Cultural Exchange Program
Bishop Guertin High School is proud to partner with two of our sister schools in Europe to provide students with an unforgettable cultural exchange experience. Each spring, BG families have the opportunity to host a visiting student from Vitoria, Spain, or Lyon, France. Later, our students travel abroad to live and learn alongside their peers, experiencing their culture in return.
For many visiting students, simple experiences like going to a cookout, attending classes at an American school, or joining in after-school activities become treasured memories they carry with them for years. Hosting an exchange student is a chance to share your home, your traditions, and your daily life while helping them see what it’s like to live as part of an American family.
At the same time, BG students benefit by forming lasting friendships and gaining a deeper appreciation for another culture, often discovering new perspectives right at their own dinner table.
We invite you to consider welcoming an exchange student into your home this spring. Families interested in participating should complete the forms linked below.
French Exchange:
Application
Information
Experience
Spanish Exchange:
Application
Information
The Hosting Experience
Here is what past host students and host parents have to say about their experience:
“I hosted a French student from Lyon in March of my junior year. For about two weeks, my family and I hosted Romane, sharing our home and school life. It was sort of funny to learn from her what aspects of our lives in the U.S., however normal to me, seemed similar or different to her experiences in France!”
“It is a great opportunity to make a new friend and branch out your culture.”
“I would definitely recommend this experience to my classmates because I met a super close friend who I cannot wait to see in April (in Vitoria) and hopefully again soon in the years to come.”
“The last two weeks were just a remarkable experience for all of us. I would NEVER have imagined that hosting an exchange student would fill my cup the way it did. [As a host parent] it was one of the biggest life surprises of the last few years – I guess I thought it was a “nice thing” I would do for someone else, little did I know how much the experience would offer me.”
“I would recommend this experience to others…it is honestly a great way to make different friends who live in a different country. I would 10/10 do it again!”
“[Hosting] is a great way to make a new friend and learn about their culture while sharing yours with them.”
