AISV Celebrates Its Expanded Facility and Campus!

AISV Celebrates Its Expanded Facility and Campus!

2015.11.09

AISV had a thrilling ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, November 5th, 2015  with participation of the whole AISV community, the Mayor of Vilnius, US Ambassador, and other special guests to celebrate the completion of our expanded campus and new facility! Our students have a new canteen, gym, soccer pitch, and re-purposed spaces to enrich learning and and assure we are inspiring, motivating and empowering all learners to succeed!

It takes a village to raise a child, and in this case the walls for the new building. By this I mean that it has taken many to make the vision of this a reality, including:

- former administrators who had the dream to expand the campus;
- the architectural vision that excited all of the possibilities;
- the city of Vilnius and the US Embassy that believed in the school need and value added benefit for the community;
- school board members who had the patience and persistence to keep the project alive and pursue all avenues to move the project forward;
- the AISV families and community partners that supported the project including DNB bank;
- the staff, students, and parents that lived "under construction" for a year;
- all the construction workers, sub contractors, and other workers who spent time digging in mud, cutting down and planting trees, laying foundation, floor, tile, planting a green roof, installing playground equipment, and so much more;
- the leadership of MERKO and Contestus project managers;
- and finally, the AISV community that brings the campus to life and celebrates accomplishments such as this!

Yvonne Ricketts, AISV Director

 

 

"The AISV Board firmly decided to embark on this project back in mid 2008 and together with school administration over those past years had to overcome very many difficulties - from finding the most optimal developmental concept to resolving many other barriers and delays due to the fact of constructing new building in the strictly regulated Old Town zone.  But luckily all those worries are now in the past and, on a personal level, it was great to be part of this development as leader of Board’s Building and Grounds committee and interact with many dedicated people who each contributed their best to progressing this project.

This addition is firmly landing the AISV’s facilities in the XXIst century and finally making the building and grounds look at least partially on par with what was happening inside the walls since long ago - a modern and striving community providing excellent educational environment for citizens of tomorrow.

I am sure that the school community will make great use of the new facilities and y hope that the Board will not stop with this, but could find opportunities to use this momentum and move ahead with the second phase of expanding and re-developing the main school building too.

Go AISV team!

Artūras Medeišis, AISV Board Buildings and Grounds Committee Member (2008-2014)