VILNIUS - When given a reading assignment, only three children in a classroom lean over their textbooks.Elsewhere in the room, which belongs to the American International School of Vilnius, empty seats wait for the expected growth of Lithuania's international community.
The only American school in Vilnius draws children of diplomats and businesspeople from over 20 countries. One purpose of the school is to keep these children up to speed in their classwork, so that wherever they move next they can easily continue with their studies.
The small size of the school gives it a unique character. Classes, ranging from pre-kindergarten to 10th grade, consist of three to 12 students. The student body totals 96 pupils, so even slight changes in the number of new students can be felt.
But the size of this school comes as no surprise given the relatively small population of Lithuania in comparison with other European countries. The situation is similar in the other two Baltic countries as well.
"Yes, the school could grow to 250 [students], but this depends on the investment in the country," said William Rose, director of the school. "Hopefully, with the EU enlargement there will be more embassies too," he added.
Being small has its pros and cons. "As a teacher in a very small school you can teach every single child to their best," said Fiona Curnow, a teacher of the first grade.
Still, the young people sometimes focus more on the social limitations rather than the guaranteed individual attention.
One ninth grade student named Martina, a representative of the Swedish flag hanging on the classroom wall between numerous others, had mixed feelings about the small size of her class.
"The school and the teachers are excellent but we [students] do get fed up with each other as there are only nine of us," she said.
Nevertheless, parents seem to be satisfied with the teacher to student ratio of one to three.
"We are content with the discipline and supervision of the children, and we do not question our choice of the school," said Dijana Arya, a mother of a student in the third grade.
She applauded the special focus on each child's background and explained that the international atmosphere has taught her daughter to respect national differences. The children from various countries study together and learn more about the world and various cultures from each other and, according to Arya, international schooling can truly bridge differences between nations.
In fact, although the name of the school reads "American" it would be more precise to regard it as "international."
"We try to provide a cross-section - we are not strictly American or British, we try to take the finer points from different educational programs and to incorporate them in our school," explained Rose.
The school is partially funded by the U.S. government; however, it survives primarily on tuition fees.
Those involved with the school point out that its purpose is not necessarily to compete with local schools, but to provide educational support for foreigners coming to the country.
"Our functions is to support Lithuanian government and city officials who try to bring people in because education is one of the key questions that people ask before moving here," Rose said.
