School Trips and Exchanges

Students spend three days and two nights in a Wisconsin nature camp, two hours away from Chicago. The experience helps them become more independent and responsible through various workshops, sports and social activities, in the middle of nature. 

Each spring, our 5th-grade students travel to the Camp des Débrouillards in Quebec to further develop their language skills in a French-speaking country. There, they have the opportunity to learn about a new culture and explore nature through sports activities and scientific experiments. 

Each fall, 6th-grade students take an overnight trip to a nature area and participate in a variety of team-building activities. The goal of this day is to strengthen the sense of community among students and accompanying teachers, to welcome the students to middle school, to teach them about citizenship in the Lycée community and to have fun in an outdoor environment.

In winter, 7th graders have the opportunity to spend five days in Colorado enjoying nature, skiing, learning about mountain safety and strengthening bonds with fellow students.

The 8th graders spend three days in the U.S. capital. Guided by their teachers, they study important documents, institutions, and figures of the American Revolution. They visit museums and monuments, including the Holocaust Museum, the Vietnam War Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, the Air and Space Museum, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the White House, upon specific authorization.

Each fall, high school students take an overnight trip to a nature area and participate in a variety of team-building activities. The goal of this day is to strengthen the sense of community among students and accompanying teachers, to teach students about citizenship in the Lycée community and to have fun in an outdoor environment.

The LFC proposes numerous opportunities for high school students to discover other cultures and to engage in international dialogue. These selective programs are opportunities to create a more diverse high school environment and expand cross-cultural understanding, as well as to establish life-long friendships.

In 9th grade, students have the opportunity to go on a class trip with their foreign language classmates and teachers. Based on a student's foreign language class, trip destinations include China, France, Germany or Spain. In some cases, the LFC reciprocates by hosting students from the partner school in the other country.

An LFC student can be paired with an exchange student from a partner Lycée or French school. Both students attend one school at the same time for six weeks and spend the other six weeks in the other school. You will still pay your tuition at LFC and only have to cover the extra cost abroad (i.e. flights, extracurricular activities, trips, sightseeing, etc.). Students who have attended this program experience diversity and cross-cultural understanding in their own home and abroad, and expand their understanding of the culture and language of the hosted student and family abroad.

Who can apply as an exchange student?

• Students from the LFC apply during their 9th-grade year for the exchange program in Grade 10. Applicants should have a strong academic level and a desire to study abroad.
• French or international students, generally in Grade 10, enrolled in one of our partner schools abroad and demonstrating strong academic standing.

The LFC is part of an active network of more than 550 international French schools that organize diverse opportunities for groups of secondary school students to travel, gather and compete around the world. These exciting experience include sporting and academic competitions, as well as cultural events. Examples include:

• DECA
• MATh.en.JEANS
• Jeux internationaux de la jeunesse (JIJ)
• Jeux du golfe
• UNSS-AEFE sports league (French High Schools in North American)

Your child can go abroad by attending a partner school for a semester or a year and stay in a family locally. You will not be expected to host another student in your family in exchange. With this format of program, you will also be paying tuition at the school abroad for the time your child is there. Students who have attended this program learn about the practices of people in other countries, serve as an ambassador to his/her country and community, while also building memories and skills that will be with them forever.

Who can apply as a host program student?

• Students at the LFC in grades 10 and 11 who have a strong academic level and a desire to study abroad.
• French or international students, generally in grades 10-12, coming from a lycée or other school abroad and demonstrating strong academic standing. Course selection is made at the LFC's discretion.
• Former LFC students who are interested in returning to the LFC community to complete the French Baccalaureate or the International Baccalaureate.

If your child is too young to do a program abroad but still want to have an international exposure in your house, consider being a host family for one of our incoming international students! You can choose to welcome a foreign student for a year, a trimester or shorter periods (i.e. vacation). Families who decide to participate in this program benefit from having another student in their family as they learn about the practices of people in other countries.

Who can apply as a host family?
We encourage all LFC families interested in hosting to apply. The family must have the ability to provide a room for the student, as well as a quiet space to study.

How are students and families selected?
Our hosting and exchange programs are highly selective. Students who are accepted must possess very strong academic records, as well as display the maturity and flexibility to explore a foreign culture with respect and responsibility.

Prospective host families also undergo an application and screening process. This procedure serves the dual-purpose of communicating hosting expectations and determining the proposed hosting conditions.

Selected students and host families are matched based on their application responses, with a focus on a combination of criteria including hosting dates and duration, host family and hosted student language preferences, allergy accommodations, and student age and gender preferences. The student and host family must then meet via telephone or Skype and complete a hosting contract and detailed expectation agreement.

How do I receive more information about the programs?

• For information about the application process for LFC's hosting and exchange programs, please contact the Admissions Office at admissions@lyceechicago.org
• For academic questions, please contact the Director of the Secondary School.