The message has to get out pleaded Seth Attamian, principal of the Armenian 

Community School.  

	Seth Attamian is on a mission. He has become a leader among parents. He has 

become the voice of 110 Armenian children. Armenian children whose academic ability 

compares with the finest students of Fresno and Clovis. But no one knows. No one has 

spread the word.

	So now one man has taken it upon himself to thrust his students into the academic 

spotlight. In this small Armenian community a high value is placed on academics. And as 

of yet, remarkably high test results have been ignored. 

	Attamian retrieves a bar graph which depicts the significant standing of his students 

in such areas as math, science, reading, and writing. "These kids are intelligent," said 

Attamian who has spent a lifetime studying test scores. 

	They are taught to speak the Armenian language, and they are exposed to their 

Armenian culture and heritage. At the same time they have risen above the average 

expectations in academic testing, despite certain language barriers. 

	Unfortunately, the bar graph is kept inside a dark closet unknown to the scholastic 

world, as is the level of sophistication and tenacity that these students possess.

	"I don't believe in doing something for banquets or pats on the back," Attamian 

said. He has proven himself and needs only to prove his point. These students can be as 

successful academically as the they are in their Armenianess.

	Attamian has spent 38 years in education, and in those years Attamian broke one of 

many barriers in this community by becoming the first Armenian principal in the Fresno 

Unified School District. 

	"Growing up I would work and go to church on Sundays. I had no choice with 

regards to education, there was  no school we could afford," he said. Attamian is no 

stranger to adversity. He has since fought to give his students the choices that he had been 

denied. 

	Attamian resides in a quaint office inside the Armenian Community School, which 

was once a church.  The small facility proudly wears its tattered fences and walls that have 

visibly aged. The campus does not share in all the glamour of its fellow institutions. 

However, "the plant does not guarantee educational success," Attamian said. 

	In comparison the quality of teachers and curriculum is certainly commendable. 

It is here that Attamian trains these teachers and their students never want for a mentor, 

direction, or motivation. 

	Like every other elementary student these children race through their playground, 

drag their coats, and rally around their parents at the end of the day. But unlike every other 

elementary school, this Armenian community is a tight-knit family.

	"There is a magnetism that draws us closer, me to them, them to me. We are 

Armenian, we are bound by commonality," said Attamian. 

 	Attending the Armenian Community School is not a point of weakness for over 100 

children, it is an unquestionable strength.  These students fail to lose their Armenianess, as 

they learn to depend on a solid educational foundation to carry them through this 

competitive world.

	The Armenian Community School, the last of its kind in all the United States, has 

seen graduates rise to the top of their classes, become people in high positions, and become 

role models to be esteemed.

	The talent and accomplishments of such students can not be overshadowed any 

longer. There exists unlimited academic potential within these walls. And Attamian has 

begun to spread the word.