The program was created by the U.S. Department of State and is run
by State Department-accredited organizations.
Every year nearly 30,000 students from around the world choose to study for a year at
a high school in the United States. In addition to school activities, students can
participate in extra-curricular activities organized by the school such as sports,
dance groups, literature clubs and others.
You can go for a semester or a full academic year and will live with
a previously evaluated host family that is also enrolled in the program.
You will be treated just like a family member, so you will have responsibilities,
and you will have to live by the rules of the house in which you stay.
Have you seen the American Pie at least once?
How many times have you wondered what it would be like to go to a high school in the U.S.
and experience things you have only seen in movies? If you have good grades and a good understanding
of English, we can send you to the States to study at a U.S. high school for an entire academic year.
You will have the same rights as an American student, and you will become part of an American family.
SCHOOL
School will be an essential part of your life in the States.
After all, this is the reason you are going.
So what are American high schools like? It's pretty hard to answer that question,
because every school is different.
A few generalities are listed below to give you a clearer idea of the U.S. education system.
There are two types of high schools in the States:
public and private ones. The difference is in how they support themselves financially.
All participants in this program will study in public schools. These receive funds from local taxes,
compared to the private ones that charge tuition fees (similar to those applied in our universities).
Another difference between public and private high schools is the number of students per class.
Whereas the number of students per class in public high schools is often higher,
private schools try to form classes of fewer students, so they receive a more personalized and individualized education.
Uniforms, as we know from many schools in Romania, are not mandatory in public high schools in the United States.
You can go dressed casually (jeans, shirt, sneakers, etc.).
Many private schools have a strict dress code, and students must wear uniforms daily.
The school year usually starts in late August or early September and ends in May or June.
You will have several short vacations during the school year: at Christmas (1-2 weeks) and Spring Break
(one week in March or April).There are also other holidays such as Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday in January),
Labor Day (first Monday in September) and Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November). These are just a few examples,
because school holidays depend on the high school.
Classes begin between 7 and 9 in the morning and end between 14 and 15.
Unlike in Romania, in the States each class is held in a different classroom,
so you will have to move between classrooms during breaks. .
The study program includes some compulsory subjects that you will need to cover
(math, English, history, science, etc.) and some optional subjects, such as choir, photography,
creative writing, and theater. There are several schools that offer AP (Advanced Placement) courses,
which are high school classes that can lead to college credit!
Besides the academic part of the high school,
Americans place great importance on sports.
High schools offer a variety of sports activities
in which you are encouraged to participate. American high school sports
include American football, soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, and others.
Sports competitions are often very important social events, attended by students,
families, and friends of the athletes.
Apart from sports activities, you can take part in
all sorts of high school events throughout the school year.
These might include "Homecoming", which is designed to welcome back alumni and former residents,
Powder Puff Football games (American tradition in which girls play football and boys become the cheerleaders),
or a variety of dances, including the famous, "Senior Prom". We could continue, but we don not
want to overwhelm you with information, so we will leave the rest up to you.
We hope we have given you a good picture of what it means to attend a high school in the U.S.,
of the opportunities that you will have, and of the experience that you will gain both in academic and social terms.
Many different types of U.S. families are interested in hosting exchange students.
YOUR HOST FAMILY
You might live with someone your own age, or you might live a family with a toddle,
an older couple with children who no longer live at home, or even with a one-parent family.
When looking for the perfect family for you,
we take in consideration your hobbies and interests and try to match them as much as possible with the family's.
Regardless of their interests, all families have in common the desire to host a student like you.
They will be caring, friendly, and very excited to have you live with them.
