As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is critical for our community to become more culturally aware and globally-minded. By experiencing foreign cities, iconic monuments and distant cultures firsthand, students connect with their studies in a whole new way.
EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL
Usually scheduled over Winter Break or at the end of the school year, these tours introduce students to foreign cultures—playing a critical role as they become more culturally aware and globally-minded.
Past destinations have included London, Paris, Mykonos, Cairo, Morocco, Dublin, and Barcelona, among many others. These adventures are open to students in grades 9-12 and students in grades 6-8 with an adult. In addition, family members, relatives, friends are invited as well as to join these trips.
WORLD LANGUAGE EXPERIENCES
The Walker School’s international exchanges and cultural experiences 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 to enhance global awareness, to develop cultural sensitivity ultimately to promote a deeper sense of global citizenship.
FRENCH |
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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. Walker students must be in the fourth or fifth year of French study, while our French guests are typically juniors. 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 with their host families. They attend school several days and also have outings 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!). |
GERMAN |
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. 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. 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. They also make trips to Cologne, Bonn and in the Rheinland area. After one week staying with host families in Bornheim, students then spend a further week touring Germany, Switzerland and sometimes Austria. In the past our itinerary has included Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Munich, Salzburg, and students always spend a couple of days in the Swiss Alps. |
LATIN |
Each year, Walker's students of the Classics travel to one of several locations to enrich their study of the language and culture of the Greeks and Romans. The essential trip takes students to the Bay of Naples and Pompeii. Students spend time exploring ancient sites along the bay, climbing Vesuvius' destructive summit, and reading the Latin and Greek left behind by the mountain's victims. After several days in the area, students then travel to Rome to compare life in a Roman town with life in the Empire's capital. In addition to the trip to Italy, Latin and Greek students have had the opportunity to travel to Athens, Greece, where students not only explore the city's extensive classical features but also visit the nearby archaeological sites of Delphi, Mycenae, Knossos, and Ephesus. Another trip takes Latin students to France and Britain, where Quintus travels in search for the son of his father's friend. Two such trips have been offered, one of which explores the Roman sites of southern France; the other ventures further from Rome to the frontier towns of Britain. |
SPANISH |
The Walker School hosts an exchange program with La Plaza School in Rafaela, Argentina. Throughout their time at Walker, La Plaza School students are hosted by families within our own community. They spend each day attending Upper School classes, making special presentations about Rafaela, Argentina, and participating in school-related activities. Some of the highlights also include trips to special areas of interest in Marietta and Atlanta, as well as a community service project. 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 might include day trips to neighboring Rosario, a trip to the local music museum and/or a day of rural tourism. Students usually also spend several nights in Buenos Aires where they will tour the city, shop and attend the famous Piazzolla Tango Show. |