ACCAS
Encyclopedia
Mission
The Association of Colombian-Caribbean American Schools is one of the three regionRegion
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
al associations affiliated with the Tri-Association. Its membership of 21 schools supports the continuation of an American education in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
region and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. The organization's focus is on school improvement, encouraging an on-going program of staff development and teacher and student interactions. New members must be either US-accredited institutions or candidates for accreditation.
History
ACCAS was founded in 1961 by five directors of schools in Colombia:- David Bjork, Colegio Nueva GranadaColegio Nueva GranadaColegio Nueva Granada, is a bilingual private high school in Bogotá, ColombiaColegio Nueva Granada was founded in 1938 by Fred Dever, Doris de Samper and Irving Byington....
, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district... - Dale Swall, Colegio Bolivar, CaliCalìCalì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
- Nancy Davidson, Columbus School, MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
- Walter Jarvis, Colegio Karl C. Parrish, BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
- Helen Wallace, Colegio Jorge Washington, CartagenaCartagena, ColombiaCartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
At this stage of its history, the Caribbean region was not included in the Association.
In 1963 Colegio Panamericana was founded in Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
and joined the Association soon thereafter.
The early list of presidents of ACCAS includes:
- 1961 David Bjork, Colegio Nueva Granada, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
- 1963 Raymond Mosley, Columbus School, MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
- 1965 James Baker, Colegio Nueva Granada, BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
- 1967 Burton Fox, Colegio Karl C. Parrish, BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
Principal activities in early days included student interchanges in athletics
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
, speech and similar extra curricular programs, all within the boundaries of Colombia. Frequently inexpensive travel via Avianca Airlines was greatly beneficial in this period.
In 1966 a contract was initiated with the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, the Office of Overseas Schools and ACCAS. The objective was to deliver Masters and Doctorate degrees for faculty and administrators employed in the ACCAS schools.
Over the next seven years a large number of M.A.’s and Ph.D.’s came out of this program. The signators to the agreement were: Dr. Ernest N. Mannino, Director, A/OS; Dr. Merlin Duncan, REO, A/OS; Dean Robert Bills, The University of Alabama; Dr. Burton Fox, V.P. for ACCAS.
In 1967, A/OS requested Dr. Fox to visit the Priory School
The Priory School (Kingston)
The Priory School in Kingston, Jamaica teaches kindergarten, primary and secondary stundents, the latter under the name Priory High.-History:...
, Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
; Union School, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and the Carol Morgan School, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and explore ways to include these three schools in regional activities. This and subsequent visits resulted in the Union School, (Director, Marie Bogat) and the Carol Morgan School (Director, Roscoe Crowell) joining the Association. The Priory School under Founder and Headmaster, Henry Fowler, joined the following year.
At this time, the name of the Association was changed to the ASSOCIATION OF COLOMBIA-CARIBBEAN AMERICAN SCHOOLS. Soon afterward the first dues were charged: $25 per school per year.