Kourion Complex Basilica? Survey calculations (Oct.–Nov. 1938)

Having been connected with the Registrar's office these last nine years I have had the privilege of following closely the development of this department.

Because of its wide contact with parents, guardians, and applicants, the Registrar's Office has a great opportunity to acquaint the public with the spirit of Athens College. This office,usually the first to be visited, must leave with the visitor a satisfactory impression of the organization of the College and of its higher ideals.

The department has been organized and has functioned with this point in mind, that the Registrar's Office is a sort of introduction to Athens College. Ready and disinterested service is one of our fundamental principles. It is of interest to note the increasing number of people who apply to Athens College for help and advice about the school problems of their children confident that they will get both. No discrimination is our second fundamental principle. It took time and a lot of effort to convince our public of our determination and it was a struggle to make parents realize that the intervention of influential people makes no difference in the acceptance of a candidate or in the promotion of a student. Fortunately during these nine years we have established these traditions and as a result we command the trust and respect of a large percentage of our public.

I remember when our first school calendar was published how incredulous parents were. There is no such tradition even in the higher institutions of learning. Announcing, for example, an examination schedule months in advance and carrying it through was unheard of! To disregard it or to attempt to change it in case it conflicted with their personal plans was at first the attitude of the parents of our students. Time has made them used to this idea and has shown them the advantages of scheduling events in advance.

Besides having personal contact with our prospective clientelle, the Registrar's Office gets in touch with people through the pamphlets published by the College. Among them the carefully planned Greek prospectus has the widest circulation. Two thousand copies are printed and distributed annually. Two illustrated booklets, one published in 1933, and the other in 1935 on the tenth anniversary of the College, have been widely circulated. A total of about 6500 copies have reached many remote corners all over the world where Greek communities prosper. Mr. Delta's articles on the aims of Athens College and the lectures of Mrs. Z. Frangou - President of the Parents' Association of Athens on "Discipline and Freedom", and of Dr. A. Pappas, ex-minister of Public Health on "Hours of School Work", both given before large audiences at the College, have been distributed to make more widely known what Athens College stands for and what it is accomplishing.

It is often stated that "Athens College is the best school in Greece." It is not only parents and friends who say so. Statistics also corroborate the statement.

In spite of the Seven-Year Program and in spite of the fact that Athens College is the most expensive school in Greece our total enrolment has been steadily increasing from year to year. In fact, our enrolment has increased 1154.3% in 12 years. In 1925 we were a tiny school of 35 students. This year our students numbered 404.

An average of 90 students can be accepted each year and an increasingly large number of boys are refused admission. For various reasons we cannot accept more than at present. We have no room. We need more desks, we need more classrooms, we need the missing wing. Had we more space there would be at least 600 Greeks enjoying the education that Athens College gives.