SEROOND Begins: Armenia’s First Authored School Model Based on Whole-Child Development, Enabled by AI

The whole-child model, approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, starts with a founding cohort of first graders this month.

YEREVAN, Armenia (September 1, 2026) The Armenia Education Initiative (AEI), the founding organization of Teach For Armenia, today announced the launch of SEROOND, Armenia’s first authored school model based on whole-child development and enabled by AI. The model is approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia. A founding cohort of first graders begins this month, in partnership with Hovnanian International, the Rev and Rachel Foundation, and an anonymous donor.

SEROOND was developed and tested across public schools in Armenia over the past six years. It is built to run inside the public system, not alongside it, so that a whole-child education reaches every Armenian child and not only the families who can afford to pay for one.

SEROOND builds AI into the classroom from the start. A four-layer architecture handles the work machines are good at, including adapting curriculum, analyzing learning data, and adjusting pace for each child. That gives teachers their time back for the work only people can do: knowing their students, building the relationships that help a child find out what they are capable of, and making school a place children actually want to be. The technology serves the whole-child model, and social and emotional development stays at the center of it.

“Education systems everywhere are asking what they are preparing children for. Very few are in a position to start over. Armenia is,” said Larisa Hovannisian, Founder and CEO of the Armenia Education Initiative. “We are treating SEROOND as a laboratory. It is one country’s attempt to design learning around what stays human, and we will share what we learn with anyone who wants to look at it. We are grateful to Hovnanian International, the Rev and Rachel Foundation, and our anonymous donor for backing this, and for making sure that this kind of education reaches every child in Armenia and not just a few.”

For Hovnanian International, the partnership follows nearly three decades of building in Armenia. Shant Hovnanian put it this way: “My family has been building in Armenia for nearly thirty years. Houses, a community, a place people could come home to. The longer we do it, the more convinced I am that classrooms matter more than anything we pour concrete for. My parents understood that. Before they built anything here, they built a school in New Jersey. What draws me to SEROOND is the nerve of it. A small country has decided to write its own model of education instead of importing someone else’s, and then to hand that back to the world.”

Rachel Lebaredian of the Rev and Rachel Foundation has supported SEROOND since the earliest days of the model. “Long before there was a model, or a name, or a Ministry approval, there was Larisa and the team, putting one stone on top of another, year after year, mostly out of sight,” she said. “I was lucky enough to watch it happen. I traveled with our team, sat in the meetings, and saw how much of this was built on conviction alone. The children starting first grade this month have no idea how many years of work went into opening that door for them.”

The founding cohort begins in September 2026. Over time, SEROOND will grow into a network of schools across Armenia.

About the Armenia Education Initiative

The Armenia Education Initiative drives systemic change in education. Its core initiatives are Teach For Armenia, SEROOND, the Master’s Program in Teacher Leadership, a 30-credit teacher certification program, the Spark Social Innovation Incubator, and the Public Policy Lab. Together they advance leadership, innovation, and data-driven policymaking in education, improving the learning experience of more than 20,000 students every year. AEI’s vision is an Armenia that leapfrogs the world in education.

About Hovnanian International

Hovnanian International is an Armenian real estate development company based in Yerevan, operating in Armenia since 2000 and known for the Vahakni Residential Community. It is a founding partner of SEROOND.

About the Rev and Rachel Foundation

Founded in 2023 by Rev and Rachel Lebaredian, the Rev and Rachel Foundation supports transformative organizations in Armenia across education, culture and the arts, and technology. It is a founding supporter of SEROOND.