Published January 15, 2020
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High is looking to continue the Educatius Group foreign exchange student program next year, Principal Bob Cleary said during the School Committee’s Jan. 7 meeting.
The Educatius Group F-1 Public High School program allows foreign exchange students to attend a public high school for either a semester or an entire school year. Students are required to pay tuition to the school district they choose to attend.
Cleary noted the high school has enrolled between four and seven students on average since LHS partnered with Educatius Group seven years ago. He said six foreign exchange students are attending LHS this year. Five students are from Brazil and one is from Vietnam.
“We have had pretty good success,” said Cleary. “We have had students from Brazil, Germany, Italy, China and Vietnam. Out of the six kids we have now, we have two semester students and four full-year students. Educatius will always ask us if we will take anybody in January for that second semester, but we don’t offer that many semester courses so we can’t have a student come here in January. We often have a number of students come for the fall semester and then head back to their home country. We try to be flexible.”
Cleary said a number of Educatius students have participated in extra curricular activities such as athletics, drama and music.
“The more students are involved, the better their experiences are,” said Cleary. “Last year we had a semester student and by November, she asked if she could change and be here for the whole year. She had a great time. Those are things we can do to be flexible and Educatius has been very supportive of that. Overall, the program works really well.”
Educatius Group students are required to take a test at the beginning of the school year in order to determine a student’s proficiency level in English and math. Cleary noted English Language Learners (ELL) Coordinator Megan Valentine works with the foreign exchange students before the school year begins.
“Meg has done a dynamite job evaluating students when they come in,” said Cleary. “Although we don’t offer ELL services to our international students, we use our ELL resources to help them out.”
As part of the Educatius Group program, school districts are required to obtain an I-20 form from the Department of Homeland Security, which provides information on a student’s F or M status. School districts will release an F-1 visa once a student gets accepted.
Cleary said students who attend public schools are allowed to stay for a year, while students who opt for private schools have the option to stay longer.
“We often have students who will come back and visit if they decide to go to college in the United States,” said Cleary. “It has been a very good program. It not only gives the international students a great experience, but it also gives our own students a great experience.”
In response to a question from School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman, Cleary said the high school has not had any problems finding host families for exchange students. He said Educatius’ local coordinator, Barbara Langill, has diligently worked to find host families.
“We have had families whose children are off in college and are still hosting international students because they have had a great experience,” said Cleary.
The School Committee will be voting to accept foreign exchange students as part of the Educatius Group program on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
