The Greenville County School District welcomes international exchange students into our schools. We believe that educational and cultural exchanges serve to deepen understanding between Greenville County students and students from other countries and enrich our school communities. Among the many benefits of international exchanges are the opportunities to learn first-hand about other languages, cultures and customs and gain new perspectives on our own country and the world.
Every effort will be made to place international exchange students in high schools if exchange organizations make the request and are approved by the school district.
To ensure that international exchange students and Greenville County high schools have positive and successful experiences, this document informs international exchange organizations, prospective host families, and district staff about the procedures for the enrollment and placement of exchange students in our high schools.
Eligibility
An exchange student holds a J-1 visa and is under an approved foreign exchange program. The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program is a nonimmigrant visa category designed to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through bona fide educational and cultural exchanges. If a student is accepted as a participant in an exchange program, the exchange organization will provide the student with information and documents necessary to apply for the J visa to enter the United States. Consequently, the exchange student is the responsibility of the exchange organization and not the host family, school, or other party where the student is placed.
Enrollment and Placement
Greenville County schools provide education to exchange students who come to reside in our district with a host family for a maximum of one year. The placement of an exchange student in a district high school is not considered to be a special permission request.
1. Exchange organizations interested in placing students in Greenville County schools must first contact the school district designee for exchange students. Contact information is at the end of this document. The school district designee must approve both the exchange organization and the exchange student before a student can be enrolled in any Greenville County school.
The following criteria must be met for an exchange organization to be approved:
- The exchange program must be listed in the most current Council on Standards International Educational Travel (CSIET) Advisory List. CSIET is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to identify reputable international youth exchange programs, to provide leadership and support to the exchange and educational communities so that youth are provided with meaningful and safe international exchange experiences. The CSIET Advisory List contains information about programs which have been evaluated and deemed to meet CSIET's national standards.
- The exchange program adheres to the Greenville County Schools procedures for the admission and enrollment of exchange students.
- A representative of the exchange program lives within 150 miles of the school. This person is responsible for students placed in schools.
- The applicant must be enrolled in a secondary school program in his or her home country of residency and must be between the ages of 15 and 18 at the time of enrollment in Greenville County Schools.
- The applicant has not completed the equivalent of a high school program.
- The student is informed that he or she is not eligible for a diploma, graduation, or a transcript evaluation.
- The exchange program has made arrangements for the applicant to have a current J-1 visa for the duration of school attendance and to live with a host family that has bona fide residency in Greenville County. The student will be assigned to the school serving the community where the host family resides. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the school district designee in consultation with the school principal. The period of enrollment may range from one full semester to a maximum of one academic year.
- The organization provides a complete student application which must include the following: a personal letter from the student; detailed information on the student and natural family; proof that the student has sufficient language ability to function academically in English without ESOL support; an original transcript of the student’s high school grades with English translation; an immunization history; and the student’s home school recommendations regarding behavior and ability to adapt to a different school environment.
2. International exchange organization area representatives will present student applications and enrollment forms to the school district designee. An organization may submit a maximum of three applications for consideration. Applications are to be presented from April 15 to June 30 for the next academic year and from October 15 to December 15 for the second semester of the current year. Applications submitted outside of these time frames may be considered at the discretion of the school district designee in consultation with the school principal.
3. The school district designee will review all student applications and approve them based on the criteria outlined above. Once approved, the school district designee will give applications to principals, obtain principal signatures on the enrollment forms, and return completed enrollment forms to the respective exchange organization area representatives. Only then may area representatives proceed to enroll exchange students in school.
Responsibilities of the School Principal or Designee
- Review the Student Profiles of all applicants after they have been approved by the school district designee.
- Sign the enrollment form once the school district designee has approved the organization and application. Keep the written approval form on file in the student’s records.
- Withdraw exchange students at the completion of one semester or full academic year.
- Upon request, provide information which may be needed for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees or district administrators regarding foreign exchange students.
Responsibilities of the Exchange Organization Area Representative
- Ensure adequate orientation for exchange students and their host families
- Ensure that exchange students are not clustered together in one school; no more than five students are to be placed in one school in a given academic year. An exception to the number of students at one school may be made at the discretion of the school district designee in consultation with the school principal.
- Make contact with the student, host family, and host school at least once every two months.
Please direct all inquiries to:
Deborah Carrero, District Coordinator
IB & Select Schools/World Languages
Phone: (864) 355.4817
Fax: (864) 355.9394
dcarrero@greenville.k12.sc.us