If you have too few teenagers around your house, you may want to sign up as one of 12 host families for the first year of the Groton-Dunstable Regional High School’s international exchange program. Last week, the school system had seven host families lines up and was looking for five more. The students come from all over the world and stay a year.
According to Mary Cain, who works in the high school guidance department, “This is a new program the high school is starting (it is our pilot year). We have had a few foreign exchange students, but not on the scale we are trying this year.”
The program is administered by a company with offices in Boston, Educatius International target=”_blank”, that “Focuses on opening the doors of education primarily in the US to students from around the world. We offer high quality education through our wide range of academic programs in both public and private institutions. Regional High Schools will accept students from several countries for the coming school year. Students can range in age from 15-18.”
In an email, Cain wrote: “Host families receive a $700 stipend per month to help cover the cost of hosting a student. If a family takes in two students, they receive $1,400/month. Host families are expected to provide a bedroom (two foreign students may be in the same bedroom though they need to be from two different countries) and a dresser and desk for each student. A wholesome breakfast and dinner also are to be provided for each student. Students may bring lunches from home but are responsible for buying their own school lunches. All students are fully insured and have their own spending money for clothing, personal items, extracurricular activities, etc.”
Liz Malone is the regional managers for Educatius who is working on the Groton-Dunstable program. For more information, she may be contacted at [email protected] or 617-980-6714. Cain can be reached at [email protected] .
