Global Programs
Find answers that empower you to change the world.
At Westminster, we instill in our students a love for the challenge, for the unknown. Curious students want to investigate the world, ask questions, and find answers.
By making the world an extension of the classroom, we develop in our students an understanding of human connections that transcends continents and boundaries. While visiting other countries, students have free rein to design, make and innovate with the help of experts who guide them in exploring their interests.
We want to continue developing critical thinkers, problem solvers, and engaged global citizens by offering unique and transformative international education programs, including exchange/host experiences, for all of our students. As a result, students acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will prepare them for college, career, life in an interconnected society and help them self-identify as global citizens who are motivated to create change in the world.
China
In the town of Guilin, GuangXi province in China, students explore cultural activities, engage in service-learning projects, learn about global trade and the economy, and improve their conversational language skills. Through this reciprocal program, students also get to know their host organizations and families through written letters and video messaging before traveling to the country.
Colorado
Classroom Earth: Colorado River is a unique field study experience designed by Westminster faculty. Students will travel to the heart of the American West to study the mighty Colorado River. The hands-on exploration starts in the Rocky Mountain National Park and culminates in a six-day canoe and camping trip through iconic canyon lands of the Color Plateau.
France
Middle and Upper School students experience life in beautiful France during the summer. Through this reciprocal program, Middle School students live with French families in Barbezieux Saint-Hilaire for two weeks. They attend the town's private school and explore as they hike, bike, kayak and ride horses in the region. Upper School students make Strasbourg their home base. They enroll in one of France's most prestigious schools and learn about the culture as they take excursions throughout the Alsace region and Germany to visit historic sites.
India
Through this reciprocal exchange program, students immerse themselves in the five-thousand-year-old history and culture of India. From our home base in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, students board at Mayo College, our partner school and one of India’s oldest institutions, while attending classes and seeing local sites. Wildcats develop a rich understanding of India’s diverse history through classroom instruction and field trips in addition to morning yoga, Indian meals, and STEAM-related hands-on projects. Visits to locations that explore Hinduism, Muslim, and Jainist faiths, as well as world heritage sites like the Taj Mahal, are also included throughout the global engagement experience.
Italy
Middle Schoolers travel to Italy and see the ancient Roman world come alive through the exploration of Rome and Pompeii. Visiting archaeological sites around Pompeii, Wildcats study the ancient cities which were destroyed and preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Strolling through Rome, students walk in the footsteps of Romans—ancient and modern. Students will experience the Latin curriculum up close through artifacts, art, and places. By exploring the modern city, participants understand how the past influences the present and how interpretations of history can change through time.
Spain
In Valencia, Spain, Middle School students expand their horizons and increase proficiency by fully immersing in authentic Spanish language and culture. Through this reciprocal program, students attend classes at Seminario Segorbe, our partner exchange school. They connect with multinational corporations and engage in hands-on experiences with renowned experts to meet student interests and passions. The program includes a wide variety of opportunities to get students out of their comfort zone, including various cultural activities, service learning, local excursions, and a home stay component with a school classmate to experience living as a Spaniard.
In their own words
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My trip to Valencia, Spain, required me to be open-minded and try new things. The trip showed me that kids everywhere around the world are very similar. I even still have contact with some of the students over social media. The global exchange was an eye-opening experience.
Truman, Class of 2018Mt. Kenya Exchange Program
Students spend a week on Westminster’s campus learning about Kenya’s history, ecology, culture, and language, as well as current events and challenges. Then, students travel to our sister school, Mount Kenya Academy in Nyeri, Kenya. Students live in MKA dorms and participate in school life, including classes, sports, and community service. In addition, students visit Nyeri sites and go on a safari. Westminster students will serve as primary hosts when Kenyan students visit Westminster and Atlanta.
Guatemala
The Guatemala Global Education program offers an experiential learning opportunity to discover ties between the U.S. and Guatemala, collaborate to raise new funds, build a new home, and connect with the people of Guatemala. Prep work covers Guatemalan history, social studies, and economics. In Guatemala, using materials purchased through fundraising, students work with Guatemalan families to build affordable and safe homes. The homes are part of a wider attempt to connect the families with educational, health care, and housing opportunities.
Exploring the Holy Land
This JanTerm course gives students a foundation in understanding the geographic and archeological contexts of the narratives in the Bible with a filmmaking component to allow these lessons to be shared with the community students. Students study Biblical narratives and develop short films documenting the specific sites spoken of in the text. Students travel to Biblical sites in Israel and film their experiences.
In their own words
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I came away from this trip passionate about education for girls, passionate about children, and passionate about the fact that every single person in this world deserves to be welcomed into it the way I was welcomed into Mount Kenya Academy. I know I am forever changed by this trip, and that is the biggest blessing.
Grace, Class of 2017Chewonki
Westminster is a member school in this semester-long college preparatory program for motivated Juniors. Located on a 400-acre peninsula surrounded by a tidal estuary with a pine forest and farm pastureland, the academic program is designed to support the Junior year curriculum at the home school, while at the same time emphasizing connection and interdependence. In addition to attending classes, students live in cabins, share responsibility for work on the farm and cooking in the kitchen, and eat meals family style in dining hall.
Experiment in International Living
Experiment in International Living provides students with options to immerse themselves in one of twenty-eight different countries. It is a summer study abroad program that allows students to experience a country through two lenses: sustainability and the environment or arts and social change. In Japan, students might explore anime and manga if they have selected the arts program or study ecology and conservation in Vietnam it they opt for the sustainability courses. Host countries include Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Morocco, Tanzania and many more.
Oxbow
The Oxbow School in Napa, California that combines studio art practice with innovative academics in a semester-long boarding experience. Forty-eight students from across the country are accepted each semester. Westminster is one of Oxbow’s member schools, allowing priority admission for our students interested in Oxbow’s semester art intensives.
Canada: Cities, Mountains, Villages
Middle and Upper School students experience the natural and metropolitan wonders of Canada studying indigenous people of the nation and immersing themselves in the glacial ecosystems. Middle School students glean the connection between their sixth grade science course and the intricate relationship between climate and living beings as they traverse glacial valleys and lakes. Upper School students explore two large French-speaking cities, Montreal and Quebec. They fortify French speaking skills in those urban areas before traveling to the villages of Charlevoix. There they work with Cree Indians on the bougoumou reservation, learning about their traditions and struggle for recognition in Canada.
Marine Biology Institute
The program melds geology and marine ecology, demonstrating the interaction between land and sea. The five-week course gives students academic credit for one year of science. Learning starts on Westminster's campus with marine science lectures, laboratory work and research projects. It culminates with fourteen days of field study in Hawaii including Haleakala National Park, Humpback Whale Sanctuary, tide pool and coral reef activities and snorkeling.
Argentina
This program is designed for students to achieve advanced competency in written and oral communication in Spanish. During this immersion summer program, teachers and students visit Buenos Aires, touring historic sites, taking a tango class, and attending a tango-folklore dinner show. Then for two weeks, students live with host families while attending Holy Trinity College in Mar del Plata, maximizing their opportunity to speak Spanish and to learn about the culture.
Ecuador
Middle School students experience life off the grid in the beautiful cloud forest of Ecuador at Siempre Verde preserve. Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rural countryside of Ecuador and the city centers of Otavalo and Quito. Students hike waterfalls and mountains, learn what sustainable agriculture looks like in another country, and make new friends at an elementary school to better understand and appreciate Ecuadorian culture. There is no language requirement for this trip.
School Year Abroad
School Year Abroad emphasizes personal transformation and global understanding as students immerse themselves in a family, school, and community in China, France, Spain or Italy. The program offers experiences designed to develop the ability to navigate an interdependent world. Juniors or seniors enroll in accredited schools, where nearly all courses have Advanced Placement or Honors designations, and instructors teach classes in the native language. Students regularly participate in community activities and fieldwork.