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Name: School Year Abroad
Phone: 978-725-6828
Fax: 978-725-6833
Email: mail@sya.org
Website: http://www.sya.org
Director: Woodruff W. Halsey II
Address/Location: China, France, Italy, Spain
Duration: Full academic year (9 months)
Tuition: In 2006-2007 the tuition was $37,000 for the full year.
Financial Aid: Approximately 40% of our students receive need-based financial aid
Curriculum: English and math (Algebra II - BC Calculus) are taught in English, by U.S. teachers, at all of our sites. The focus in China, France and Spain is on language, history and culture. The academic focus in Italy is on the classical world (Latin, Greek, ancient history). All students have an academic advisor, a college counselor and take the PSAT, SAT and AP exams at our school. Grades and comments are sent home each quarter, and a final transcript is sent to the sending school at the end of the year.
Setting:
SYA China has its school in Beijing, on the campus of Middle School #2.
SYA France has its school in Rennes, the capital of Brittany, about 2 hours west of Paris.
SYA Italy has its school in Viterbo, a medieval city of 60,000, about 90 minutes northwest of Rome.
SYA Spain has its school in Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon, a city of 700,000 that is located between Madrid and Barcelona.
Referrals: We provide student and parent references upon request

Founded in 1964 by Phillips Academy in Andover and now a consortium including top independent schools across the country, School Year Abroad (SYA) is the only secondary-level program which allows students to live with a European or Chinese family for an entire academic year while earning U.S. graduation credits and preparing for selective U.S. colleges and universities. Every year each one of our schools in China, France, Italy and Spain enrolls approximately 60 students to complete their junior or senior year of high school. Students come from public and private schools across the United States.

The central elements of SYA - the homestay and an academic program emphasizing foreign language acquisition - ensure that students return home with real mastery of a second language. At the same time, instructors from U.S. schools guarantee that they do not lose ground in their core American courses: math and English. Extracurricular activities and organized travel round out the year.

Enrollment: Approximately 60 students per site.

Application: We accept applications from current sophomores and juniors enrolled in a U.S. school. France and Spain have a two-year language requirement, while China and Italy are open to students who have never studied Mandarin, Latin, Greek or Italian. Applications can be requested from our website: www.sya.org and are due on March 1.

SYA, an independent, non-profit program run on the U.S. educational model, operates its own schools in Beijing, China; Rennes, France; Viterbo, Italy and Zaragoza, Spain.