Head of School

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ANNUNCIATION ORTHODOX SCHOOL

Head of School Houston, Texas

ABOUT ANNUNCIATION ORTHODOX SCHOOL

Founded in 1970 as a ministry of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Annunciation Orthodox School (AOS) has grown from a single early childhood classroom into an independent day school serving more than 700 students, from age three in the school's Delphi program through eighth grade.

Located in Houston's Montrose neighborhood, AOS sits directly across the street from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. More than 30 years ago, AOS became an independent school and today operates as a financially independent institution while maintaining a close spiritual relationship with the Cathedral. More than 50 years after its founding, AOS remains a close-knit community shaped by faith, family, and a commitment to knowing and caring for each child.

AOS describes itself as "The School for Hearts and Minds," reflecting its commitment to educating the whole child. The school pairs rigorous academics with a strong emphasis on character, compassion, and joy. This distinctive heritage is complemented by a welcoming community where students, families, faculty, and staff from a wide range of beliefs and backgrounds find a strong sense of belonging.

AOS graduates consistently distinguish themselves in Houston's competitive high schools and are known for arriving well-rounded and well-prepared. Beyond their academic preparation, they are students who lead, collaborate, and carry themselves with confidence.

1970 700+ Age 3–8th Montrose FOUNDED STUDENTS Grade H O U S TO N , T E X A S

DELPHI THROUGH GRADE 8

COMMUNITY

Traditions shape community life at AOS, many of them decades old, fostering a strong sense of connection and belonging across the school.

Its Greek Orthodox Christian roots give the calendar its own rhythm and color throughout the year. Every Thursday, the entire AOS community gathers to pray at weekly chapel services. In September, icons and fresh basil mark the Elevation of the Cross. In January, Cathedral members and parent volunteers bake more than 100 loaves of Vasilopita bread, each with a coin baked inside for a blessed new year, and share it with the whole school. March brings the Name Day Celebration, honoring the school's namesake, the Feast of the Annunciation, with traditional Greek songs and dances performed by students. Each spring, Pascha, or Orthodox Easter, brings dyed red eggs, egg hunts, and service projects, often on a different weekend than Western Easter. AOS honors both as school holidays.

Other traditions build that same sense of belonging without a religious calendar behind them. Chief among them is Chapel Buddies, which pairs each of AOS's youngest students with an older student who walks them to chapel every week, models what it means to be a good AOS citizen and builds relationships that carry across grade levels.

M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T

Annunciation Orthodox School, having grown from a ministry of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, celebrates the diverse and individual qualities of all children and their families. AOS provides a superior education in a secure and stimulating Christian environment which encourages the individual child to achieve academic, spiritual, emotional, social and physical excellence, and to become a responsible member of our society.

THE SCHOOL FOR HEARTS AND MINDS

Rooted in Greek traditions and culture, AOS offers an educational experience that extends beyond academic excellence and includes the development of strong character in an Orthodox Christian environment. Every day, we celebrate the distinct talents and diverse backgrounds of our students, cultivating empathy, resilience, confidence, and agape (unconditional love in action) while fostering a joy of learning. Our students mature into grounded and compassionate members of society prepared for future challenges.

AC A D E M I C S Academic rigor at AOS starts early, in Delphi and Pre-K, The Katherine Veletsos Lower School, covering and builds year over year through eighth grade. kindergarten through fourth grade, is where that early Students are taught to try what's hard, to take real curiosity turns into independence. Students build academic risks, and to treat failure as part of learning foundational academic skills while growing socially, rather than something to fear. That mindset shows up in emotionally, and spiritually, developing a growth a curriculum built around cross-curricular mindset through both independent work and collaboration and STEAM integration, where a poetry collaboration with classmates. unit becomes a podcast that students write and record themselves, or a self-portrait assignment grows out of a Fifth through eighth grade take place in the Mark Kelly classroom study of Frida Kahlo. Core instruction spans Middle School Building, where academic demands are language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and sharpened alongside continued social and emotional world languages, alongside physical education, religion, development. An enrichment program spanning fine visual art, drama, music, and technology, with faculty arts, coding, and design thinking gives students room to deliberately connecting subjects rather than teaching explore beyond the core curriculum during some of the them in isolation. most significant growth years of their lives. Dr. James Comer's line, that no significant learning can occur In Early Childhood, the Delphi and Prekindergarten without a significant relationship, is one AOS treats as programs integrate every area of development, from foundational to how middle schoolers are taught, not language and math to science, social studies, and life just how they're cared for. skills, through developmentally appropriate lessons and projects. Housed in the Jesse H. Jones Center for Early That same emphasis on relationship carries all the way Childhood Development, the program gives children a to the end of eighth grade, when preparation for high hands-on environment built around play and school begins in earnest. Heading for High School, the exploration. Chapel, religion, gross motor skills, Greek, school's application readiness program, walks students and music round out the day, all aimed at building and families through the entire process, pairing each curiosity and letting young learners move at their family with an assigned advisor and spending the fall own pace. building the interviewing and essay writing skills students will need. AOS alumni consistently matriculate to Houston's top independent high schools, arriving well-prepared and ready to lead from day one.

AT H L E T I C S FINE ARTS The mission of AOS athletics is to nurture the whole AOS describes its approach to fine arts as "seeing the person: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. beauty in creation," language that reaches back to the Student-athletes are taught to see past themselves and school's Greek Orthodox roots and its belief that every to compete for something larger than the scoreboard. child is capable of making something beautiful. Students explore drama, music, visual art, and literary That mission is backed by a no-cut policy. AOS fields art, both as disciplines of their own and woven into teams at multiple skill levels so that any student willing everyday academics. to commit to practice and to teammates gets to play, not just the most talented. The school's award-winning literary magazine gives student writers a real audience, built from work AOS competes across three seasons as a member of the solicited through writing competitions and practiced Houston Junior Preparatory Conference, fielding teams daily in the classroom. Learning also extends beyond from cross country and football in the fall to basketball the building, through museum visits, professional and wrestling in the winter to lacrosse and track and performances, and a cultural immersion trip. field in the spring. The program has the championship banners to show for it, including recent titles in That work culminates on stage and in galleries basketball, softball, and volleyball, and graduates have throughout the year, from one-act plays and musicals gone on to compete collegiately at schools including to the Eikon Art Show and the spring concert, giving Colgate, Washington & Lee, and Claremont McKenna. every student a chance to perform or present what they've made.

SCHOOL LIFE Leadership opportunities begin as early as first grade, through roles like Safety Patrol and Student Council, and continue into Middle School through Student Council and the Student Ambassador program. Community service is taught before it's assigned. Every project starts with an educational component so students understand the issue and who it serves before taking part in efforts like the Thanksgiving Food Offering and Toys for Joy.

That same support extends to daily life on campus. SAGE Dining Services runs the dining hall, growing produce in a rooftop garden

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