The Sacred Heart exchange program is a great opportunity to try new things and make new friends because, according to Ms. Hinton, an ASC Teacher and the Director of Global Exchange, “community building is at the heart of the program.” Sacred Heart works with 25 schools internationally across 14 different countries. Currently, we are hosting exchange students from Barcelona, Sevilla, and Madrid. 

To fully understand the impact of this program, we talked to three of the exchange students, each from a different city, about their experiences at SHP and in California. When asked why they chose the exchange program, Lucas from Madrid said, “I felt it would be a great way to make friends and to practice my English.”  Danielle from Sevilla explained that she had wanted “to come to California since [she] was little, so [she] decided to do an exchange program here.” 

In the exchange program, the visiting students get their own schedules where they are able to be in their host’s classes and also have the opportunity to pick a couple of their own classes reflecting their interests. “My favorite class is Physics with Mr. Abdulla,” Lucas says, “He is a very nice teacher.” In the exchange students classes, they can learn new things and make new friends.

The exchange students also participate in after school activities at the Prep. This is a great way for the exchange students to explore popular sights in our area. Lucas shared that his “favorite memory was going to the beach in Half Moon Bay.” Some of the students also loved exploring San Francisco. Blanca from Barcelona, and said her favorite after-school activity was going to dinner in San Francisco. Her favorite restaurant was Ace Wasabi. Compared to Barcelona she says the service is faster and tipping culture is new to her.