Athena School

Scientology-affiliated school in NSW

33°53′44.04″S 151°10′28.10″E / 33.8955667°S 151.1744722°E / -33.8955667; 151.1744722InformationSchool typePrivate comprehensive coeducational schoolMottoPersistence – Integrity – UnderstandingEstablished1987GradesK–10Websiteathena.nsw.edu.au

The Athena School is an independent, co-educational school for Preschool to Year 10 students located in Newtown, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is registered by the NSW Education Standards Authority and is a member of the NSW Association of Independent Schools.

The teaching approaches of the school are based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard.^[1]

Affiliation with Scientology

The school is licensed by Applied Scholastics, a company wholly owned by the Church of Scientology, which licenses the study methods of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.^[2]^[3] The school asserts it's affiliation with Scientology is non-religious.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Since 2007, all teachers are registered with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards.^[7] The Athena School follows the guidelines set out by the NSW Board of Studies in its curriculum.^[7]

In March 2010 the Greens New South Wales party lodged an official complaint about the school to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission due to an advertising leaflet which fails to reveal the school's link to Scientology. The Principal of the school said the Applied Scholastics study method did not teach the Scientology religion, "We follow the Board of Studies curriculum. We use the study method of L. Ron Hubbard. It is a method of study, it is not teaching Scientology."^[8]

Green School program with Street Coolers

In 2015 the school started a "green school" program with Street Coolers, a community-focused organisation with a mission to cool our urban areas. This involved the school utilising several machines capable of creating several kilograms of compost per day, a reverse-vending machine open to the public, which allows individuals to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans for coupons, as well as energy and weather monitoring to assess power usage and how the weather affects this.^[9]

References

^ "Services". Athena School. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007.
^ "Senate" (PDF). Official Hansard. Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 39, no. 16. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia (published 10 November 2000). 2000. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
^ Burke, Kelly (24 June 2003). "Scientology class suits shy Hindu". Sydney Morning Herald. Religion in Schools. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
^ "Philosophy". Athena School. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
^ "The Barriers to Study". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
^ "Is The Athena School a Scientology School?". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Welcome to The Athena School | Private School in Sydney | Primary School | High School | Independent School". Athena.nsw.edu.au. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
^ "Greens refer Scientology school to consumer watchdog". ABC News. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
^ "Paving The Way For Sustainable Schools | The Athena School". The Athena School. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.