The 5th Primary School of Rysion

Rysio, after the actions of the teachers Philip Kargopoulos and Stylianos Tzorbatzikostis, quickly acquired a school in the place of the present 5th Primary School, which during the interwar period was called "RIK" Rysio, Kouri, Katirli.
It was founded on 15 October 1926.
Its construction cost 150,000 drachmas and it started operating at the end of 1927, with Philip Kargopoulos as the first director and Christos Asproulis as the chairman of the school committee.
The teaching committee, consisting of K. Araboglou, Ath. Roditis, G. G. G. Mavrogelasto and H. Asprooulis (chairman), with zeal and special interest completed the work they had undertaken.                                                                   The majestic and imposing building housed the students from the four neighbouring districts of N. Rysio, Kouri, Katirli and Derkon until 1975, when it was demolished by the School Buildings Organisation and a new school building complex (5th and 21st Primary School and 2nd High School of Kalamaria) was rebuilt in its place.
From 1926 to 1929, school theatre performances and lotteries with handicrafts of the school's students were organized to support the school financially.
(Newspaper "Macedonia", 15 June 1929).
 

Before the construction of the school of Rysio, the pupils went to the school of Kalamaria. In 1932 - 1933 the population of the settlement was about 800. According to the 'father's occupation' in the school registers, Aretsou had the widest variety of occupations of all the coastal settlements. But it had almost no commercial shops, only two bakeries, two barbershops and four cafes. Most of the people of Aretsia worked in Thessaloniki.
(From the book by Grigoris Economidis, Dr. Civil Engineer, "Rysio Aretsos Darica", Univorsity Studio Pross Publications, Thessaloniki, 2009.)