Mr. Perske was born, raised, and attended university in California, receiving his Master's Degree in administration from UCLA. He began his teaching career in northern California. Since 1980 he has worked at American/international schools abroad in seven different countries: England, Belgium, Greece, Thailand, Italy, Zaire, and now Bulgaria. He served as a school principal in Greece and Thailand, and was the school director in Italy and Zaire. He has been the President of The American College of Sofia since 1997.
Mr. Perske answered questions of Martina Iovcheva
Q: The American College in Sofia celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. What has been achieved for these ten years? How will the college mark the anniversary?
A: Some people will remember that we celebrated our 140th Anniversary two years ago, so it might seem a little odd that now we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary. However, if one knows the history of The College, they will understand that in year 2001 we celebrated the 140th Anniversary of our founding in 1860. However, we were forced to close in 1942 due to WW II. Although there were attempts by the Board of Trustees to re-open The College after the War ended, all efforts were rebuffed by the Communist government. It was not until vast democratic changes swept eastern Europe in 1989, that the possibility to re-open The College became available.
So, to answer the question, the first major achievement was getting the government to allow us to re-open the school and then having some of our original campus and buildings returned to us. Even in 1991 there was some significant resistance to our re-opening. Since that time, other buildings that we constructed on the campus have been returned to us one-by-one. Since very little maintenance had been done on these buildings for 50 years, we had to undertake massive renovation projects, to make the buildings functional for a school. Funding came from our own endowment and from USAID.
We began with a preparatory class of 8th graders in 1992 and added one class each year until we had five full grade levels in 1996. The first class of 12th graders graduated in 1997. So, a second challenge over the past 10 years has been building our educational program, hiring the best staff, obtaining the necessary resources, and establishing ourselves as one of the best college preparatory schools in the world.
We are very proud of the fact that when we re-opened The College in 1992, a conscious decision was made to make admission to The College based on academic merit only. Power, wealth, and influence would not be factors. Admission to The College is based on the results of an admissions exam given in Bulgarian language to aspiring 7th grade students. 3000 students sat for the first exam in 1992; 100 were selected to enter the College. Five year scholarships which reduced the tuition by 75% were offered to the top 50 girls and top 50 boys on the admissions exam. Since 1997, the highest scoring boy and girl have been offered 100% scholarships. That generous admissions policy still holds to this day.
We will celebrate the 10th Anniversary in a variety of ways. First, there will be a reception in our honor co-hosted by U.S. Ambassador James Pardew. Several of our Board members will travel from the U.S. to Bulgaria to attend. The reception will be followed by general festivities on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 12-4 pm, in the park on campus. The "Concert in the Park" will feature the live band "Slang" to entertain us, there will be games for children and adults, plenty of good food and drink, exhibitions of our history, movies of the history, various commerative items for sale, including t-shirts, pins, a memory book, and a beautiful historical calendar. All Friends of The College are invited to attend.
Q: What are the three main things that make the American College in Sofia unique?
A: There are so many things, which make The College special. First is our mission, which is to provide an affordable American style education to the best and brightest Bulgarian high school students. That mission and the manner in which we apply it creates a uniquely positive school atmosphere. The staff and students are very happy and lively, engaged not only in their academic work, but also in the numerous extra-curricular activities, including some 50 clubs, interscholastic sports teams, drama, arts, music, computer activities, and more. Another unique aspect of the school is our beautiful 52 acre campus with 70 year old neo-classical and restoration era buildings.
Q: How do you see the American College in Sofia in another ten years?
A: First, we hope to maintain our strong academic program and generous admissions policy. Second, we would like to be fully financially stable and independent. As one can imagine, our scholarship policy creates financial difficulties in running an institution of this caliber. Third, we would like to have full ownership of our property restored to us. Currently, we are still leasing the property and buildings from the government.
Q: Could you describe a successful applicant to the American College in Sofia?
A: There certainly is no one model. Our students are quite diverse. Successful applicants tend to be hard working, creative, and motivated to learn. They must be well-rounded academically because the admissions exam has sections on reading comprehension, essay writing, mathematics, and logic.
Q: How do you motivate the students to study so hard? How does the college manage to continue the tradition of high achievement?
A: The academic standards are well established, so students tend to know what they're getting into when they enter The College. We make our expectations very clear to parents and students through a variety of meetings with them. Experience shows that most young people want to meet the reasonable (even if high) expectations of adults, as long as they clearly understand them. Success breeds success. Younger students see how successful the older students are and this motivates them to achieved at that high level.
Q: Nearly one million young people left Bulgaria during the last ten years. What about the majority of the college's students? Do they choose to study abroad after finishing the college?
A: The majority of our graduates do apply to universities abroad and the majority of them are successful in obtaining places at universities offering them sufficient financial aid. Like most Bulgarians, our students are proud of their country, although disappointed with the current economic situation. We believe that our students are the future leaders of this country and that upon completing their education and perhaps after gaining some worldly experience, they will return to Bulgaria to help their country grow and prosper.
Q: What are the challenges that a privately-run college faces in Bulgaria?
A: Finding motivated, well-educated students to attend The College is not a problem. The chief challenge is generating enough revenue to continue operate a school such as this. Most families just cannot afford the to pay the true cost of this type of education. Of course, the economy is a major factor in this problem, but also there are government regulations and policies that hinder our progress. A few examples: There is no way to know the true income of our families, so it is difficult to know who really needs financial aid; there is a lot of meaningless paperwork which we must complete for various ministries, which takes time and money; we must pay profit taxes on any excess revenue which we generate, even though all revenue is reinvested in the development of the school and even though we are providing a non-profit service to Bulgaria.
Q: Many criticisms have been voiced during the past years regarding the high-school education in Bulgaria? What is your opinion about the high-school education system in Bulgaria?
A: : Bulgaria used to have one of the strongest high school and university educational programs in the world. Just look at the number of well-educated and qualified people there are. However, all across the world education is one of the first things to suffer during difficult economic times. Budgets are cut and schools have to make do as best they can. Bulgaria is no different. However, it is especially sad when one knows how good the educational system once was and how much potential there is for it to be excellent once again. This is not to say that there are not excellent schools and teachers out there because there are. However, it is to say that the lack of resources demoralizes teachers.
The American College works to help to help Bulgarian teachers develop their pedagogical skills by offering free workshops and conferences. We can present the ideas, principles, and philosophies, but teachers need to have the resources to put these practices into place.
Q: Which, in your opinion, are the biggest problems the Bulgarian society faces today?
A: The development of the economy, too many bureaucratic obstacles to progress, and corruption. They are all tied together and it is a difficult knot to undo.
Q: Could you describe Bulgaria in three words?
A: Physically beautiful, struggling, proud.
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