Student Life

Wonder of Walker

Overseas Travel/Foreign Exchange

Winter Break Trip

Spain and Morocco


Overseas travel brings lessons to life across the curriculum. By experiencing foreign cities, iconic monuments and distant cultures firsthand, students connect with their studies and the world around them in a whole new way. The adventures are open to students in grades nine to twelve, family members, relatives, friends, as well as, to students in grades six through eight with an adult. The ten day trips have included London, Paris, Normandy, Spain, Dublin, Edinburgh, England’s Lake District, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Costa Rica.

Join us in March 2012 as we journey to Spain and Morocco including stops in Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Seville, and much more. Please see the attached winter break 2012 document for additional information including a detailed itinerary.

For more information about our Winter Break Trips please contact Newton McCurdy.

 

International Exchange

The Walker School’s international exchange programs provide our Faculty and our students with opportunities to explore the richness and diversity of other societies, while instilling respect for all people.  Our international exchange programs were created with the goal of enhancing global awareness, developing cultural sensitivity ultimately promoting a deeper sense of global citizenship.

Each year, the Walker School welcomes a group of French, German and Argentine exchange students into our school and homes to provide a chance for students and their families to learn about other cultures and ideas and to share their own.

In the spring and summer, many of our host Upper School students travel to France, Germany or Argentina to stay with a host family while they attend classes and take tours throughout the country. 

Since 1997 Walker has had a flourishing exchange program with The Europaschule in Bornheim, near Bonn in Germany. As the name implies, the Europaschule has strong partnerships with schools throughout Europe and an international atmosphere prevails. For more information on the Europaschule, Bornheim, visit their website at www.europaschule-bornheim.de

The Walker/Bornheim exchange takes place every other year. Typically the German students spend a week to ten days staying with Walker students in the fall or early spring and attend school with their hosts. Our students visit Germany during our summer vacation. At this time the Europaschule is still in session and Walker students attend school with their hosts for one week. During this time they also make trips to Cologne, Bonn and in the Rheinland area. After one week staying with host families in Bornheim, we then spend a further week touring Germany , Switzerland and sometimes Austria. In the past our itinerary has included Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Munich, Salzburg, and we always spend a couple of days in the Swiss Alps. Students are accompanied by Janet Ward and Ayren Selzer. The exchange is open to any student who has completed at least two years of German although preference will be given to students in their junior or senior year. Further information on the German exchange is available from .

 Argentina Exchange 2012

The Walker School is delighted to announce that we are entering our 4th year in the Argentina Exchange program with La Plaza School in Rafaela, Argentina.  This February, we will be hosting 11 students from La Plaza School and 1 faculty member.  

Throughout the month of February, the La Plaza School students will be hosted by families within our own community.   They will spend each day attending Walker Upper School classes, making special presentations about Rafaela, Argentina, and participating in school related activities. Some of the highlights to the 2012 exchange will include trips to the Georgia Aquarium, the CNN Center, the MLK Center and finally a community service project at The Extension.

In June, Walker students have the opportunity to study and stay with families from La Escuela de La Plaza in Rafaela. While in Rafaela, the students will be introduced to the Argentine lifestyle as they attend classes and join the daily routines of their host families.  Their time in Rafaela will also include day trips to neighboring Rosario where they will visit the Monument to the flag, a trip to the local music museum and also a day of Rural Tourism.  Finally, our group will spend 3 nights in country capital, Buenos Aires where they will tour the city, shop and attend the famous Piazzolla Tango Show. 

For more information about our 2012 exchange, please contact: Brad Brown

 

“China is a culture that has much to teach us in terms of both its differences and similarities to America. A visit to China provides an opportunity for students to realize how culturally, linguistically, and economically different a country can be from the United States, while simultaneously appreciating the similarities that unite humanity around the world. By conducting a student exchange between the countries, we can better understand one another and learn more about ourselves.”

For information about Hosting or participating in the exchange, please contact: .

Our French exchange is with the Institut Fenelon in Grasse, a medium sized city in the southeast of France, about 30 km from Nice and Cannes. The city is the perfume capital of France. The school is a private one and it's about the same size as our upper school. All students in France begin studying English in sixth grade. Our exchange typically involves 12 kids from each school or students in French 2 or higher who are studying French as their second foreign language.

Requirements

Walker students must be in the fourth or fifth year of French study while our French guests are typically juniors.

Itinerary US

Our French exchange guests come to school three days. One day during the week, they shadow their host student while on another two days they follow a special schedule specifically created for them. Our guests then take two outings during the school week including visits to CNN and the MLK center.

Itinerary France

While in France our students take part in an International Week at Institut Fenelon in which they gather with schools from England, Germany, Italy and Spain. Our students stay in their correspondents' homes while Ms. Jennifer May (Upper School French Instructor and student chaperone) stays with teachers.

Our students go to school several days and also have outings they prepare for us--usually to Nice, Monaco, Cannes or other small towns in the area. When our students leave Grasse they typically take the train to Paris for several days where they take advantage of the opportunity to see as much of the city as possible, including historical sights, monuments, museums, parks, stores and, of course, restaurants (lots of crepes are consumed!!).

For more information about our French Exchange please contact: