After so many years it's difficult to try and put the clock back to remember what dreams were at the forefront of my mind, what reserves of courage I had to draw on when, in 1978, I took the bold step of opening a private school with about 160 students and today we have almost 2.000 students.

What foresight would have encouraged me to take that first step with confidence? Perhaps it would have been knowledge of the fact that today our schools have succeeded in creating a modern, dynamic community of education, culture and sports, acknowledged throughout Greece.

An additional factor would have been that their good reputation has spread even well beyond the Greek and European borders - our students are admitted by top American and British Universities and Colleges: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Caltech, MIT, Duke, Dartmouth, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Williams, Amherst, Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College. In addition, other students have participated in the computer and physics olympiads where they gained distinctions at these world-level events.

It is highly likely, too, that the continual first places gained at tertiary level institutions, in both local and panhellenic student competitions such as the debate and public speaking scholastic tournaments in both the English and Greek languages, competitions in biology, chemistry, physics, information technology, ancient greek, the orchestra, the theatre, traditional dance, the choir, etc., have helped critically aware Greeks to afford our schools the elevated status they deserve. Certainly that list of honors would not be complete without mentioning the sports accolades we have gained up to the present time: Our Senior High School basketball team have been world champions and they have also won second and third positions in the world championship. They have won five championships at the panhellenic level so far.

One question lingers: was it all worth the sacrifice that both oneself and one's family must make in order to achieve the level of education and service that we offer?
As you may appreciate - there is no simple answer. Suffice it to say that it certainly seems worth the struggle when one.

DOES something that is fulfilling. 
BELIEVES that, along with instructing, one is forming characters, instilling greek orthodox ideals in young minds.
COMBINES tradition and progress, two very significant factors for the continued existence of any people. 
IS ABLE, in the best possible way, to achieve "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

And all the above could not have been achieved if I were not assisted by a fantastic teaching, management and support staff, and especially by my family who have selflessly stood by me for many years, giving of their best, helping with their far sightedness and innovative ideas. These are the qualities which are essential for us to realize the high-level goals of the school, as we at MANDOULIDES SCHOOLS want it to be, not just as we are considered to be.