the leading achievements of worldwide education with the best contributions of Armenian education, guided by the principle of taking the best, we give our students the opportunity to fully realize their potential and be competitive in the global educational field. The purpose of “Ayb” is to form comprehensively developed, spiritually rich (virtuous), and healthy individuals who strive to achieve harmony in their own thinking, feelings, and deeds, who pursue complete solutions and see the meaning of their

efforts, achievements, and discoveries in the overall picture. To implement the principle of holistic education, we provide:

· a combination of sciences, humanities, and arts;

· development of speaking and writing (self-expression) skills;

· synchronization and project based learning across disciplines;

· recognition of beauty by learning the arts;

· physical education, sports, and a healthy lifestyle;

· development of public interest awareness through team projects and public work.

Advanced Education and Creative Activity

“Ayb” is a creative environment. We give the opportunity to deeply study each subject and create, without violating the principle of comprehensiveness in education. We strive to open the creative potential of a person more widely, help them express themselves, achieve objective self-evaluation, and record success in the subjects they prefer. Special attention is paid to language learning and the development of students’ speaking and writing skills. To implement the principle of advanced education, we provide:

· subject circles;

· creative clubs;

· individual and group programs.

Values

“Ayb” is a values-respecting and values-instilling environment. Our aim is to form not only a person equipped with knowledge but also a morally pure citizen with a sense of identity, belonging, and responsibility. Realizing one’s own values and forming moral principles is the only guarantee of human fulfillment and an effective relationship between an individual and society. As a model of the Armenian school, we try to revive the work of the Holy Translators nowadays, and we never separate our national-spiritual values from the universal context. One of the greatest contributions of the Holy Translators’ movement is being in communion with the universal, making the universal your own, and seeing yourself in the big picture. To ensure the value foundation of education, we organize:

· worldview conversations and discussions;

· pilgrimages;

· social activity and service;

· Ecology and environmental protection measures;

· mutual help and experience exchange programs.

Community

One of the greatest assets of “Ayb” is the people gathered around it. Uniting people who are accomplished in education and have a wish to contribute to education, “Ayb” is nowadays a community of bright individuals scattered around the world who have taken responsibility to empower the new generation through education. Due to their material investments and efforts, experience, and the uniqueness of the path, an amazing environment for the new Armenian school is being created today with its content, system, and environmental solutions. Their presence in the school has an invaluable image influence on students and gives them confidence to succeed in education and achieve greatness. Today, this exclusive network of people participating in the “Ayb” project also functions as a powerful mentoring system, where everyone contributes to the discovery and development of a new talent using their knowledge, experience, and connections, with the conviction that even after establishing themselves in life, they will still reach out to those who come after them. In order to strengthen the connection between the students and the community, various events, meetings, and discussions in different formats are organized.

Environment

Designing an educational environment is a delicate task. The evangelical principle of “New wine in new wineskins” is expressed in our architectural solutions. Working for many years with the leading architects and scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, we have searched for an ideological environment that aligns with our educational philosophy. We sought to create an educational space that is permeated with a sense of access to the future, and opens human potential by providing opportunities to learn and create. The exclusive design solutions of the “Storaket” architectural studio brought the educational idea of “Ayb” to its final embodiment. The school is armed and equipped with modern technologies necessary for the implementation of creative ideas, so that our students can keep up with the

rapidly developing sciences, as well as test and discover the knowledge they have gained in real time.