NSHS Argentina Exchange

In the Spring of 2015, a small group of teachers from the Colegio del Carmen in San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina, visited the Newton South campus while visiting the Boston area with a group of students.  A school with an immersion program in English, they were eager to begin a linguistic and cultural exchange with an American high school, and had reached out to a contact within the Newton Public Schools.  Over the next few years, the school returned to the area with groups of students who visited Newton South for the day, engaging with South students in and outside of class, and attending a variety of events at the school.  A small team from Newton South accepted the offer to visit the Colegio in the summer of 2019, where the schools decided to formalize an exchange relationship, offering students at both schools the opportunity to live with a host family abroad while experiencing life in another educational system.  While Covid halted the original delegations from their planned visits in the spring of 2020, students and teachers remained connected, and the first reciprocal exchange groups have launched for the 2022-2023 school year.

During their two weeks abroad, Newton students attend school with their host students, both shadowing and presenting in English classes.  They also participate in outings with their Newton peers in the region of San Rafael, exploring the rich outdoor beauty and local sites such as the Borges Labyrinth.  Weekends are spent relaxing with their families.  

While in Newton, students from San Rafael spend the first few days orienting themselves to school life at Newton South.  In the following days, they participate in several excursions organized by their teachers.  Evenings and weekends are spent enjoying time with their host families.