Ekzarh Yossif I’ Foreign Languages High School has instructed students for over 130 years; formerly being an American College for girls, and now a public foreign language secondary school. The school was established by American missionaries in 1881. Our school is specialized in languages. 901 students (both boys and girls) learn English, German, Spanish and French from the 8th grade to the 12th grade (aged 14 – 18). In the 8th grade, students study a total of 23 hours a week in the language of their choice. Subsequent years entail 6 hours of study of said language in the fields of biology, chemistry, history and geography along with extensive study of grammar, phonetics and literature. After the 8th grade, students are required to study a second language for 4 hours a week in addition to their primary language studies. Besides languages, our curriculum includes mathematics, computers, geography, history, biology, physics, chemistry, psychology, music, arts, sports, etc. Most of our students continue their higher education at universities in Bulgaria and abroad – mainly in Germany, France, Austria and the USA. The school features a multifunctional “America for Bulgaria” cinema hall (204 seats) for drama performances, seminars, musical festivals, meetings of the Students’ Parliament, language certificate exams, etc. We also have a special hall for presentations (30 seats), equipped with modern ICT. Four computer labs offer free access to the wireless internet. There are two gyms in the school; the new one has a modern design, and is fully equipped for indoor games. Our English, German and French resource centers were established through cooperation with the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. On the school territory there are two boarding houses for boys and girls, respectively.

The school has had teachers from Germany and France for over 50 years. It has enjoyed student exchange programs with schools from Germany, for over twenty years, with France for 15 years, with Belgium for 4 years, and with Switzerland for 2 years, with students from said countries

visiting Bulgaria, and Bulgarian students visiting their peers in Western Europe.  The school has also had English teachers from Great Britain vis-à-vis the British Council (1993-1998), the United States vis-à-vis the American Peace Corps (1998-2007) and Fulbright (2009-present).

Our school has been of great importance to the region and the country – a lot of politics, diplomats and business people have graduated from our school.