Study Abroad School-Year Options

The following programs all earn some academic credit; applicants should be certain, however, that their time off campus will not jeopardize the fulfillment of the regular requirements for the diploma. Particular attention must be paid to the requirements in Modern and Classical Languages, as well as Religion and Science. Day students who are selected to participate in off-campus programs become boarding students for that term (year) and must pay the boarding tuition for that term (year). Some programs also include a surcharge. The availability of financial aid varies from program to program. Students should ask the director of the particular program for information. The availability of some of these programs is dependent upon sufficient enrollment and the staffing needs of the Academy.

School Year Abroad Program In China, France, Italy, and Spain
The programs in France and Spain are designed for students going into their Upper or Senior year who have completed two years of French, Latin, or Spanish. The program in China and Italy is for students also going into their Upper or Senior year who wish to begin or continue the study of Mandarin Chinese or Latin. The China program is also suitable for a graduating Senior who would like to spend a post-graduate year in China. Each of these programs offer a full year of residence and study in the respective country.

School Year Abroad, founded in 1964, is a program sponsored by the three charter schools of Exeter, Andover, and St. Paul’s. The heads of these three schools serve as permanent members of SYA’s board of trustees. In addition to these three charter schools, SYA’s association includes a consortium of other top U.S. independent schools that have demonstrated a strong commitment to foreign and classical language instruction as well as international education. Admission to these programs is competitive. The total enrollment in each program is about 60 students.

The programs are conducted during the school year in Beijing (China), Rennes (France), Viterbo (Italy), and Zaragoza (Spain). Its courses have always been fully accredited by the three schools. The purpose of these programs is for students to participate in a full academic year, as well as to reap the benefits of living in a foreign culture while achieving a level of real fluency or skills virtually impossible to attain at their home schools. Since some of Exeter’s graduation requirements (e.g., Religion or Science) cannot be fulfilled in Beijing, Rennes, Viterbo, or Zaragoza, interested students should develop as early as possible a long-range plan of studies that will assure their eligibility.

In each program, students live with host families and participate fully in their lives. They join athletic and cultural organizations with their Chinese, French, Italian, or Spanish counterparts and travel both on several school-sponsored trips as well as independently. Academically, each student pursues a minimum of five courses selected from a curriculum especially designed for School Year Abroad students. Standard Upper and Senior English and Mathematics courses are taught in English, generally by teachers from the charter or member schools. Subjects such as literature, language, history, civilization, and art history are taught in the target language by native instructors. The classes are rigorous and reflect the standards of the sponsoring schools. All College Board Examinations are offered.

The cost of the programs, including flight, do not differ significantly from the cost of a year as a boarder at Exeter. Financial aid is available. Catalogs and further information may be obtained from the Exeter SYA coordinator. Open to Uppers and Seniors.

Fall Term in France
Students who have completed two years of French may apply for a fall-term program for Seniors in Grenoble. The program consists of one course taught by a resident PEA faculty member and other courses taught by French faculty (a survey of French history and art, a theater course, a course in European institutions, and a linguistics course.) Excursions of cultural and historical interest complement the academic program. Students live with families in Grenoble. The 10-week program ends in time to allow students to take the S.A.T. in the United States in December. Students receive five credits (including two language credits) for completion of the program. An English 400-level elective is required in the Spring Term in lieu of English 410. A maximum of 12 students may participate. Admission to the program is competitive; financial aid is available.

Fall Term in Russia

The Department of Modern Languages oversees a selective program of Spring Term family stays in St. Petersburg, Russia’s “northern capital.” Exeter students live with host families whose children attend School #636, centrally located on the River Neva two minutes away from St. Petersburg’s famous Nevskyi Prospekt. Exeter students enroll for the spring semester at School #636, where they study with Russian students and receive extra tutoring in Russian language with the school’s teachers. Courses that are offered include history, literature, language, math, or science. Completion of the St. Petersburg program provides five credits toward the Exeter diploma. Students pay the regular tuition to the Academy, and this fee covers the cost of travel to and from Russia as well as the cost of homestays and school tuition. Interested students should contact their Russian teacher as soon as possible in their Lower or Upper year. Open to Uppers and Seniors.

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Fall Term in Stratford, England

The Stratford Program, open to Seniors, offers 11 participants an opportunity to live and study in Great Britain; to read plays and see them performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company; to travel to important historical sites; to study works by British authors and, often, to visit locations central to those works.Students are housed under the supervision of the director, an Exeter faculty member, in Furzen Hill Farmhouse and Cottages in the village of Cubbington Heath, about 20 minutes from Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The academic program varies from year to year to incorporate the expertise of the director, but in all cases it is rigorous and includes a course in Shakespearean drama taught by a local English professor. Students take four courses, augmented by day trips, longer excursions, and opportunities to see theatrical performances and to meet with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The program runs for 11 weeks (roughly from the beginning of September to mid-November). The calendar includes opportunities for students to take the S.A.T. at English testing sites. Because of expenses for day trips, overnight excursions, and theater performances, the program typically requires a surcharge. Selection of participants occurs in January thru February for the following fall.

Fall Term at the Island School, Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas

Lowers and uppers who have completed one year of introductory biology are eligible to study at the Island School on the shores of Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas for the fall term. This rigorous program focuses on sustainability, and experiential and environmental education. The forty-eight students who constitute the program’s student body each term come from different schools and live and study on the Island School campus. Students take courses in Land and Environmental Art, Literature of the Sea, Bahamian History, Celestial Navigation, Marine Ecology, and Research. Students also participate in Scuba, daily morning exercise, kayaking trips, community service, and island exploration. Participating students will earn six credits as follows: two diploma credits (one each in physical education and Studio Art), and four graduation load credits (two in biology and 2/3 each in English, History, and Math). The Island School does not offer foreign language courses, and applicants are encouraged to speak with their advisers about the potential impact on their course of study. Admission to the program is competitive; financial aid is available. See the chair of the Island School Committee for more information and visit http://www.islandschool.org/. Applications are due to PEA’s Island School committee chairperson mid-February for the next year and are available at the Island School website. Open to Lowers and Uppers. Prerequisite: One year of Biology.

Winter or Spring Term in Germany

Qualified Seniors studying German may elect to study in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany, during the winter or spring term. Two to four students each term attend the Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium and carry a five- or six-course load, including German language and literature and other subjects according to the student’s interests. Involvement in sports and clubs is also expected. Students live with German families and are integrated into everyday family life. Successful completion of the program provides five credits toward the Exeter diploma. Participants in the winter program are required to take an English 400-level elective in the spring of their Senior year in lieu of English 420. Interested students should contact their German instructor in their Upper year.

Winter Term in Mexico

Students who have completed two years of Spanish may apply for a winter-term program for Seniors at the La Salle University, a private, coed day school in Cuernavaca. Students will be taught grammar and literature by the resident director of the program from Phillips Exeter Academy, and will attend other classes in art, math, history, geography, etc., with Mexican students of the same age; they will participate fully in the recitations as they would at the Academy. Courses will be complemented by field trips to sites of archaeological interest, such as Xochicalco, San Juan Teotihuacan, and to Mexico City. Exonians will live with families of their Mexican counterparts. Students receive five course credits (including two language course credits) for completion of the program. An English 400-level elective is required in Spring Term in lieu of English 420. A maximum of 12 students may participate. Admission to the program is competitive; financial aid is available.

Read about Exeter in Mexico...

Winter Term in Ballytobin/Callan

The Exeter-Ballytobin/Callan Program is open to qualified 12th-graders. Those selected spend the Winter Term of their Senior year living in Callan, Ireland, and working at Ballytobin, a Camphill community established in 1979 that “offers those in need of special care a sheltered environment to meet their educational, therapeutic and social needs.” The students observe and assist an experienced caregiver as he or she cares for a person with such needs. They also take the part-time art course offered to abled and disabled alike by a local Arts Centre; keep an electronic journal that they “pass in” on a weekly basis to a PEA faculty member; read appropriate articles and texts; and write a reflective paper on the experience of living, working, and studying in this community. The students receive two course credits for the term. This program is overseen by Gladys and Patrick Lydon (PEA ’68). It has at its heart service to others and asks of students much ingenuity, tenacity, and maturity.
The central assumptions of this program are two: (1) that such work is, in and of itself, of immense value, educational in the richest sense of the word; and (2) that written reflection on the experience of such work deepens the student’s sense of personal growth. In short, this program offers PEA students an opportunity to live in a sustained way the Academy’s motto of non sibi, “not for oneself.” For the school year 2009-2010, this program offers space for two students only.