As Flint Hill students began to settle into the routine of the academic year last week, new faces appeared in the halls and classrooms. Arriving from Catalonia, a group of exchange students have been attending school and staying with Flint Hill families who graciously volunteered to host them. They’ve come from the Institut Josep Vallverdu as a part of Flint Hill’s Spanish language exchange program.
The program is managed by Upper School Spanish Teacher Kristin Piazza. Through it, Flint Hill partners with the Institut Josep Vallverdu to send students across the Atlantic in both directions to experience a culture distinct from their own. While visiting the United States, the exchange students alternate between attending classes with their host and touring DC’s monuments and museums. They also took a weekend trip to New York City prior to their arrival at Flint Hill to experience one of the most breathtaking cities in the United States.
The benefits of the Spanish students’ visit were not limited to them. Their hosts have also been gaining valuable perspective and experience. Junior Saanvi Lamba says of her participation in the program, “With [the exchange students] here I feel more grounded. I feel like I’m actually making an effort to teach them ‘America.’”
The Institut Josep Vallverdu is located in the village of Les Borges Blanques, about an hour and a half away from Barcelona in Catalonia, a region of northwestern Spain. In addition to speaking Spanish, the exchange students speak a language called Catalan. The exchange program got its start with a lower and middle school Spanish teacher who had grown up in Les Borges Blanques. This personal connection inspired the creation of a virtual cultural exchange in 2013, which evolved into the current exchange of students two years later. During the pandemic, the program was paused, and this year is the second it has been up and running again.
The opportunity to take a trip abroad to practice a language is not one exclusive to the Spanish-speakers of Flint Hill’s student population. The Modern Language Department also offers a French exchange program, managed by Mrs. Robin Goldstein, a French teacher in the middle and upper school. This over-15-year-long running tradition partners with the Lycée Rocroy in Paris, a school that Flint Hill has partnered with twice before. This is its first year back in operation after Covid.
The French exchange students will be arriving October 27th, and their itinerary will include similar activities to the Spanish arrivals. They will alternate between attending classes and visiting DC, as well as taking a day trip to Mount Vernon.
The other half of the exchange programs, sending Flint Hill students to Europe, will take place during Spring Break. Spanish students will have the opportunity to visit Les Borges Blanques and take a weekend trip to either Madrid or Barcelona. They will also spend considerable time with their host families in the close, tight knit community of the village and learn about its local culture. The French students will visit Parisian museums and monuments, as well as experiencing classes at the Lycée Rocroy. Both trips promise to be engaging, enjoyable, and invaluable to all students seeking to practice their foreign language skills.
The modern language exchange programs are amazing opportunities, but they have limited capacity, and the odds of signing up for them this year are fairly slim. However, both the Spanish and French programs will be running again next year, so if you’ve missed your chance to host a student or venture abroad, keep an eye out for information and announcements about the 2024-2025 school year trips. Also, both Mrs. Piazza and Mrs. Goldstein are happy to answer questions over email about the Spanish and French programs respectively.
