​​Founder
Until the Covid pandemic, Akida Mashaka (above left), an American, Barcelona resident and Harvard Law School and Morehouse College graduate, had always believed the traditional education system pathway was the way to success in life. Work hard. Get good grades. Follow the path. However, during Covid, Akida saw something he couldn’t unsee. All the problems with traditional education system were exposed. Education in schools was not designed to prepare students for the real world they would live in. It was not helping students understand themselves. This was a transformational moment for Akida. Because if school is not preparing you for life, then what really is the purpose of school in the first place?
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Why
Living in Barcelona, this harsh reality became personal when it came to finding the perfect school for his own teenage son. The only options were traditional schools that were not flexible at all or alternative schools with no academic structure whatsoever. So Akida began asking himself, what kind of person will his son become in a traditional education environment or a learning environment with no structure at all? What skills will he actually need for the future? And why does school feel so disconnected from that future reality? Akida realized that the world had indeed changed. But unfortunately, education had not. At least not for the better. So Akida, as an entrepreneur himself, from that moment on was not willing to let his son—or any child for that matter—learn based on an educational approach created in the industrial age over 200 years ago, that is no longer applicable today.
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New Education Model
So Akida started rethinking everything. What if students learned by doing instead of memorizing? What if school helped them discover their strengths, particularly their “superpower”, instead of amplifying their weaknesses? What if social and emotional development mattered just as much as academics? That thinking became the foundation of what is now the BHS Method™. Because in the real world, you don’t succeed by memorizing information. You succeed by creating and adapting to find solutions that work.
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BHS Method
Starting a school from nothing, all by himself, especially with no experience in education, was seemingly an impossible feat. There was no blueprint. No safety net. No guarantees. Just conviction and Akida's entrepreneurial spirit to fearlessly try to solve a problem by using student and parent feedback and continual trial and error until success was reached. Hence, the BHS Method™: Build. Harvest. Succeed was born. And just like that, Akida started BHS as "Barcelona High School" with 5 teenage students in a basement. There were plenty of reasons to fail. But when you know something needs to change as important as this, fear of failure never crosses your mind. Moreover, as an entrepreneur, Akida's mentality was always that the person who fails the most will be the most success in life because of the learning that comes through failure.
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Co-Founder
During the initial school year, Akida met an inspiring educator from Chicago, Amanda Slefo (above right), a teacher who had always dreamed of being a Director and owner of a school. But more importantly, Amanda also believed that the traditional education system was broken and needed to be revamped. With Amanda as Director, what happened next was incredible. Students did not just perform better. They transformed. They became confident. Engaged. Self-aware. Students started to discover who they really are and what they are capable of when someone truly believes in them. And for the first time, the students actually loved going to school. School was like a family. That’s when Akida and Amanda realized this was not just another school. It was a new and revolutionary model for education combined with a one-of-a-kind culture.
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Social Wellness School
Today, BHS is an accredited American school in Spain since 2024 and the world’s first Social Wellness School™ where academic excellence, social engagement, and emotional wellbeing are all supported in equal measure. And in the blink of an eye, BHS has grown from those 5 students in the basement to over 500 students across 2 campuses. Now BHS serves students ages 3 to 18 years old. The new primary school campus for elementary and preschool is in the upper Gracia district and the secondary school campus for middle and high school is in the startup and tech district, Poblenou. This growth is through "word of mouth" because families see and feel the difference. Most importantly, while BHS has grown in size, it still feels like a family.
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Vision
The vision is simple. A school where students feel safe, supported, and inspired. Where diversity is a strength. Where flexibility replaces outdated rigidity. Where teachers are mentors, and not just lecturers. A place where teachers just don't "teach to the test". A place with an unbreakable student-teacher relationship where students are prepared for life.
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Build, Harvest, Succeed
The future does not belong to the most obedient students. It belongs to the ones who understand themselves, think independently, and create their own path. Traditional education, unfortunately, does not teach that. BHS does. Because when a student learns how to build, harvest, and succeed, they do not just follow the world. They shape it.