There’s a different way to think about boarding school. Boarding school can take you beyond the United States. International boarding schools have the ability to place you in a different environment, language and culture.

Say “boarding school” and most people’s minds conjure visions of traditional New England boarding schools. Idyllic, well cared for campuses, small classes, dorm life, athletics, extracurricular activities and involved faculty. The view is mostly accurate.

Think the movie, Dead Poet’s Society and John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace.

Going abroad can provide a host of experiences that enhance and make the traditional boarding experience richer and more challenging. You can learn a new language; travel and live in a unique part of the world; immerse yourself in the customs and perspectives of a different culture and, most importantly, you can practice flexibility, thoughtfulness and tolerance as you live and learn in new ways.

Many of these study abroad boarding school opportunities are defined term programs- providing some nice benefits in terms of educational planning and flexibility. The fixed term doesn’t require a multi-year commitment as traditional boarding school might. Upon completion, you return to your former school. And, if you choose a summer only program, your traditional school year program maintains continuity.

Four programs with long, strong, histories and different perspectives offer reputable study-abroad programs for high school students.

School Year Abroad
SYA offers programs in China, France Italy, Spain and India.  Briefly from their web site:

SYA began as “Schoolboys Abroad” when 12 students and three teachers left for Spain in September 1964 with the backing of Phillips Academy; Phillips Exeter Academy became a co-sponsor in 1965; the French program opened in Rennes with 42 boys in 1967; and St. Paul’s School (NH) joined as a third sponsor in 1968. In 1970 the program began admitting girls and changed its name. Two years later additional secondary schools were invited to join SYA as member schools of the first incarnation of our consortium; and in 1975 School Year Abroad was legally established as a nonprofit institution with a board of trustees  comprised of the heads of the three charter member schools.

The Experiment in International Living
The Experiment offers summer programs in 17 countries.  From the Experiment’s web site:

Through homestays, adventure travel, experiential learning, and language immersion, students build leadership and communication skills, gain essential international experience, increase their self-confidence, and enhance their global awareness. Whatever the destination or focus, all Experiment summer abroad programs engage students in a profoundly moving educational journey of cultural exploration and discovery.

Each Experiment is a laboratory without borders, where Experimenters live with local families and explore themes from the arts to ecology that serve as windows of learning into another way of life. The Experiment’s international summer high school programs feature opportunities in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia. For three to five weeks, Experimenters focus on themes such as community service, language study, travel, ecology, the arts, sustainable development and fair trade, cooking, photography, theater, or outdoor adventure as they enjoy daily life with their host families and participate in activities with their group.

Leysin American School
Leysin offers traditional nine month academic year and summer program for high school students and they now have a junior high program all in Leysin, Switzerland.  From Leysin’s web site:

…The school they imagined was to be a place without boundries- where students from every country could learn to be citizens of the world together wher mouintains would build their strength and teachers their minds.  A place that would be beautifully hidden and yet in the middle of everything.  They called it Leysin American School.  Today, it’s lived up to their dreams and beyond…

EduKick International Soccer Boarding Schools
EduKick brings an athletic perspective to study abroad.  Specializing in soccer player opportunities and development, EduKick offers International Soccer Boarding Schools in Italy, Spain, France, England, Mexico and Brazil.  Edukicks gears it’s programs to soccer players of considerable talent and dedication using the description, “Professional Soccer Development Academic Year Boarding Schools”

EduKick describes its programs this way:

Training and studying abroad in an EduKick international soccer boarding school equips young student-players for life’s challenges in a way no other experience can. Not only will they be prepared for a competitive international soccer environment, they will learn a deep appreciation for a new language and culture as well. By participating in an EduKick Soccer Boarding School Program, a player distinguishes himself from his peers as a soccer player by committing to a year-long soccer development training course abroad. Players learn that the world is much bigger than their neighborhood and they begin to consider their potential within this “bigger” world!